Last year was packed for Sikhya Entertainment producers Guneet Monga and Achin Jain. They joined forces with Dharma Productions and brought forth the gory-actioner Kill to Indian theatres.
Their sci-fi police procedural Gyaarah Gyaarah made it to IMDb’s list of Most Popular Indian Web Series, teen-drama Gutar Gu was renewed for a second season and they also came out with Honey Singh: Famous, a documentary on the controversial singer-rapper. Another feather in their cap was Anuja, a short film backed by them, which was shortlisted for Oscars 2025 for the Best Live-Action short category.
Known for backing content-driven films like The Lunchbox (2013), Masaan (2015) and Pagglait (2021), among others, Guneet and Achin talk about the changing landscape for indie releases in India, difficulties in getting a small film to theatres, and why Kill didn’t get the response it should have.
Excerpts:
How do you guys look back at 2024?
Guneet Monga: It has been incredible. We are very grateful. As soon as work on the Honey Singh documentary was finished, I went to Kerala for a break and then I got a call about Anuja making it to the Oscars shortlist. I was boating in the backwaters with seven others. Everything was so calm and serene and here I was making calls to the US, discussing dollar payments.
Except for a popular cast, Kill had all ingredients of being a blockbuster. It was a rage at festivals, was pacy and had competent action. Still, it didn’t create as much buzz as it should have. Do you feel the same?
GM: Yes. I also thought Kill should have done much, much better. But we were tied into a contract to release the film on the same date as the US. A theatrical release has to balance a lot of facets, including the release date and number of screens. We really wanted to get Kill out earlier in the year because there were freer Fridays. As we saw last year, movies that released in January or February had longer theatrical stays. The process of international distribution made us release the film on the same date as in the US, which, in India, was not the best date. But it is what it is and Kill 2 will be even bigger.
So…what can you tell us about Kill 2?
GM: Nothing! (laughs)
Coming to Anuja, the film has been shortlisted in the Oscars Live-Action Short Film category. With Laapataa Ladies out of the Academy race, people have pinned all hopes on you. How confident do you feel?
GM: I don’t know about confidence but I feel grateful that Anuja made it to the shortlist. We are getting the distribution sorted, we are trying to raise funds for the screenings, for ads, it’s a lot of work. Positioning a small film and promoting it is like a relay race and we are running the lap.
Even a Grand Prix winner like 'All We Imagine As Light' was struggling to find appropriate show timings and an OTT platform to release. You guys at Sikhya Entertainment have always backed small-budget, content-centric films. How do you see this changing landscape?
Achin Jain: All We Imagine As Light is the Indie film of the year and that too is struggling. It has become more challenging to put a small, indie film out there. OTT platforms, when they came, they came as saviours of indie projects but now they are more concerned with mainstream cinema. There has also been a behavioural change in viewers. When it comes to Hindi cinema, people are less willing to go to theatres and independent films now have to rely on the good word of festivals and awards to get some recognition. Sadly, the support system for independent cinema doesn’t exist in India at the moment.
This wasn’t the case in the early 2000s, when films of directors like Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee, even though small-budgeted, still got a shot at theatres…
GM: Theatrical releasing has definitely become a huge challenge. It has also become more expensive to go to the cinemas. Now even GST has increased on popcorn (laughs). Everybody who works on a film set, on or off the camera, their salaries have shot up. It is quite a marvel to make an indie film in these times.
AJ: Taking a film to theatres and going to theatres both have become expensive. It’s a double whammy.
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