Producer Kavita Gupta: ‘There’s a Global Audience Hungry for Indian Stories’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Kavita Gupta, who is originally from Delhi, is emerging as one of the Indian voices connecting Hollywood and South Asia. The first Indian appointed to the Board of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), she has built a career at the crossroads of entertainment, fashion, and global culture. After beginning her film journey as CFO at Anurag Kashyap Films, where she was associated with titles such as “The Lunchbox,” “Bombay Talkies” and “Gangs of Wasseypur,” Gupta has gone on to produce globally relevant stories. As founder of CineRoost Capital, she is also investing in the future of storytelling by bringing together creators, technology and capital, while championing South Asian talent on the world stage. Excerpts from a conversation:

You’re producing a project with Vir Das and another is a documentary on singer Asha Puthli. What can you share with us about them?

I’m an executive producer on the documentary on Asha Puthli, directed by Shruti Ganguly, a two-time Oscar-nominated documentary maker. I was absolutely in awe of what Asha has done. None of us in today’s world have an idea that there was an Indian American singer in the 1970s singing in some of the most legendary places. I got to know about this from a tram.  And then three days later, she was on "SNL," singing with Gorillaz, and Ryan Gosling was introducing her and I realized that she is a legend, and that I needed to be part of this documentary and take this story to the next level. I’m also co-producing a movie with Vir. It is a horror film, which is set up for the international circuit. We are gunning for great international festivals and distributions.

Related Stories

Varun Dhawan Teams Up With ‘Rocket Boys’ Director Abhay Pannu for Horror Film

Mahesh Bhatt Pens A Note For Imtiaz Ali (EXCLUSIVE)

With audiences reluctant to go to theaters, how do you decide what you want to back?

I look for a story that I can take to the international audience and really can create awareness beyond what people think of Indian films; that we have singing and dancing. I’ve seen how the international audience craves to understand that Indian movies are not just about a girl, a boy, a dance, and colors, which is great. But I feel like there is a whole community of people who want to be positioned the way South Korea has with films like “Parasite.” We do have those stories.

So, when I come on board, it’s not only as a tech investor sitting in the US; it’s strategic because I’m on International Emmy Awards and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) board. That gets me into the rooms where I can showcase those stories, not just the festival circuit, but also beyond.

What affects your decision to produce a project?

What I learned from production companies like A24 and Neon is that you need focus. If you’re doing a big-budget movie, then do big-budget stuff, and then do everything around it that needs to be done, as they did with “Marty Supreme.” But if you’re producing “Gone Girl,” it’s different. So what I am focusing on right now is basically making a smaller-budget movie. Think of “Homebound” instead of it going through an international Oscar category. Imagine that as a US production. I have no doubt it would be the favorite at the Oscars.

As a board member on film and tech committees, do you feel responsible for creating more opportunities for Indian talent?

That’s the whole reason I joined them. When you join a board like that, there is a financial element attached to it, which you contribute to. There is also the responsibility of what you want to represent or how you want to use your voice on the board. I joined the International Emmys board back in 2017. It’s been almost nine years now. It took me three years to understand how people are pushing their projects because it is European and then sometimes, very Latino-heavy. The first project which I pushed to be nominated was Excel Entertainment’s “Inside Edge.” That was the year when I started giving them three projects. Then, I called up Nikhil Advani to ask him to nominate “Rocket Boys.” From there, I hosted over 30 screenings for “Rocket Boys.” I requested every juror to watch it.

And that’s how we got a nomination for Imtiaz Ali’s “Amar Singh Chamkila,” too. It is obviously a work-in-progress and it never stops. This year, “Black Warrant” and “Maharani” are my favorite shows. I have already hosted a bunch of juror screenings for them.

Where do you think the gaps are in collaboration between India and the global industry?

Ten years back, when I was at the Sundance Film Festival, “Gangs of Wasseypur” was the closing movie of the festival. You would think, ‘Oh, we are here, we have arrived.’ “The Lunchbox” and “Masaan” created waves. But then, nothing. Everyone noticed Payal Kapadia, and again there was nothing after that. The thing is, we need to be an insider. And that’s the flip I want to do. I want us to be insiders. I want us to compete in every category internally. It just cannot be a foreign category. And I think that’s where I make a difference because I’ve been sitting in every possible room from the Academy to Emmys to Golden Globes. And after all these years of sitting in those rooms, I have realized that we need to be an insider.

How are you building ecosystems where creators and investors can collaborate long-term. And what role do you hope India will play in that? 

This is my personal passion; I’m doing it out of my pocket. I don’t have a fund or a film or a company to answer to. For me, it is making India an insider in a global game rather than just one of the participants or outsiders. I want to continue to push South Asian stories that resonate with me, created by directors and actors who resonate with me. And then I want to take that to some of the best producing, development, and distribution partners from the U.S. and the UK. That’s the ecosystem that I want to create, where suddenly our international stories are inside stories.