“Iti Acharya Shares The Challenges She faced Starting Her Journey As A Producer*

Starting from scratch to where she is now, Iti Acharya has achieved a lot since the beginning of her career in the film industry. From winning Miss South India in 2016 to starring in movies like Kavacha, Pasivadi Pranam, Kerala Today, Seema Bodha Agatha to becoming the first female producer to present a Kannada Film at Cannes film festival, Iti has surely come a long way. In a conversation recently, she opened up about her journey so far.

She said, “The transition from acting to producing was a challenge and a tough one but I did not deter. It was a dream and I had to work hard to achieve it. The biggest concern in production is the financial part. Being relatively new at production getting investors was not easy so I had to depend a lot on my own money – had to spend most of my savings, make lot of compromises in my lifestyle and even make personal sacrifices. Working both as an actor and producer, I had to spend so much time on research and preparation, all that came from my personal space , I am extremely thankful to my family that they have been huge support for me during this time. My brother has been truly instrumental in getting me connected with people from US and helping me manage a lot of my production work as well ”
Talking about her first project as a producer, she recalls ,”I met lot of young producers from US and other countries last year at Cannes. My discussions with them inspired me to understand that in this digital world producing is not as overwhelming as it used to be and if you have a good team and concept one need not wait around for approvals from big studio. That’s how I ended up coproducing my first hollywood music album “ love her too much” and produced my kannada movie “ Anukarne “.”

Lastly, she added, “It’s all work and hustle – nothing has happened overnight, there is no fairytale god mother for me. There have been people who supported me and guided me offcourse but it’s all hard earned , endless rejections, endless hit and trials, lot of courage and lot of planning and research, lot of hustle, lot of prayers and lot of love and support from people around.”