Guneet Monga, producer of Haraamkhor, talks to Sangeeta Yadav about the release of her award-winning film which was banned for four years by the Censor for being ‘very provocative’ only to get clean chit by the Film Certification Apellate Tribunal
Having worked with Nawazuddin Siddiqui in The lunch Box and Shweta Tripathi in Masaan, was it a conscious decision to cast them in HaraamkhorIJ
Not really. Casting was purely as per the need of the film. The actors have been kind and supportive. They are versatile. Nawaz is an experience we would always cherish and work with again. I’m happy for Shweta, the way she has carved a path for herself through Masaan. It’s been an overwhelming journey with both.
What about the researchIJ
We had spoken to a lot of young girls about their love stories that ended on a sad note. Only one instance, that too of a man whose house we were shooting in in Gujarat, had something different to say. He told us about this young couple who lived close by to where we were shooting, a teacher and his student, who ended up marrying each other.
Films like Masaan do wonders at international film festivals but not at the box office. What is the reasonIJ
Sadly, we have only 4,500 screens which bear pressure from all over. We have Hollywood, Bollywood, regional and independent films. It is hard for the distributors to sustain all films, especially if they are not generating revenue. We have entertainment tax. less number of screens have made it difficult for small budget films.
Does the success of a film depend on its marketingIJ
Fund allocation and marketing plays a big role in getting box office results, which some films miss. Marketing acts as a pre-assurance for distributors that decide a film’s fate. This might not be a good way.
Your films have been different from other commercial movies...
We still need to identify the thin line between what’s commercial Bollywood and what we make. We understand the international market and target the rest of the world while choosing an Indian storyline and that’s what makes us a little different from commercial Bollywood. Our focus is to work on good scripts, which is defined differently by different production houses. Our motto is not just to stick to similar storylines but to experiment with Indian cinema.
What is your styleIJ
There is no filmmaking style that we follow. I’ve been blessed with good directors throughout my career. We have been working on limited budgets that makes us come up with big ideas. We now understand the international film festival market well due to our regular interactions and it somewhere helps us make our choices.
Being one of the youngest persons to be conferred with the Most Powerful Woman in India Business Award, what led to your success in BollywoodIJ
Such felicitations give me emotional strength and fear as well. I have learnt the hard way and started my stint in Bollywood from scratch since I didn’t know anybody here. As you grow into the business, experiences start moulding beliefs. Sikhya Entertainment, which I co-founded with Anurag Kashyap, has been trying to carve out a niche for itself for the betterment of cinema and for the Hindi film industry as a whole.