Producers Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani, and Madhu Bhojwani, who co-run the production studio Emmay Entertainment, believe in making meaningful projects. With two consecutive hits — a feature headlined by Rani Mukerji, Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, and a web series which is a scientific period drama Rocket Boys 2 directed by Abhay Pannu, the studio not only scaled bigger heights but also promises more with their future endeavours. The three pillars caught up with The Free Press Journal for an exclusive chat.
Sharing his excitement over the social acceptance, Nikkhil shares, “It is heartening to see the response but I feel exhausted and relieved at the same time. Since the bar was set high with Rocket Boys 1, a lot of people thought how we would make season 2 better. As producers, we had a lot of external pressure.”
Adding further Monisha Advani says, “We are competitive within ourselves. We take our successes personally and learnings from our unsuccessful attempts even more. This is a testimony to the fact that we are constantly racing against ourselves.”
“To see our work on what we have worked for over 18 months or 24 months is surreal but the whole process and journey attached to it is exhausting. It is hard to enjoy the fruits of what you have worked on by the end of it,” tells Madhu Bhojwani.
Gender disparity isn’t only restricted to actors. When asked about the changing times, the two women, who are two strong pillars of the studio, Madhu explains, “I don’t say just for the producers, I could see the massive influx of women in the industry in every sphere. As a company, there is a perfect gender balance, too. There are more women on the floor than men at times.”
Monisha reveals, “As producers we are clear with our roles, which has helped us overcome gender recognition. We have so many female directors on board, the recent one being Ashima, who helmed Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway. Since we were representing someone’s real life with this film, it was challenging.”
Talking further on striking the right balance between commercial and content-driven stories, Nikkhil avers, “Till 2017, we only produced five things but from 2017 till 2023, we did 23 more things. The idea is to tell compelling stories efficiently. The best thing is that we know how to produce since we can convince John (Abraham) to do Satyameva Jayate, Konkona (Sensharma) to do a classic ensemble Mumbai Diaries 26/11, Rani to do Mrs Chatterjee…”
Earlier, the studio backed noted projects like The Empire, Marjaavaan, Hasmukh, D-Day, Indoo Ki Jawani, and Baazaar to name a few.
