Independent films under siege

AST year was packed for Sikhya Entertainment producers Guneet Monga and Achin Jain.

- KARTIK BHARDWAJ

AST 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 became one of the most popular Indian webseries, 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