Manish Malhotra on Finding His Voice as an Independent Producer: 'I Want To Explore Worlds That May Not Be Mine'
Manish Malhotra on building his own space in cinema, trusting new voices, and choosing the unexpected with every story.
After 35 years of defining glamour in Hindi cinema, Manish Malhotra is stepping into a new chapter as a producer. The designer turned filmmaker says his goal was never to emulate Bollywood’s big production houses but to create something that feels entirely his own. “I don’t want to look like a copy of Yash Raj, Dharma, or Excel, all the big productions who do such brilliant work,” he says. “I just want to be an independent producer, but with an unexpected language.”
That belief became the foundation of his banner, Stage 5, which he launched four and a half years ago. He began reading scripts and meeting new directors, eager to discover stories that didn’t sound like him. One of them was Saali Mohabbat. “It was very different from what I would usually produce,” he recalls. “An actor friend even told me, ‘This doesn’t sound like you,’ and I said, ‘Exactly. It’s a production — it doesn’t have to sound like me.’ When I direct, it will come from my heart. But as a producer, I want to explore worlds that may not be mine.”
Malhotra decided to back the project on his own, investing his own money and instincts. “Every decision I’ve taken has been mine — the good and the bad,” he says. “I didn’t ask a single friend what they thought. Friends can be protective; they’ll tell you, ‘Why aren’t you doing something glamorous or based on fashion?’ But I wanted my first set of films to be completely unexpected.”
He admits that producing has taught him restraint. “As a producer, you cannot be sitting there taking shots — it has to be the director’s vision,” he explains. “Respect your director, because if you don’t, nobody will. Films are about calm decisions. You have to know when to let go and when to control.”
As for direction, he is in no rush. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s for me,” he says. “But I know that one morning I’ll wake up and say, ‘Yeh toh mujhe banani hai’ (I need to make this). When that happens, I’ll go for it. Till then, I’m backing stories that surprise me.”
Malhotra’s next production under his Stage5 banner is Gustaakh Ishq, a romantic drama set in Old Delhi, starring Vijay Varma and Fatima Sana Shaikh, with Naseeruddin Shah in a key role.
Watch out for our full interview, dropping soon on The Hollywood Reporter India's YouTube channel