Manish Mundra, one of the top 10 producers to watch out for globally, who ventured into film production at 40, has reshaped indie cinema in India in less than four years
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 20, 2017)

A chance encounter with Rajat Kapoor on Twitter in 2013 resulted in Manish Mundra producing his first film, Ankhon Dekhi, which bagged three Filmfare Awards. He has since produced half-a-dozen films, including Masaan, X: Past Is Present,Waiting, Dhanak and Umrika which is yet to be released. He has three more films — Newton, Rukh and Kadvi Hawa — waiting to be unveiled. And now, Manish is the only Indian filmmaker to make it to Variety magazine’s list of ‘10 Producers To Watch Out For In 2017’, each of whom will be honoured in person at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.

Speaking to Mirror, Manish acknowledged that he is excited and happy. “It was a surprise but it will motivate me to carry this momentum forward over the next three-four years and prove that the privilege was worth it,” he asserted, admitting that while none of the celebs had called to congratulate him, many from the Indian film industry are delighted for him.

He has his life carefully charted out with five-year plans that have kept him on course. When he was between 25-30 he had the option of getting into films and starting at the bottom of the ladder or establish himself as a professional and pursue his passion at a later stage. He took the second route and entered the industry when he was 40, and in less than four years, has made a name for himself internationally. “I didn’t have the money to invest in big films, so I chose to nurture parallel cinema instead, making films within a tight budget and schedule to ensure that the investment paid off. Now, the effort is towards building brand Drishyam with quality products, so a certain audience which loves good cinema will come to the theatres to see a film from my company and we can cut down on the money for promotions,” he informs. “Also, once a film picks up awards and acclaim at fests abroad, the digital platform, along with theatrical and satellite, is available to us for exploiting.”

Quiz him on whether the A-listers want to work with him now, given that his films have found an audience not just at home but even abroad, and he says, “The smaller stars are coming to us but the bigger names are still interested in the big-budget, song-and-dance fantasy films which will continue to be made as they work with the Indian diaspora. For us content is the star and we’re constantly on the lookout for subjects that will appeal to an international, non-Indian audience that is looking for new and genuinely Indian, honest, real and heart-warming stories. We have a team to go through scripts. At Cannes I’m planning to connect with festival directors and their teams to figure out what kind of films they are looking for from India.”

What is his next objective? “To bag an Oscar for India in the Foreign Language category. Newton, which after winning awards at the Berlinale and the Hong Kong Film Festival, has been invited to 40 film fests across the world, stands a good chance if it is selected as India’s official entry. Else, we will come up with another movie,” he says confidently, whose favourite productions so far have been the critically acclaimed Masaan and the upcoming Rukh and Kadvi Hawa. Rukh is an emotional father-son story, an international level film featuring Manoj Bajpayee, and Kadvi Hawa, helmed by Padma Shri Nila Madhab Panda, is about global warming and climate change, based on the true stories from the drought-prone Bundelkhand region and the vanishing villages of coastal Odisha. “Kadvi Hawa has a brilliant performance by Sanjay Mishra and has bagged us the second National Award this year along with Dhanak, making it our third if you count Masaan. It’s been a short but fulfilling journey,” he exults.

And is directing a film on the cards? “Of course, but not till I have made another six-seven films as a producer. Direction needs time and knowledge of techniques. It’ll happen when the time is right. Till then I’ll keep nurturing talent and making good cinema,” says India’s Indie guru.

A Dubai businessman saving indie filmmakers from disillusionment is the cinema lover's newly favourite star
Arpita Chatterjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 8, 2015)

It takes 140 characters to convince Manish Mundra to fund a film. When director Rajat Kapoor, in a moment of vexation, took to Twitter in July 2012 to announce his temporary retirement from filmmaking, he was protesting the lack of support from financiers to see Ankhon Dekhi, his latest film, through. The Sanjay Mishra-starrer took home the Best Film (Critics) and Best Male Actor (Critics) awards at Filmfare last week, but couldn't find a producer. Mundra saw Kapoor's tweet, agreed to fund the one million dollar project - again, through a tweet ('Sir, I am a huge fan, and I will produce your film') - raising curiosity all over again about who indie cinema's latest rescuer really was.

