From Delhi to the world: Gaurav Dhingra on making films with purpose

When Gaurav Dhingra began his journey in films, there was no clear roadmap — only a desire to carve a different path.

“When I started the journey, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he admits. “But as I went around, I learned. Everyday is a learning.”

Growing up in Delhi, Dhingra realised that standing out in India’s crowded film market — where more than 2,500 films are produced annually — meant doing something truly different.

“ I realised that if you want to make a name for yourself here, you have to do something different. Otherwise, you’ll get lost in the middle of 140 crore people.”

His solution was to think beyond domestic audiences and make films that, in his words, “cross language, culture… appeal to people while crossing all the places.”

Building a studio from scratch

In 2011, Dhingra co-founded Jungle Book Entertainment with director Pan Nalin. When Nalin moved on, Dhingra transformed it into a full-fledged studio, managing everything from concept development to distribution.

“From a production company, it became a studio,” he says. “And now I run it on my own.”

Today, the company’s slate spans fiction films, non-fiction shows like Takeshi’s Castle India with Jaaved Jaaferi, and high-profile service productions including The Amazing Race and projects with YouTube star MrBeast.

Stolen: Tackling a systemic failure

Dhingra’s latest film, Stolen, is a tense drama on mob lynching — an issue he sees as a symptom of deep institutional collapse rather than partisan politics.

“Lynching happens when you don’t trust the system,” he explains. “If it takes 20 years for the system to give justice, people take it themselves. But this is not how a civilised society works. People are not at fault — the system is.”

Premiering at over 40 international festivals, Stolen reached its widest audience after streaming on Amazon Prime, where it trended in 11 countries.

“In festivals, you might have 6,000 people watch it. On a streaming platform, it’s millions. The response was phenomenal.”

A story born from pain

The film’s origins lie in a disturbing viral video of a lynching. Initially conceived as a highly immersive narrative, Dhingra felt it lacked emotional depth.

“That’s when we merged it with a true story of a five-month-old baby kidnapped from a bus station in rural Uttar Pradesh… That gave birth to the film.”

The script went through a painstaking process. “We went through nuances, nuances, over 90 drafts,” he says, smiling. “I think I lost count.” Officially, there were 38 drafts, but “unofficially there are many more” as creative disagreements led the team to write separate versions.

Drafts were shared with a network of international filmmakers and producers for feedback. “Writing is actually not writing — writing is accepting that you’re a bad writer and then becoming a better writer.”

Producing with purpose

For Dhingra, producing is about strategic allocation of scarce resources.

“Bottom line, you never have enough money to do anything. Producing for me, in one line, is knowing where you want to spend that money.”

He recalls a crucial moment during Stolen’s shoot: a costly car sequence had a continuity error. Recognising it as the “money shot,” they reshot the scene the next day. “Better shot, better performance — and that made the film.”

His approach is to cut excess offscreen and put everything on the screen. “No fancy hotels, no business class, no bakwaas… good script, good people — that’s it.” But he insists that the effort must be rooted in purpose: “If you do something which is tough to do, the product will shine… but don’t do it without a purpose.”

The state of Indian cinema

Dhingra is blunt about the challenges facing the industry.

“The industry is in a bad situation because they’re making bad content,” he says. “Films are a reflection of society, and society has crumbled. There are no new ideas, and the market is monopolistic — three or four big buyers control everything.”

In his view, the fiercest competition is not other filmmakers but short-form social media. “My competition is Instagram. If TikTok were still here, that too. People have two free hours in a day — do they watch your film, or scroll reels? You’re fighting Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai for their time.”

Delhi roots, Mumbai work

Despite his professional base in Mumbai, Dhingra’s heart is firmly in Delhi.

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“I’m a Delhiite. I grew up here, went to Sardar Patel School and Bhagat Singh College. My family’s here, my daughter goes to school here. Mumbai is just where I work.”

He maintains homes and offices in both cities, but chooses to live in Delhi to be close to his parents. “I love them. I don’t want them to change their lives because of me. Their business is here. My wife likes Delhi more than Mumbai.”

He does not romanticise either city. “Both are equally bad — Delhi and Mumbai… There are equal problems in both the cities.”

Advice to newcomers

Dhingra’s counsel to aspiring filmmakers is unvarnished. “Don’t do it. Unless you’re really determined, the market is crashing. It’s a bad situation.”

Yet his own career shows that persistence, purpose, and a willingness to take risks can carve out a place even in a saturated and uncertain industry.