Bollywood Hungama

Guneet Monga Kapoor recalls Yash Chopras golden rule: Scripts never fail, budgets fail; makes a SURPRISING revelation: My most PROFITABLE films are Pagglait and Kathal; our ROIs are HUGE

Taapsee Pannu, Kanika Dhillon and Guneet Monga Kapoor attended a session organized by WIF India and Kathha Pictures on women driving Indian cinema and the rise of female-led collaborations. The host asked whether it becomes difficult to mount female-led films, more so when a film, fronted by a heroine, bombs at the box office. Guneet Monga Kapoor said, A film, whether led by a man or a woman, when it works, it works. However, we are used to putting things in a box. At Sikhya Entertainment, the company that I run, we just got invested in. With that investment, we are making 4 films which are women-led. One of it is directed by someone fresh out of a film institute. I saw her short film and encouraged her to direct for us. She added, We live by examples and with the assumptions that 'Yeh film uski tarah hai', 'Yeh film nahin chali toh woh nahin chalegi'. But thats life. These are the cards that have been presented to us on the table. We cannot cry about it. She observed, You make a product and put money into it. If the product doesnt work, that equity is at risk of losing money. Thats why everyone is insecure. Every conversation is about equity, forget gender or non-gender. Guneet Monga Kapoor continued, Everything boils down to math. I remember attending a masterclass by Yash Chopra in 2007. He said, 'The scripts never fail. The budgets fail'. Hence, money management is central to producing and so is expectation management. If you get the budgets right, there's no stopping. Guneet then surprised the audience as she revealed, My most profitable films are Pagglait (2021) and Kathal (2023). Our ROIs are huge. Even in the case of The Lunchbox (2013), the ROI is massive. But go outside and people would tell you 'Bina gaano waali picture bana di', forget saying, 'Bina hero ki picture bana di'! She ended her answer by stating, Hence, at the centre of this whole thing is maths. Lets not put gender in maths. Also Read: Taapsee Pannu reveals Bollywoods bias: Theyll IMMEDIATELY invest Rs. 25 cr in a thriller with me but hesitate in making a love story in Rs. 15 cr; says playing strong women has become a gaali: Feels like maine bahut bada paap kiya hai!