Leaders
Guneet Monga : Taking Indian Cinema Global Through Pure Gumption
Guneet Monga
Founder & CEO, Sikhya Entertainment
Mumbai
Some films stay forever in the audience's mind and soul and some of these films have been produced by the legendary Guneet Monga. She has given gems to the industry by producing The Lunchbox, Masaan, Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1, Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2, Zubaan, Pagglait, and the very recent documentary short film that got her the second Academy Award, "The Elephant Whisperers" released on Netflix.
The Netflix-streaming documentary film 'The Elephant Wishperers' won the Best Documentary Short film award at the 95th Academy Awards on 13 March 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Led by Guneet, this was the first win by an India production at the Academy awards.
Early Life
The Indian film producer was born in 1983 has has made a substantial impact on the film industry. She was raised in Delhi and studied mass communication from Madhubala Institute of Mass Communication and Electronic Media, Delhi which is connected to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
She established Sikhya Entertainment, a boutique production company that made several well-known movies. In 2018, she was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served as executive producer on the 2019 Academy Award-winning documentary short film "Period. End of Sentence."
International Recognitions Galore
She has been recognized by a Hollywood Reporter as one of the top 12 women achievers in the global entertainment industry. She has been listed in the top 50 Indians changing India by the prestigious India Today. Guneet has been honored as Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. Her first major international film nominated for the Academy Awards, "Kavi," a 2009 short film, highlighted bonded labor in India.
In May 2024 the Cannes Film Festival announced that the Oscar-winning producer, Guneet Monga Kapoor, would lead Women In Film (WIF) India. WIF, Los Angeles revealed its plans to launch an India chapter.
Speaking at the occasion, Guneet Monga mentioned, "From being in rooms where male colleagues have had to communicate on my behalf so I'd be taken seriously, to leading international co-productions and studio-scale projects, I've seen and been actively involved in the progress over two decades. Yet comprehensive studies like the 'O Womaniya! The 2023 Report' still suggests a lack of gender diversities across key filmmaking departments. The study of 156 films reported only 12 percent of head-of-department positions were occupied by women."