Harman Baweja: Taking the helm
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated May 12, 2025)Nine years back, with his acting career in doldrums and his father Harry Baweja having suffered a stroke, Harman Baweja found himself facing a choice which was both a challenge and an opportunity—step up and take the reins of the family-run film studio. In 2025, he is finally reaping the fruits of it as the marital drama Mrs., featuring Sanya Malhotra, produced and co-written by Baweja, became a streaming sensation, amassing 500 million views since its release in February, as per ZEE5. Validation has come his way, as has the expectation to deliver another sleeper hit.advertisementBaweja has the pandemic to thank for his career-defining moment. 'I'd be writing 12 hours a day, and at one point my sister would be like 'who are you writing all this for?' A lot of what we are producing now comes from stories and ideas written in that spell,' he says. It's also when he realised the studio needed to veer into a different, new direction, one adapted to the fast-evolving industry. Says Baweja, 'We constantly talk about big and small films when, in fact, it's the film's budget that's big or small. What we should be focusing on is, 'Is my story big enough?' We need to do everything to support that and push the envelope.'Baweja has just wrapped up a discussion with four writers, which, in industry parlance, is now referred to as a writers' room. 'It was called a writing session back in the day. What has now become methodology was instinctive for the earlier generation,' he says. Baweja is familiar with it because he began his cinematic journey shadowing his father after having studied and subsequently dropping out of both UCLA and the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in the US. Six months shy of 21, he had already produced his first film, Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai, which marked the directorial debut of Hansal Mehta. Incidentally, it was Mehta who'd bring Baweja back in the public imagination by casting him as a top cop in Scoop (Netflix).advertisement
Acting, with which he has had a less-hit-more-miss affair, isn't his priority for the moment. 'It has to be something that's just wow, fun and unique and doesn't take too much of my time,' he says. Instead, he's more content playing a behind-the-scenes role, writing, developing a gamut of films from his two offices in Andheri, and being a family man by spending time with his two kids. The aim, he adds, as a producer is to hit 'the sweet spot', marrying commercial sensibilities with creative freedom.On the 2025 slate is a rom-com, Dil Ka Darwaza Khol Na Darling, featuring Jaya Bachchan, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Wamiqa Gabbi; and Nouva Noor, a prequel to the animated Punjabi film Chaar Sahibzaade. Also going into production soon is an Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari-directed feature with Sonakshi Sinha and Jyotika. Now, the question is not if but when he steps into the director's chair. 'Not too far,' he quickly says. 'I have my two stories ready. Whenever I am up for it, I will jump into it.'Subscribe to India Today Magazine
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