# Phantom Studios

Phantom Studios (formerly Phantom Films) is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Madhu Mantena, Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, and Vikramaditya Motwane. It was founded in 2011 by all four of them, and was cited as the "directors' company". In March 2015, Reliance Entertainment picked up 50% stake in the company.
The company made its debut in the film industry with its first production, Lootera in 2013. Directed by Motwane, the period romance featured actors Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead roles. The film was a collaboration with Balaji Motion Pictures, serving as a co-producer. Next year, the company co-produced the romantic comedies Hasee Toh Phasee starring Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra directed by Vinil Mathew, and Queen directed by Vikas Bahl starring Kangana Ranaut and Lisa Haydon. Both the films were critical and commercial successes, with the latter also winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It was followed by the thrillers Ugly starring Rahul Bhat and Ronit Roy directed by Anurag Kashyap and NH10 (2015) directed by Navdeep Singh starring Anushka Sharma and Neil Bhopalam. The company went on to produce other critically acclaimed projects like Udta Punjab (2016) starring Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor which was directed by Abhishek Chaubey and 83 (2021) starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone which was directed by Kabir Khan.
In March 2022, the company was renamed to "Phantom Studios" with Srishti Behl at the helm as the CEO. The company partnered with AGS Entertainment and co-produced the Hindi remake of the 2022 Tamil blockbuster, Love Today, starring Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor. The company also co-produced the Amazon Prime period drama series Jubilee (2023).

## Establishment

Phantom Films was founded in 2011 by Madhu Mantena, Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, and Vikramaditya Motwane, and was cited as the "directors' company". The idea to start their own production house came to mind because of their ‘constant struggle in convincing producers’ every time to believe in the kind of cinema they make.

## Films

The company's first film was Motwane’s period romance Lootera, starring Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha. Based on O. Henry's short story, The Last Leaf, the film received high critical acclaim upon release, with particular praise directed towards Sinha and Singh's performance.
Phantom films then went on to collaborate with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions to produce the romantic comedy Hasee Toh Phasee. Starring Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra and, the film was directed by the debutant Vinil Mathew. It was followed by the Vikas Bahl-directed comedy-drama Queen, starring Kangana Ranaut and Lisa haydon. The film was a critical and commercial success, it also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Ugly, a drama thriller was the next production venture of Phantom, directed by Anurag Kashyap starring Rahul Bhat and Ronit Roy, which premiered in the Director’s Fortnight section of the 2013 Cannes Festival.
In 2015, the company produced Anushka Sharma's NH10, which was directed by Navdeep Singh and the coming of age comedy Hunterrr was directed by Harshvardhan Kulkarni, starring Gulshan Devaiah and Radhika Apte. Both films proved to be a success by critics and audiences. Bombay Velvet which was directed by Anurag Kashyap, a period film set in Bombay in the 1960s was next on the release radar, based on the Princeton University Historian Gyan Prakash's book Mumbai Fables the film stars Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma. Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan was Phantom's fourth release of the year, the film marked Vicky Kaushal’s debut where he starred alongside Richa Chadda. The film won the FIPRESCI Award and the Promising Future award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Phantom Films continued exploring genres with Vikas Bahl’s Shaandaar (2015), starring Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor.
In February 2016, Phantom Films announced that they will co-produce three Gujarati films with Cine Man Productions, a Gujarat-based production company co-founded by Abhishek Jain. Phantom's first release that year was Udta Punjab, a crime drama from the director Abhishek Chaubey starring Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Dilijit Dosanjh, the film 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 after the producers of the film filed a lawsuit against the board, the Bombay High Court cleared the film for exhibition with only 1 scene getting trimmed out in the final draft. 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 and Vicky Kaushal. The film premiered at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival and the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in the Director's Fortnight section to receive a positive response. The company's final release of the year was the Gujarati film Wrong Side Raju starring Pratik Gandhi and Asif Basra which was directed by Mikhil Musale.
In March 2017, Phantom released Vikramaditya Motwane’s survival drama film Trapped starring Rajkumar Rao and Geetanjali Thapa. This was followed by the release of Mukkabaaz in 2018, starring Vineet Kumar Singh and Zoya Hussain which was directed by Anurag Kashyap. The company went on to release 3 movies later that year, starting with Akarsh Khurana’s High Jack starring Sumeet Vyas and Mantra, then they released Bhavesh Joshi Superhero starring Harshvardhan Kapoor and Nishikant Kamat directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, and an other Kashyap’s release Manmarziyaan starring Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu. That year Phantom also released the neo-noir crime-thriller series Sacred Games starring Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui which was co-directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. Patrick Graham’s Ghoul a mini thriller series on Netflix starring Radhika Apte and Manav Kaul. In 2019, Phantom released Super 30 starring Hrithik Roshan and Mrunal Thakur which was directed by Vikas Bahl which was followed by Makrand Mane’s Youngraad starring Chaitanya Deore and Shireen Patil. In 2020, they released a comedy-drama; Ghoomketu starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Ragini Khanna which was directed by Pushpendra Nath Misra. The company also worked on 83 starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone which was directed by Kabir Khan. The company was also a co-producer for the 2023 series called ‘Jubilee’ which was co-produced with Reliance Entertainment starring Aditi Rao Hydari and Aparshakti Khurana which was directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and they are currently working on the Hindi remake of the Tamil film ‘Love Today’ (2022) with AGS entertainment.

