The Woman Who Transformed Bollywood Behind the Scenes

Guneet Amarpreet Kaur Monga believes in miracles. There is no other way she can make sense of her journey so far. Given the knocks life has dealt her, it is hard to believe that this thirty-four-year-old film producer, with closely cropped hair and large, sparkling eyes framed by a pair of dark-rimmed spectacles, is not bitter. She is serene—so serene, in fact, that it feels like Mumbai, with its frenzied energy and high-decibel noise levels, slows down when Guneet speaks.

Guneet lives by the sea. Outside her window, palm trees sway gently and the Arabian Sea laps at the shore. Gazing at the ocean and breathing the fresh, salty air are important to her—“It’s calming, peaceful and it balances your energy.” Guneet’s ocean-front flat in upscale Juhu is a far cry from a humble childhood spent in an apartment in Surajkund, near Faridabad, which her family rented for 5,000 rupees a month. Each morning, the chants of “Om namah shivay” fill her Mumbai home. “When I wake up in this apartment, I thank the universe,” Guneet says. “I give thanks every day.”