Madhu Varma Mantena (born 8 May 1975) is an Indian film producer and entrepreneur involved in the production and distribution of films across Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali cinema.
Career Mantena founded a music label as a teenager, which he then sold to Supreme Recording Company. He then went on to set up Adlabs’ International Operations, under the aegis of Manmohan Shetty, and was the head of Saregama Films.
In 2008, Mantena co-produced Ghajini with Allu Aravind, which became the highest-grossing Indian film of that year. In 2010, he produced the political thrillers Rakht Charitra and Rann and the Bengali drama Autograph.
In 2011, Mantena co-founded Phantom Films with Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, and Vikramaditya Motwane. The company produced a number of films including such as Queen which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 2014, Bombay Velvet (2015), Ugly (2015) which was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and the New York Indian Film Festival. The 2016 film Raman Raghav 2.0 was screened at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight. In 2019, Super 30 was the last film produced by Phantom Films; the company was subsequently disbanded. However, in 2022, Mantena and Sheetal Talwar bought the company and revived it as Phantom Studios.
He is the founder and chief creative officer of the marketing company Big Bang Media Private Limited. In April 2023, it was announced that Big Bang Media Ventures would be the exclusive marketing and commercial partner to the Hockey India League.
Personal life
Mantena was in a relationship with actress Nandana Sen for over a decade. He married fashion designer and actress Masaba Gupta in 2015 in a civil ceremony in Mumbai. In late 2018 the couple announced that they were on a trial separation. The couple officially got divorced in September 2019. Mantena married author and yoga teacher Ira Trivedi on 11 June 2023 in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Mumbai, which was attended by close family and friends.
Filmography As Producer Year Title Language 2003 KarthikTelugu 2008 GhajiniHindi2010 Rann AutographBengali Rakta CharitraTeluguHindi Rakta Charitra 2 Jhootha Hi SahiHindi 2011 Mausam 2013 Lootera2014 Hasee Toh Phasee Queen Ugly2015 NH10 Hunterrr Bombay Velvet Shaandaar Masaan2016 Udta Punjab Raman Raghav 2.0 Wrong Side RajuGujarati 2017 TrappedHindi2018 Mukkabaaz High Jack Bhavesh Joshi SuperheroYoungraadMarathi ManmarziyaanHindi2019 Super 302025 Loveyapa
Awards YearFilmAwardCategoryResult2008GhajiniInternational Indian Film AcademyBest Film 2015UglyScreen AwardBest Film Queen62nd National Film AwardsBest Feature Film in HindiFilmfare AwardBest FilmIIFA AwardBest Movie Masaan63rd National Film AwardsIndira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director2016Wrong Side Raju64th National Film AwardsBest Feature Film in Gujarati
References
External links