## Dissolution

After an 8-year-long run, the company announced its dissolution on 5 October, 2018 due to internal disputes about the alleged me-too allegations on Bahl by a former Phantom employee, which was reported in 2015. The other three founders, Mantena, Kashyap and Motwane, all issued statements on Twitter confirming the company's disbanding and moving on to independent projects.

## Revival

In January 2021, Madhu Mantena and Sheetal Talwar bought out Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane's stakes in Phantom to become equal shareholders in the company with Reliance Entertainment. However, shortly before the release of 83, they sold their shares back to Reliance, making it the sole shareholder of Phantom, and left the company. In March 2022, Mantena and Talwar acquired the Phantom Films as well as it's film and television library and some film properties from Reliance. They later brought on Srishti Behl to lead the team as CEO and took on a new persona as Phantom Studios.
The team co-produced the Hindi remake of the 2022 Tamil blockbuster Love Today, Loveyapa (2025), starring Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor.

## Filmography
### Films produced

| Year | Film | Director | Cast | Notes |
| 2013 | Lootera | Vikramaditya Motwane | Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha | Co-produced with Balaji Motion Pictures |
| 2014 | Hasee Toh Phasee | Vinil Mathew | Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra | Co-produced with Dharma Productions |
| 2014 | Queen | Vikas Bahl | Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Haydon | Co-produced with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures |
| 2014 | Ugly | Anurag Kashyap | Rahul Bhat, Ronit Roy, Girish Kulkarni, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vineet Kumar Singh, Surveen Chawla | |
| 2015 | NH10 | Navdeep Singh | Anushka Sharma, Neil Bhoopalam | Co-produced with Clean Slate Films |
| 2015 | Hunterrr | Harshavardhan Kulkarni | Gulshan Devaiah, Radhika Apte | Co-produced with Tailormade Films |
| 2015 | Bombay Velvet | Anurag Kashyap | Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar | |
| 2015 | Masaan | Neeraj Ghaywan | Richa Chadda, Sanjay Mishra, Shweta Tripathi, Vicky Kaushal | Co-produced with Drishyam Films, Macassar Productions, Sikhya Entertainment, Pathé and Arte France Cinéma |
| 2015 | Shaandaar | Vikas Bahl | Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur | Co-produced with Dharma Productions |
| 2016 | Udta Punjab | Abhishek Chaubey | Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh | Co-produced with Balaji Motion Pictures |
| 2016 | Raman Raghav 2.0 | Anurag Kashyap | Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal, Sobhita Dhulipala | |
| 2016 | Wrong Side Raju | Mikhil Musale | Pratik Gandhi, Asif Basra, Kavi Shastri | Gujarati film Co-produced with CineMan Productions |
| 2017 | Trapped | Vikramaditya Motwane | Rajkummar Rao, Geetanjali Thapa | |
| 2018 | Mukkabaaz | Anurag Kashyap | Vineet Kumar Singh, Ravi Kishan, Jimmy Shergill | Co-produced with Reliance Entertainment and Colour Yellow Productions |
| 2018 | High Jack | Akarsh Khurana | Sumeet Vyas, Mantra, Sonnalli Seygall | |
| 2018 | Youngraad | Makrand Mane | Vitthal Patil, Chaitanya Deore | |
| 2018 | Bhavesh Joshi Superhero | Vikramaditya Motwane | Harshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyuli, Nishikant Kamat | |
| 2018 | Manmarziyaan | Anurag Kashyap | Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Abhishek Bachchan | Co-produced with Colour Yellow Productions |
| 2019 | Super 30 | Vikas Bahl | Hrithik Roshan, Mrunal Thakur | Co-produced with Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment |
| 2020 | Ghoomketu | Pushpendra Nath Misra | Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ragini Khanna, Anurag Kashyap | Co-produced with Sony Pictures Networks Productions |
| 2021 | 83 | Kabir Khan | Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Saqib Saleem, Pankaj Tripathi, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Hardy Sandhu, Ammy Virk | Co-produced with Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, KA Production, Vibri Media and Reliance Entertainment |
| 2025 | Loveyapa | Advait Chandan | Khushi Kapoor, Junaid Khan, Grusha Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Tanvika Parlikar, Kiku Sharda | Co-produced with AGS Entertainment |

