Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga and Tahira Kashyap Khurrana join the Oscar race even as they empower women in Indian cinema

Less than a week after launching the cinema collective, Indian Women Rising (IWR), co-founded by filmmakers Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana and Ruchik Kapoor Sheikh, announced their first Oscar-ready project. Bittu is a short film directed by Karishma Dev Dube, about a little girl who refuses to remain forgotten, that won the silver medal at the Student Academy Awards in 2020. And the new collective is now all set to present it to the Academy and join the Oscar race. 

Their first project articulates the clear agenda behind Indian Women Rising, to disrupt the status quo by bringing into the spotlight stories helmed by women. As they set out to promote and support women creators in Indian cinema, Kashyap and Monga share details of why they needed to put their combined force behind this initiative, their vision for a more equal industry and what comes next. 

How did this collaboration come about?

Guneet Monga: Tahira and I have worked together for the last year or so and during that time we got to know each other well. We shared our common ambition of elevating women in the industry and supporting each other. As we were talking, I did some research and discovered that less than 5 per cent of directors are women. 

Tahira Kashyap Khurrana: When she told me about this ratio of male to female directors, we discussed what we could do to influence that number. 

Tell us more about your first project and the Oscar mission...

Guneet Monga: Our first project is Karishma Dev Dube’s short film ‘Bittu’, which won an award (Narrative – Domestic Film Schools - Silver) at the 47th Student Academy Awards, October 2020. I had shared the film then and then a few weeks ago she reached out to me and said she needed support. And we are here to support projects like this. 

Tahira Kashyap Khurrana: Between us, Guneet has the maximum experience of how things happen outside of India, in terms of film festivals, Academy Awards etc. Bittu is amazing and we just knew this was the film with which we have to move forward, build momentum and, gradually empower other women as well. With that intention we reached out to Ekta (Kapoor), who came on board instantly, along with Ruchika Kapoor (Senior Vice President, Balaji).

What does support from IWR entail? 

Guneet Monga: Our mandate is mentorship, PR, marketing support and distribution push. We take on the project after its finished production. Our effort will be on amplification. So many good films get lost. We want to try and get more and more such films seen. Individually, the four of us are all working in cinema but as IWR we will come in and support films that we like at the second leg. There’s many who know how to make a film but then get stuck when it comes to marketing the film, figuring out the film festival run, etc. That outreach and putting a title out there is where IWR comes in. We have global relationships with sales agents, a marketing footprint and, between the three of us, we have a lot of digital real estate so we can add a lot of power to content and bring these creators and conversations to the mainstream. We are also looking at shorts, features and documentaries.

How are roles divided up between the stakeholders?

Guneet Monga: We have Balaji and Sikhya’s marketing teams and Tahira’s team and her expertise as a content creator and writer. I take on discovery and international conversations and if the film works for Tahira and I, then we take it to Ekta who puts her might behind it, financially and in terms of marketing.

What has led to the lack of support for female filmmakers? 

Tahira Kashyap Khurrana: There is a lack of representation and a lack of opportunities. The skew is towards trusting a man to call the shots and this is owing to the deep-rooted patriarchal set up. Women directors are not less talented. Many go to film schools and have the skills, but very few get to become directors. This is where we step up, by giving them the opportunity because they are capable. Many cannot handle having a woman boss. Taking orders from a woman is a bit of a fight when it comes to the male ego. There are trust issues when it comes to who is heralding a project and who calls the shots.

Guneet Monga: And issues with trusting her with two million dollars to make a film. Until she gives a super-hit i.e and then everything changes! 

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