Phantom Films

Phantom Films
Private
Industry Entertainment
Founded 2011
Founders Anurag Kashyap
Vikramaditya Motwane
Vikas Bahl
Madhu Mantena
Defunct 2018
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Products Films
Services Film production
Film distribution
Subsidiaries Reliance Entertainment
Website Phantom Films

Phantom Films was an Indian film production and distribution company established by Anurag Kashyap, director Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Madhu Mantena and the former head of UTV Spotboy Vikas Bahl. It was founded in 2011 by all four of them, and is cited as the "director's company". In March 2015, Reliance Entertainment picked up 50% stake in the company.

The company’s first production was the period romance Lootera (2013), directed by Motwane and starring Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha. the film was co-produced by Balaji Motion Pictures. Next year, the company co-produced the romantic-comedy Hasee Toh Phasee and Queen, starring Kangana Ranaut. The film was a critical and commercial success, it also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It was followed by the thrillers Ugly and NH10 (2015). The latter marked the production debut of Anushka Sharma. Hunterrr (2015), Bombay Velvet (2015) and Masaan (2015) were the company's next releases. The company was dissolved in October, 2018.[1]

Establishment

Phantom Films was founded in 2011 by Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena, and is cited as the "directors' company".[2] The idea to start their own production house came in mind of because of "their failure in convincing every time to someone to believe in the kind of cinema they make".[3] In March 2015, Reliance Entertainment picked up 50% stake in the company.[4]

Films

The company's first film was the period romance Lootera (2013), starring Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha. Based O. Henry's short story, The Last Leaf, the film was critically acclaimed.[5]

Phantom film's then went on to collaborate with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions to produce the romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee (2014). The film starring Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra was directed by the debutant Vinil Mathew.[6] It was followed by Vikas Bahl-directed comedy drama Queen, starring Kangana Ranaut. The film was a critical and commercial success, it also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.[7][8][9] Ugly (2014), a drama thriller was the next production venture of Phantom.[10]

In 2015, the company produced Anushka Sharma's production debut film NH10, and the sex comedy Hunterrr. Both films proved to be a success.[11][12] Bombay Velvet, a period film set in Bombay in the 1960s, based on Princeton University Historian Gyan Prakash's book Mumbai Fables, was its next release. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar. The film was a major box-office failure.[13][14] Masaan, was phantom's fourth release of the year. The film won the FIPRESCI Award and the Promising Future award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[15] The string of box-office failures for Phantom Films continued with Shaandaar (2015), starring Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor.[16][17]

In February 2016, Phantom Films announced that they will co-produce three Gujarati films with CineMan Productions, a Gujarat-based film production company co-founded by Abhishek Jain.[18] Phantom's first release of the year was Udta Punjab (2016), a crime drama from the director Abhishek Chaubey that documents the substance abuse endemic in the Indian state of Punjab. The film generated controversy when the Central Board of Film Certification demanded extensive censorship before its theatrical release, citing that the portrayal of Punjab in it was negative.[19] After the producers of the film filed lawsuit against the board, the Bombay High Court cleared the film for exhibition with a single scene cut.[20] It was followed by Raman Raghav 2.0, a thriller directed by Anurag Kashyap based on the notorious serial killer Raman Raghav, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the title character. The film premiered at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival and the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in the Director's Fortnight section to positive response.[21][22] The company's final release of the year was the Gujarati film Wrong Side Raju.[23]

Dissolution

The company announced its dissolution on 5 October, 2018,[1] largely in response to the sexual assault allegation on Bahl by a former Phantom employee, which was reported in 2015.[24] The other three founders, Kashyap, Motwane, and Mantena, all issued statements on Twitter confirming the company's disbanding and moving on to independent projects.[25]

