Manish Mundra: Script Is Real Superstar In A Film

From the critically acclaimed Ankhon Dekhi to the Sundance Film Festival-winning Umrika and the recent Cannes winner Masaan, Nigerian producer Manish Mundras firm belief in a good script has made him every indie film-makers dream come true. With a slew of releases slated under his company Drishyam Films, he tells Hi! Blitz what losing everything as a child taught him, why he got into producing films and how the real superstar in a film is the script.

- Farhad J Dadyburjor

Coming from a completely non-filmy background and being the managing director of a petrochemicals firm in Nigeria, what made you decide to get into producing films?

I was so fascinated with the aura behind show business right from the early days. Later on the desire to make films became much stronger with the thought that it’s a form of art which if executed in a proper manner and with good stories may help me create something for society that may even outlive me as an individual.

You’ve come a long way from selling soft drinks on the streets as a teenager in Deoghar, Bihar. What happened that made you’ll lose everything as a child?

Life takes us through its own ups and downs. My childhood went through that down turf when my father lost in business what he had toiled for for years. When I look back I feel it did play a major role in making me what I am today. That patch of struggle along with my family members made me realise the importance of education, qualification, professional success, value of money, right investments and no speculations.

Those tough times taught you several life lessons…

That it’s important to respect people as you don’t know where they are coming from and what is their internal story. You may call it ‘empathy’. Those days also taught me to have the courage to walk a little extra, to venture a little more, to dream a little bigger.