At CNBC-TV18’s Future Female Forward event, film producer Guneet Monga spoke with the clarity and conviction that has been shaped by her near two-decade-long journey in the industry.A two-time Academy Award winner and founder of Sikhya Entertainment, she has produced landmark films such as The Lunchbox, Gangs of Wasseypur, Masaan, Period. End of Sentence., and Kill, building stories that travel the distance and endure the test of time across a long enough period
Reflecting on what it takes to run a production house, she said, “I think women make the best producers, because it’s a lot of nurturing. It’s a lot of multi-tasking, and a lot of ego management.”
It was an articulation of the lived reality of creative leadership, as she returned repeatedly to the theme of cultural power. For Monga, cinema is one of India’s strongest levers for change.”I think the only way to dismantle patriarchy is to start having conversations at a certain scale, but also have conversations through cinema, because we have such a huge soft power. It’s not something that happens immediately, but every generation pushes forward. We have come a long way.”Taking Indian stories to the global audienceIt was a reminder that film is a vehicle that shapes attitudes across borders and generations. Monga, too, was clear about the horizon she is chasing.”I want to take Indian stories to the whole world. That’s what my crux has been. I feel our skin colour, our language has to be taken to the world. There are many more barriers to be crossed. I know films like Lunchbox and Kill travelled a lot, which I am very grateful for.”The focus is on widening the aperture through which India is viewed globally. That global intent blends into a commercial aspiration that she articulated with her trademark candour.”My eyes are set on breaking a box office barrier, because money does talk. I have done the awards. Our biggest films have topped at 25 million globally. When you see a Black Panther, they have done a two billion dollars. So, my eyes are set on two billion, for a Brown Panther!”It was delivered with humour, but the ambition behind it was unmistakable, but she ended on a deeply personal note by invoking the name behind her company.”My company is named Sikhya Entertainment, which means to keep learning. I lost both my parents in my early 20s. My mother gave this name when she was going through chemotherapy. At some points, I felt I needed a cool English name, but over times I have realised it means to stay grounded, to keep learning, and hence it’s very empowering.”In a session cutting through noise, Monga stayed anchored to the factors driving her, including storytelling and the steady pursuit of something larger than herself.
