Guneet Monga on raising funds for Anuja after it was shortlisted for Oscars: ‘For hours, I’m making calls and writing to people’

A still from Anuja

Guneet Monga Kapoor couldn't have asked for a better end to 2024. Last week, Anuja, a short film on which she serves as the executive producer, made it to the Oscars 2025 shortlist for Best Live Action Short Film. Adam J Graves' directorial venture explores the harsh reality of child labour in New Delhi. Recalling their association with the project, Achin Jain, Monga's business partner, starts, "Anuja is not something we greenlit. Adam and Suchitra [Mattai] are first-time filmmakers, and they reached out to us ki ab kahan jayein."

That is where Monga and Jain stepped in. As executive producers, they raised money and drove the publicity campaign. Monga says, "There was a lot of fundraising, much more than the budget of the film." But she understands that the bigger journey starts now. How does Monga, who has two Academy wins to her name, plan to ensure the short film earns a place in the nominations? "Now that it's shortlisted, we're working on its future. From 9 pm to 12.30 am, and in the mornings, from 5 am to 9 am, I am making calls, talking to people, pushing Anuja, writing to people, [figuring] the next layer of funding and how we can take it forward, figuring out distribution and which platform to take it to. All our years of experience comes handy on the journey of a short film. We're really pushing forward to get to the next round. [We're keeping our] fingers crossed that we get to the nomination."

Guneet Monga Kapoor and Achin Jain

The year 2024 was unbelievable for her. We tell her she has a surplus problem between the Oscar shortlist, Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous, her latest documentary on Honey Singh and the love she garnered earlier in the year for Kill. "Both Kill and Gyaarah Gyaarah have been so rewarding. They were our big projects this year. With Kill, we just wanted to make an extreme action film. You get these comments along the way: ‘Kaun dekhega? Kaise karenge?' But we stuck to making it in its purest form. Be it The Lunchbox [2013], Masaan [2015], or The Elephant Whisperers [2022], the idea is just to tell the best story."

Now, they are looking ahead with confidence and hope. Their next is a film with Ayushmann Khurrana and Sara Ali Khan. Monga says, "We will make a big announcement in January too. India is back with single producers, the producers who have stood the test of time. It's the time [for] producers to take the call and have faith in their vision. I genuinely feel producers' work is underestimated here. But now is the time for producers to resurface."