Madhu Varma Mantena is an Indian film producer and entrepreneur involved in the production and distribution of films across Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali cinema.
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 head of Saregama Films.
2008
In 2008, Mantena co-produced Ghajini, which became the highest-grossing Indian film of that year.
2010
In 2010, he produced the political thrillers Rakht Charitra and Rann and the Bengali drama Autograph.
2011
In 2011, Mantena co-founded Phantom Films with Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane.
2014
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.
2015
He married fashion designer and actress Masaba Gupta in 2015 in a civil ceremony in Mumbai.
2016
The 2016 film Raman Raghav 2.0 was screened at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight.
2018
In late 2018 the couple announced that they were on a trial separation.
2019
In 2019, Super 30 was the last film produced by Phantom Films; the company was subsequently disbanded.
In 2022, Mantena and Sheetal Talwar bought the rights of the Phantom brand and revived the company 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.
Mantena was in a relationship with actress Nandana Sen for over a decade.
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.
