From Delhi hustler to Oscar glory: how Indian film producer Guneet Monga won the greatest prize in Hollywood
- The executive producer of Period. End of Sentence, which highlights prejudices against menstruating women in India, recalls her baptism of fire in Bollywood
- She says the Oscar-winning short documentary ‘has put the conversation on the map’
Unhappy families I was born in Delhi, in 1983, to a Punjabi family. We lived in a big house in a posh area of south Delhi. Although it was big, my parents and I lived in just one room. My mum made a small kitchen within the room and there was a bathroom. My father’s parents and his younger brother and his wife lived in the rest of the house.
My uncle wanted my dad, mum and me out so they could have (a larger) stake in the property. They would cut off the water and electricity to our room. My uncle and his wife were very aggressive. One bad night, when I was 12, they charged in with a torch – they wanted to burn my mother. We escaped that night and moved to a small apartment on the outskirts of Delhi.
The hustle For my parents, there was shame attached to living in a small flat. For me, those years, from the age of 12 to 20, were the best in my life because I had a community of friends. Living in that big house on a road of mansions, I had no life. Here, we knew everyone. I grew up wanting to buy a house for my parents. That was my only ambition in life.
Mum did multiple jobs to pay for my education. She did tuition at home and bought products wholesale and sold them for small margins. I started working early. Aged 16, I was Delhi’s second lady DJ. I earned 400 rupees (HK$45) an hour. I was a go-getter. I used to sell Laughing Cow cheese in markets. I hustled.
Backstage pass My best friend’s mother was a production coordinator for English-language films shot in India. I was still at college, studying mass communication, when I started as an intern at the film company. I progressed quickly to production coordinator, production manager and then location manager.