Bollywood Hungama

EXCLUSIVE: Gaurav Dhingra BLASTS Eros for delaying Gulshan Devaiah-Nimrat Kaurs Peddlers for 16 YEARS: I thank those who gave us such HORRENDOUS experiences; explains why mid-sized Hindi films have DISAPPEARED: 10 years ago, satellite fetched CRORES; today, its Rs. 10 lakhs

Gaurav Dhingra has worked on several significant films in different capacities, including Mangal Pandey (2005), Delhi-6 (2009), Angry Indian Goddesses (2015), Stolen (2025), etc. Now, he has founded Jungle Book Studios and is distributing Angh. Set in Nagaland in the 1960s, the Konyak-language film had its world premiere at the 51st annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 15. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Gaurav Dhingra spoke to us from Toronto about Angh and a lot more. When asked about his future plans, Gaurav Dhingra replied, I want to work on mid-sized films, which have disappeared from our market like Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012), Shanghai (2012), Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), etc. There was a phase last decade when such movies were doing great. Actors like Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, etc dominated this zone. This space disappeared because TV channel revenue has fallen sharply. Today, satellite rights are sold for a mere Rs. 10 lakhs. 10 years ago, one could get crores of rupees for it. Gaurav further said, If a producer today makes a film in Rs. 30 crores, hell need to spend Rs. 10 crores on marketing. Hell then consider how much he can earn from the box office, satellite and digital. Only three players exist in the streaming space. Theres monopoly in music as well, while satellite revenue is negligible. Hence, its risky for a producer to make a mid-sized film in such a scenario and he has disappeared. So, its either a super-small-budget film being made or a big-budget venture. Meanwhile, the mid-sized films, which had content, entertainment, depth, music etc. is no longer being made. We want to target that segment. Of course, we wont spend Rs. 100 crores and instead invest Rs. 20 crores. We are trying to work in this model differently and have a few such projects. Years ago, Gaurav Dhingra worked on a film called Peddlers as a co-producer. It starred Gulshan Devaiah and Nimrat Kaur and was directed by Vasan Bala of Monica O My Darling (2022) and Jigra (2024) fame. Eros International, Anurag Kashyap and Guneet Monga were the film's producers. When asked about the status of this film and whether it can ever be released on OTT if not theatrically, Gaurav Dhingra sighed and said, If you know the team at Eros International, please call and ask them, Aap iss film pe kyun baithe hue ho 16 saal se?. We made it in 2010. He added, Hence, only they can answer. Hum toh dukhi ho gaye. Nevertheless, I thank the people who gave us such horrendous experiences. Thanks to those experiences, we stopped going to anybody for help. Aise gande experiences hue shuru mein ki humein realize ho gaya that we cant be dependent on anyone; we should do it ourselves. Hence, its good that it happened, as it taught us a lot. Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Gaurav Dhingra talks about Anghs TIFF premiere and why it has a 9% chance of qualifying for Oscars; reveals why indie films dont get enough shows: Multiplexes are not meant to do charity; they have to pay rent, salaries