### Films distributed

| Year | Film | Language | Director | Cast |
| 2014 | Katiyabaaz | Hindi | Deepti Kakkar, Fahad Mustafa | Loha Singh, Ritu Maheshwari |
| 2016 | Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive | Hindi | Abhishek Sharma | Manish Paul, Sikander Kher, Pradhuman Singh Mall, Mia Uyeda, Piyush Mishra |
| 2016 | Nannaku Prematho | Telugu | Sukumar | Jr. Ntr, Jagapathi Babu, Rakul Preet Singh |

### Series

| Year | Series | Director(s) | Original network | Cast | Notes |
| 2018 – 2019 | Sacred Games | Anurag Kashyap Vikramaditya Motwane | Netflix | Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte | |
| 2018 | Ghoul | Patrick Graham | Netflix | Radhika Apte, Manav Kaul | Co-produced with Blumhouse Television and Ivanhoe Pictures |
| 2023 | Jubilee | Vikramaditya Motwane | Amazon Prime Video | Aparshakti Khurana, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aditi Rao Hydari, Wamiqa Gabbi | Co-produced with Reliance Entertainment and Andolan Films |

## Awards

| Film/Series | Ceremony | Category | Receipt |
| Lootera | Filmfare Awards | Best Playback Singer (Female) | Monali Thakur |
| Lootera | Zee Cine Awards | Best Actress in a Romantic Role | Sonakshi Sinha |
| Hasee Toh Phasee | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most Entertaining Actor in a Comedy Film | Parineeti Chopra |
| Hasee Toh Phasee | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most Entertaining Actor in a Romantic Film | Siddarth Malhotra |
| Hasee Toh Phasee | Big Star Entertainment awards | Best Song of the Year (Jury Prize) | Shekhar Ravjiani, Chinmayi Sripaada, Vishal Dadlani & Amitabh Bhattacharya |
| Queen | Producers Guild Film Awards | Best film | Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Phantom Films |
| Queen | Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Director | Vikas Bahl |
| Queen | Producers Guild Film Awards | Best Editing | Anurag Kashyap, Abhijit Kokate |
| Queen | IIFA | Best film | Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Phantom Films |
| Queen | IIFA | Best actress in a lead role | Kangana Ranaut |
| Queen | IIFA | Best Screenplay | Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parvee Shaikh |
| Queen | IIFA | Best Editing | Anurag Kashyap, Abhijit Kokate |
| Queen | Filmfare Awards | Best film | Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Phantom Films |
| Queen | Filmfare Awards | Best actress | Kangana Ranaut |
| Queen | Filmfare Awards | Best Editing | Anurag Kashyap, Abhijit Kokate |
| Queen | Filmfare Awards | Best Cinematography | Bobby Singh, Siddhanth Dhawan |
| Queen | National Film Awards | Best Feature Film | Vikas Bahl, Phantom Films |
| Queen | National Film Awards | Best actress | Kangana Ranaut |
| Queen | Screen Awards | Best film | Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Phantom Films |
| Queen | Screen Awards | Best Director | Vikas Bahl |
| Queen | Stardust awards | Best film | Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Phantom Films |
| Queen | Stardust awards | Best Director | Vikas Bahl |
| Queen | Stardust awards | Best actress | Kangana Ranaut |
| Ugly | Deauville Asian Film Festival | Jury award | Anurag Kashyap |
| Ugly | Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival | Best director | Anurag Kashyap |
| NH10 | IIFA | Best Performance in a negative role | Darshan Kumaar |
| NH10 | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most entertaining film | Anushka Sharma, Navdeep Singh |
| NH10 | Screen awards | Best action | Georg Armin Sauer |
| NH10 | Star Dust awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Negative Role | Darshan Kumaar |
| NH10 | Star Dust awards | Filmmaker of the year | Navdeep Singh |
| Bombay Velvet | Filmfare Awards | Best Special Effects | Anish H Mulani |
