Being a self-proclaimed “minor” art collector, Mindy Kaling was excited when a short film titled Anuja — directed by Adam J. Graves in collaboration with his wife, South Asian artist Suchitra Mattai — came across her desk at her production company Kaling International. “I really love South Asian art, and Suchitra is huge in that field,” Kaling tells The Hollywood Reporter. Kaling has a range of producer credits from TV shows like The Office, The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever to such films as Late Night and documentaries including To Kill a Tiger, but she’d never produced a short film (save for Michael Scott’s Threat Level Midnight featured in The Office, which Kaling jokingly calls her “proudest producer reel accomplishment”).
“I don’t know much about short film, to be honest,” Kaling says. “And the connotations that I’d had for short films were that they’re pretty serious. When you hear the logline for this, it does not necessarily sound like something that tonally goes with what we’re doing at Kaling. But I loved Suchitra so much, and I said, ‘Sure, I can watch something for 22 minutes.’ It’s like an episode of TV. I just fell in love with it. It was so beautiful, which I was expecting, but what surprised me was the tone. The minute I watched it, I said, ‘I want to help you in any way I can.’ ”
Kaling signed on as a producer — the story centers on a gifted 9-year-old girl who works in a garment factory in India — in October, after the film had wrapped and was in need of a distributor. The short delves into child labor, as Anuja and her sister Palak face a life-changing opportunity to leave their factory jobs to attend school. Graves and Mattai had started thinking about the concept about five years ago and shot it in 2023.
Kaling, alongside producers and executive producers who include Oscar winner Guneet Monga (The Elephant Whisperers) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, chose Netflix to distribute the short to global audiences. Now the movie is nominated for best original short film at the 2025 Oscars, and Kaling calls the Academy’s recognition “a highlight” of her career. Three other awards preceded this nod: HollyShorts Film Festival’s best live-action short, New York Shorts International Film Festival’s grand prize and the audience award for short film at the Montclair Film Festival.
“Normally, I’m the person who is the writer, director or actor in something,” says Kaling. “This time, my job was to sell it, which was a really fun challenge. I had a feeling that Netflix would be an amazing home for Anuja. Bela [Bajaria, chief content officer at Netflix] is such a champion for artists, and I was like, ‘This would be incredible if it went to Bela.’ They needed amplification and they needed it fast.”
The film was made in collaboration with Salaam Baalak Trust, an Indian nonprofit that provides support for street and working children in New Delhi. Lead actress Sajda Pathan is one of these children. Kaling says that the trust utilizes acting as a therapy for the children, so while Pathan has some familiarity with acting, she didn’t have professional experience. “I hope that this can kick-start a life of acting for Sajda,” says Kaling. “She’s so naturally gifted. I just saw that she was on a plane with her guardian, going to meet Priyanka, so that’s obviously incredibly exciting. I would work with her on one of my things. I’m really hoping she has financial security for the rest of her life.”
This story first appeared in a February stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
This story first appeared in a February stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Leave a Reply