Filmography

Films produced

YearFilmDirectorCastNotes
2013LooteraVikramaditya MotwaneRanveer Singh, Sonakshi SinhaCo-produced with Balaji Motion Pictures
2014Hasee Toh PhaseeVinil MathewParineeti Chopra, Sidharth MalhotraCo-produced with Dharma Productions
QueenVikas BahlKangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Lisa HaydonCo-produced with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
UglyAnurag KashyapRahul Bhat, Ronit Roy, Girish Kulkarni, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vineet Kumar Singh, Surveen Chawla
2015NH10Navdeep SinghAnushka Sharma, Neil BhoopalamCo-produced with Clean Slate Films
HunterrrHarshavardhan KulkarniGulshan Devaiah, Radhika ApteCo-produced with Tailormade Films
Bombay VelvetAnurag KashyapRanbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar
MasaanNeeraj GhaywanRicha Chadda, Sanjay Mishra, Shweta Tripathi, Vicky KaushalCo-produced with Drishyam Films, Macassar Productions,Sikhya Entertainment,Pathé and Arte France Cinéma
ShaandaarVikas BahlShahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj KapurCo-produced with Dharma Productions
2016Udta PunjabAbhishek ChaubeyKareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Diljit DosanjhCo-produced with Balaji Motion Pictures
Raman Raghav 2.0Anurag KashyapNawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal, Sobhita Dhulipala
Wrong Side RajuMikhil MusalePratik Gandhi, Asif Basra, Kavi ShastriGujarati film
Co-produced with CineMan Productions
2017TrappedVikramaditya MotwaneRajkummar Rao, Geetanjali Thapa
2018MukkabaazAnurag KashyapVineet Kumar Singh, Ravi Kishan, Jimmy ShergillCo-produced with Reliance Entertainment and Colour Yellow Productions
High JackAkarsh KhuranaSumeet Vyas, Mantra, Sonnalli Seygall
YoungraadMakrand ManeVitthal Patil, Chaitanya Deore
Bhavesh Joshi SuperheroVikramaditya MotwaneHarshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyuli, Nishikant Kamat
ManmarziyaanAnurag KashyapAbhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky KaushalCo-produced with Colour Yellow Productions
2019Super 30Vikas BahlHrithik Roshan, Mrunal ThakurCo-produced with Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment

Films distributed

YearFilmLanguageDirectorCast
2016Nannaku PremathoTeluguSukumarJr. Ntr, Jagapathi Babu, Rakul Preet Singh

Series

Year Series Director(s) Original
network		 Cast Notes
2018 – present Sacred Games Anurag Kashyap
Vikramaditya Motwane		 Netflix Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte
2018 Ghoul Patrick Graham Radhika Apte, Manav Kaul Co-produced with Blumhouse Television and Ivanhoe Pictures

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Shaikh, Samina (6 October 2018). "EXCLUSIVE! Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena dissolve their production company". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  2. ↑ Shackleton, Liz (24 November 2011). "Kashyap conjures up Phantom Films". Screen Daily.
  3. ↑ "Phantom in conversation with team box office India". Box Office India. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Sanjai, P.R. (8 March 2015). "Reliance Entertainment partners Anurag Kashyap's Phantom Films". Mint. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Lootera: a slow pace romantic saga worth watching, say critics". Hindustan Times. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Kaushal, Sweta (7 February 2014). "Movie review: Parineeti Chopra re-defines Bollywood heroine in Hasee Toh Phasee". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Mehta, Ankita (6 March 2014). "'Queen' Review Roundup: Watch it for Kangana's Superb Performance". International Business Times. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Top Ten Worldwide Grossers 2014". Box Office India. 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "62nd National Film Awards' winners: 'Haider' wins five, Kangana Ranaut's 'Queen' two". The Indian Express. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Malvania, Urvi (27 December 2014). "Ugly is a commercial film: Anurag Kashyap". Business Standard. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Anushka Sharma turns producer with NH10". Firstpost. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Hunterrr and NH10 score well". Filmfare. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Bombay Velvet is Ranbir Kapoor's biggest career disaster". India Today. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "'Bombay Velvet' fades against 'Piku'". The Hindu. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "'Masaan' to release in India on July 24". The Hindu. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "Pyaar Ka Punchnama still raking in moolah". The Free Press Journal. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "Did 'Pyaar ka Punchnama 2' prove detrimental to 'Shaandaar' and 'Main Aur Charles'?". Daily News and Analysis. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "Cineman and Phantom Films to co-produce three Gujarati films". Indian Express. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Parussini, Gabriele (9 June 2016). "How the Movie Udta Punjab Sparked a Debate About Drug Use in India". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Udta Punjab row: Bombay HC clears film with just one cut, tells CBFC not to act like grandmother". The Indian Express. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "Raman Raghav 2.0 to compete at Sydney Film Festival". The Hindu. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0 lands a big punch in Cannes". Hindustan Times. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Narayan, Hari (31 August 2016). "Gujarati film industry, still a work in progress". Mint. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  24. ↑ Pathak, Ankur (6 October 2018). "'Queen' Director Vikas Bahl Sexually Assaulted Me, Phantom Films Did Nothing: Survivor Speaks Out". HuffPost. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  25. ↑ https://www.filmibeat.com/bollywood/news/2018/phantom-films-dissolved-anurag-kashyap-says-all-dreams-come-to-an-end-278047.html
  26. ↑ "62nd National Film Awards for 2014 (Press Release)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  27. ↑ "63rd National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  28. ↑ "64th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
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