WOY 2024 Episode-7: US-Made “NRI Wives: Grey Stories of Love Vs Desires” Producer Gunjan Kuthiala

I'm a very average Nextdoor mom had produced an English film uh which is an Amazon Prime encrypted we are making a beautiful web series films as well arranged marriage that that's that's how in 2004 I came to America I started with software pundits I've worked with Harve Nash I've worked I was heading North America talent acquisition for bney computers my last full-time job I was with Cap Gemini I was heading North America Latin America in fact Europe Russia China Asia as well now I as you know I own my own Venture which is job Genie every penny that I've earned is when somebody through me or through my team has gotten a job I'm not Mother Teresa my mission and vision and Mission is I have to contribute to millions and millions of Dreams what we lack is authentic film making platform here most nris cannot quit their family Financial social commitments and explore Mumbai or La sometimes we feel uh especially uh as women we um we um let go of our dreams starting from being an Indian uh growing up in middle class family I've gone through uh child sexual abuse as well physically abused as well there are a lot of um roller coasters one would go through I feel blessed that Living in America for last two decades I I have learned the the respect for labor and learn to never belittle anyone hi my name is gjin Cala I am based of new Hampshire and I um run two businesses one is job Genie which is into staff augmentation services and also it's a software Product Company for job Seekers and um I have been in Talent acquisition HR for last two decades in Boston neighborhood and in parallel I run my uh business which is uh into film making and life Productions um last year I had released theatrically an Hindi film which is NRI wies this was a film which was shot this was the first film which was shot in New England and some other parts of America um and with God's grace we were invited at K Sharma show too to talk about our bold film n RV great stories of Love versus desires thank you welcome to Indiania news Our Guest today is gjan kiala she is a celebrity in her own turf she was on Kapil Sharma show she has also produced the first Bollywood movie directed written and produced in the United States gulan Welcome to our show and thank you very much for your time let us first start with a movie uh how challenging it was and how uh how did you decide to launch a movie career great question so I would say uh universe made it happen um I did not know anyone in the film industry pretty much when I started my production house uh my first connection um was with shimaru which is a huge Bollywood distribution um and production organiz company as we all know they have made Dawn and Ja Etc so I had asked Universe Universe help me learn the art of film making in simple words I'm a very average Nextdoor mom um living a corporate life and then um I I did just to clarify when you said you ask the universe you mean the mother nature right the mother nature the god you know that God this is my dream that I want to bring authentic film making within the vicinity of our neighborhood how do how to do go to go about production because my first job was um as a news reporter and news team manager but that was over 20 years ago and obviously film making Everything Has Changed evolved so much since then and that was back in India now I live in America since 20 years so mother nature connected me with shimaru I did about overall 17 projects till date as a you know producer sometimes directions and writing Etc ad ads projects and different kind of you know small projects for them then uh had produced an English film uh which is an Amazon Prime encrypted um again I had asked mother nature mother nature sent me people and that's how I produced a film I acted as well as as a lead in it and then when I learned the basics the legalities and the basics of you know ABCD I would say of the film making that's when the um uh the great stories uh the NRI wife start Journey started we initially taught upendra to be very honest with you that let's do a short film so I had reached out to Samir Soni and jugal hansj with the initial thought that we will make a short film that I wrote um and took help of you know the which I remember from the childhood actor in uh G mum in the masum movie yes yeah so um so yeah decided to do that short film while we were I've been in you know uh with God's grace a team leader and you know somebody who has created ecosystem so while we drafted the whole project to be shot in Houston Texas I realized it's not maybe not that hard we can do more so I thought let's do four stories four interconnected you know taboo bold stories and we can we them with beautiful messages W within them NRI stories because our purpose was we have we have so many unique stories amongst us nris right so many untold stories and the NRI life of uh of real life of America is not really much uh projected in a lot of Bollywood films you know um so anyways that one story led to you know next uh second third fourth story were there challenges as you asked yes we have cried our hearts we have um all kinds of challenges we have faced I would say um from you know from from budget that we thought to where it went from um shooting timelines we were still good um uh but then we had somebody kept out my hand hard drives on ransomware so I had to even pay ransomware for that person to be honest so how much time it took to uh suit this feature film so uh shooting time it doesn't it doesn't take a take long so since we talk uh have shot four stories so I would say about four weeks in total we didn't shoot uh like we shot one month one week then Second Story second