| Masaan | Producers Guild Awards | Best Debut Director | Neeraj Ghaywan |
| Masaan | IIFA | Best Debut actor | Vicky Kaushal |
| Masaan | 2015 Cannes Film Festival | UN Certain Regard FIPRESCI Prize | Neeraj Ghaywan |
| Masaan | 2015 Cannes Film Festival | UN Certain Regard Avenir Prize | Neeraj Ghaywan |
| Masaan | Filmfare Awards | Best Debut Director | Neeraj Ghaywan |
| Masaan | Jagran Film Festival | Special Jury Award | Vicky Kaushal |
| Masaan | Jagran Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Sanjay Mishra |
| Masaan | National Film Awards | Best Debut Film of a Director | Neeraj Ghaywan |
| Masaan | Screen Awards | Most Promising Debut Actor | Vicky Kaushal |
| Masaan | Stardust Awards | Performer of the Year (Female) | Richa Chadha |
| Masaan | Zee Cine Awards | Best Debut Actor | Vicky Kaushal |
| Masaan | Zee Cine Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Sanjay Mishra |
| Masaan | Zee Cine Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Shweta Tripathi |
| Masaan | Zee Cine Awards | Best Debut Director | Neeraj Ghaywan |
| Shaandaar | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most Entertaining Dance | Alia Bhatt |
| Shaandaar | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most Entertaining Actor (Film) Debut (Female) | Sana Kapoor |
| Udta Punjab | IIFA | Best actor in a leading role | Shahid Kapoor |
| Udta Punjab | IIFA | Best actress in a leading role | Alia Bhatt |
| Udta Punjab | IIFA | Best debut actor | Diljit Dosanjh |
| Udta Punjab | IIFA | Best Female Playback Singer | Kanika Kapoor |
| Udta Punjab | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most Entertaining Film Actress | Alia Bhatt |
| Udta Punjab | Big Star Entertainment awards | Most Entertaining Film Actor | Shahid Kapoor |
| Udta Punjab | Filmfare Awards | Best actor | Shahid Kapoor |
| Udta Punjab | Filmfare Awards | Best debut actor | Diljit Dosanjh |
| Udta Punjab | Filmfare Awards | Best actress | Alia Bhatt |
| Udta Punjab | Filmfare Awards | Best costume design | Payal Saluja |
| Udta Punjab | Screen Awards | Best actress | Alia Bhatt |
| Udta Punjab | Stardust Awards | Best Screenplay | Abhishek Chaubey, Sudip Sharma |
| Udta Punjab | Zee Cine Awards | Best actress | Alia Bhatt |
| Raman Raghav 2.0 | Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Best Performance by an Actor | Nawazuddin Siddiqui |
| Wrong Side Raju | National Film Award | Best Gujarati Film | Abhishek Jain |
| Trapped | Filmfare Awards | Best Actor | Rajkummar Rao |
| Trapped | Filmfare Awards | Best Editing | Nitin Baid |
| Super 30 | Mirchi Music Awards | Best Song Engineer (Recording & Mixing) | Vijay Dayal |
| Super 30 | Zee Cine Awards | Best actor | Hrithik Roshan |
| 83 | IIFA | Best Lyrics | Kausar Munir |
| 83 | IIFA | Best Story - Adapted | Kabir Khan, Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan |
| 83 | IIFA | Best Sound Mixing | Ajay Kumar P.B., Manik Batra |
| 83 | | Best Supporting Actor / Actress | Tahir Raj Bhasin |
| 83 | Filmfare Awards | Best Actor | Ranveer Singh |
| 83 | Filmfare Awards | Best Lyrics | Kausar Munir |
| 83 | Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne | Best Actor of the Year | Ranveer Singh |
| 83 | Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne | Best Movie of the Year | Kabir Khan, Kabir Khan Films |
| Sacred Games | Asian Academy Creative Awards | Best Editing | Aarti Bajaj, Phantom Films, Netflix |
| Sacred Games | Asian Academy Creative Awards | Best Direction (Fiction) | Anurag Kashyap, Phantom Films, Netflix |
| Sacred Games | Filmfare OTT Awards | Best Cinematography | Sylvester Fonseca, Swapnil S. Sonawane |
| Sacred Games | Filmfare OTT Awards | Best Background Music | Alokananda Dasgupta |