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?
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