month like that so overall duration of shooting was only four weeks shooting doesn't take long but then pandemic happened bendra who in the world knew that you know the the the the the the pandemic would happen and we would not be able to travel to India so my hard drives now were stuck in India you know first the hard drives got got stuck here like I said I we had the ransom we challenge um we we were all shocked my core team upendra G has a lot of uh Community uh team members and especially females you know who encouraged me motivated me there were times I we I was like what am I doing this is a crazy this seems like a crazy dream um but there was a lot of support encouragement and you know uh love from lot of community people so anyways then the pandemic happened the hardres got stuck then again some angels came and the somehow the work happened um you know uh uh uh and then yeah then the distribution was so your main role in the movie you were the writer you were the director producer also you acted in the movie as well right yes I'm not the director I'm the I was the creative head of the creative leader of the entire project but no it was not directed by me I we had uh uh different directors yeah okay okay for okay so now what is uh your next project when it comes to the film making I know you are in in India right now in that context so so what is your next project I would love to uh name few projects but I'm not sure if I can announce the projects yet but yeah we are making a beautiful web series we are in you know pre-production stage of a beautiful web series as well which will again be shot in America another uh you know few films as well some uh really elephant projects some medium projects that we are in one horror project as well um you know written by uh by me and yeah so we we're working on couple of projects you know excellent now which will be shot most of it which will be shot in America yeah in America okay now earlier um you mentioned that uh you have been to us for about 20 years so yeah what brought you to us and how did you start your career in the US so it was uh arranged marriage that that's that's how in 2004 I came to America and uh my first job like I was sh sharing that I was a news reporter and a news team manager in India so when I moved to us didn't know anyone and uh you know uh somebody when I got interviewed they asked me can can you interview people I was like ah yeah I used to interview people in front of the camera I guess I can do it without the camera that's how my HR Journey started in from Boston itself yeah and what are some of the firms you worked with so I started with software pundits I've worked with Harve Nash I've worked I was heading North America talent acquisition for patney computerss uh for over four years and um I've been with Amazon I've contracted as well I've been a corporate recruiter as well worked for organizations like Amazon Trip Advisor Expedia my last full-time job I was with Cap Gemini I was heading North America Latin America in fact Europe Russia China Asia as well pretty much uh you know I was second in command U globally for business services for Cap Gemini now I as you know I own my own uh Venture which is job Genie so um my vision and so far with God's grace ofra every penny that I've earned is when somebody through me or through my team has gotten a job so I feel blessed I think these are blessings of people whom somehow we have contributed in their career aspirations and that has helped me in getting Angels uh for the as my personal uh mission and vision for Life yeah so uh let us talk a little bit about your dream of bringing bwood to to New Hampshire or New England GE NRI Bollywood that's the mission we want to create NRI Bollywood so what is happening on that front what is your real ideal uh goal and mission and vision g opendra g um as I was sharing the it's I'm not Mother Teresa I'm not I'm I like I said I'm a very average next door mom who likes to drink as well and uh I have my own 100 flaws that being said somehow I don't know why because of the journey that I've had uh roller coasters we all women go through we all all human beings in fact go through all kinds of roller coasters I feel lately that my mission and vision and Mission is I have to contribute to millions and millions of Dreams that's the crazy mission that I've got now when it comes to NRI Bollywood why that uh that became Universe gave me that as a calling is because we have great shooting locations yeah in New England as you know we have lot of talent Integrity a little bit of money as well but what we lack is authentic film making platform here most nris cannot quit their family Financial social commitments and explore Mumbai or La you know to not everybody's blessed with that ecosystem support system that they can venture out right so um Universe has had blessed me with that calling SL support system that I was able to uh like with Go I mean now I'm here in Mumbai pretty much for two months you know so but is it easy no it's not easy there there are a lot of roller coasters I in fact last week I had an anxiety attack I was in hospital you know but point is somehow still Universe kept on connecting me with dots and um gave me this calling so that we can bring authentic film making within the vicinity of our neighborhoods and create this NRI Bollywood uh so that or good see I'm 42 years old by keeping just their dreams underneath the pillow you know I was aspiring sorry yeah sorry gjan you mentioned uh that you have come from this roller coaster uh ride and I was wondering uh if you can share some of your roller coaster Journey if it's okay with you yeah so see uh sometimes we feel uh especially uh as women we um we um let go of our dreams uh you know