Doing the knight in shining armour act before, Mundra had made news last September by rescuing the 16th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), when title sponsor Reliance pulled out. His contribution totalled Rs 50 lakh, making him the single largest contributor to the Mumbai film fest. And he isn't even a Mumbaikar.

The 41-year-old managing director of Indorama, a multi billion dollar petro-chemical firm headquartered in Nigeria, divides his time between Africa and Dubai, where he lives with his wife and 12-year-old and seven-year-old son in a penny plain apartment whose one corner is strewn with toys. The living room is fragrant with the lingering aroma of hing, speaking of a lunch of bhakridal.

"My story starts with nothing. My family lost everything when I was little," says Mundra, who sold cold drinks on the streets of Deoghar in Bihar, where the Marwari family had moved from native Rajasthan. He decided to live with his maternal grandmother while pursuing an MBA from Jodhpur University, taking over the reigns when she fell ill.

He stood first, he smiles, sipping on a cup of chai at the dining table.

Working through several firms in the Aditya Birla Group, he joined Indorama's Jakarta branch in 2002, sticking on to set up its petrochemical operations in Nigeria from scratch.

Not new to risks, his decision to back a good script is gut-driven. And it speaks of a passion he has harboured since he was a boy, running errands for his mother to shave off a few rupees to buy a cinema ticket.

This year, he plans to invest double of last year in film production. His film company, Drishyam Films, runs out of an office in Andheri with a team of six. "One or two good films a year is what I am currently looking at making," he says.

And he is open to co-productions ("it's important to share the risk, expand the span of investment and the scope of the film"), like he pulled off with Swati Shetty of Samosa Stories. The two are behind Prashant Nair's Umrika, which won the Audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the recently-concluded Sundance Film Festival 2015. Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Prateik and Adil Hussein star in a story about a boy who tries to save his mother from heartbreak, by fabricating letters from his brother, believed to be in America, but actually, missing. Interestingly, Shetty also reached out to Mundra on Twitter.

Dhanak, Nagesh Kukunoor's upcoming project, and Waiting, a film by Anu Menon starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin are part of Mundra's 2015 final line-up which he zeroed in on after racing through close to 50 scripts. "I can afford to take a risk in cinema because I make my money elsewhere," he clarifies. "The last 20 years have seen awful cinema from India. I'm looking for stories with an Indian ethos. Which is why I am keen to go to festivals; to put India on the map of good filmmaking."

The other criteria, is Amitabh Bachchan. With Laawaris, Kala Patthar and Deewar as favourites, Mundra speaks of backing a film that stars the senior star.

The quiet confidence is what makes him a dream producer, says Menon, who recalls going into a tizzy with ideas for marketing Waiting just before it went on floors, says Mundra simply said, "You go and make the best film you can and the rest will follow."

"His ability to back you, without conditions, is what sets him apart from the others," she says.

It's his roots, believes director Neeraj Ghaywan, whose first feature film, Masaan, Mundra will produce, that draws him to stories from the hinterland. And giving back to smalltown India isn't restricted to cinema.

Mundra speaks excitedly of a school in Jodhpur that supports 280 students whose parents can't afford to educate them. His foundation, Society for Rational Development (SFORD), was set up with the idea of providing lesser fortunate kids with the best possible classroom experience.

He might be a philanthropist, but Mundra has his indulgences. Cars don't capture his fancy ("I still use a company vehicle"), but the A. Lange & Sohne on his wrist captivates his imagination like a child's. "I started with nothing. I am not afraid of going back to nothing," he says, defining Mundra's biggest strength as producer — least risk position holder. 

Mundra-backed Ankhon Dekhi (top) won the Best Film Critics award at Filmfare; Umrica (centre) took the Audience award at Sundance Film Festival this week. A still from Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dhanak (above)