while taking care of responsibilities yeah uh and of course responsibilities are critical I'm I'm not saying we I I still have to you know as as a mom I have still have responsibilities um that you got to take care starting from being an Indian uh growing up in middle class family I've gone through uh child sexual abuse as well ever since that was three and a half four years old M to um all kind of roller coasters of you know being NRI people think that I have uh I've been financially very badly abused as well um from crypto scam as well I've been um physically abused as well you know uh in India and I don't want to say I mean I love India I love America both the countries but um there a lot of um roller coasters one would go through people underestimate you when you are because just because you have the the Gratitude and the humbleness and you are not shallow to put belittle anyone people underestimate you and people uh tend to take you for granted yeah so um I feel blessed that Living in America for last two decades I I have learned the the respect for labor and learned to never belittle anyone and it's shallow when you um when when you come across as snooty or hurtful to anyone you know what I mean G but then people at times I think the culture sometimes I mean we have learned to be nonh hierarchical you know what I mean but then uh navigating your way back in the game of uh in the Indian culture which is very bureaucratic and very hierarchical you know sometimes it's challenging uh so there has been a lot of uh like I said roller coasters that way people think you are I'm sorry but people think you're are a female um they uh they they have taken my money and I've struggled to get the money back they you know uh all kind of hicups yeah so so so now my question to you is uh you know with your own experience producing that movie NRI wife there are four stories now you were talking about your own uh roller coaster life in in the US as well as in India yeah and so how challenging is it is for a woman to come to us or live in the US does that dream which uh you know people have in India does it really happens here or it is fiction I I just want to take um to explore your take from from the women's point of view the illusory American dream I I'll be honest I well it comes to career I uh in America I've never faced uh any kind of racial discrimin I was able to climb the ladder very very fast I was 25 years of age when I became director of recruitment so um I think it's a lot on your belief you know um yes in film industry when I tried uh uh taking the baby steps I was asked if I'm available to for compromise or not you know a mother of two um and I don't think I I present myself um ever I'm bold yes I'm bubbly I'm chirpy yes but I don't think I ever present myself as if I'm available but people had the audacity to ask uh me as well so comfortably not just once uh you know at few occasions uh uh you know so casting couch or all that stuff is is is true to be honest so it uh uh so so that's that's another reason I thought okay I no one I'm just a you know new filmmaker but our production house we will go give opportunities solely and purely on the basis of talent you know um so is it challenging well every job is challenging every B business has its challenge but then as long as you believe in your dreams you do not give up no matter what whatever it takes you do not give up you know things will start to fall in its place sooner or later so okay so now I come to the conclusion I have I have to ask you the for two advice one advice to NRI wives here in the US and one advice to a young girl who is 15 year old and he starts dreaming about her life so tell us about these two advices to the 15-year-old girl I'll give this advice the dream big don't settle for less you know um and believe in your dream and in fact believe that it's not a dream it's going to happen it's going to you're going to make it happen you know you're going to bring it to life so dream whatever you wish from your life uh do not underestimate anyone including your own self um and then that's it you don't need to know A to Z you only need to know a and z you know and that's it and let let everybody and and be open vocal about whatever you seek from your life uh and let's let's just see that how people will guide you would love to Mentor you and support you and connect you with the right dots as far as NV goes um well I the our film and wives was a lot about how we uh first generation immigrants when we move to America we go through uh we have limited support system and um how the relationships get impacted being first generation immigrants so um uh my one of the message the primary message that comes in the end these are very bold stories and how it talks about that a lot of rule book is opendra till date given to women you know it's expected that women are if a woman is smoking or drinking we get easily typ casted you know um there's nothing I don't wrong about it what I've tried to show is that good people can show gra Shades to in Odd Life circumstances um and in the end the the message was that life always gives you two choices a to keep on kic what you don't have B to embrace and accept and create from whatever life has blessed you with and make the the best out of it and that's what I as an average next to Mom with my whatever life had has blessed me and has not blessed me with I'm I'm I'm giving my best shot and I hope universe and all of you community people can continue to keep supporting this crazy mission of creating NRI Bollywood and I'm sure we will uh Gan thank you so much for your time I really enjoyed chatting with you and we are looking forward to honoring you on April 26 at burington marad thank you so much thank you p