ADAG lines up $1 bn to make 100 films in 2 yrs

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Cannes, May 17: Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE), the integrated media and entertainment arm of the $75 billion Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has said that it would make 100 films in 2 years at a cost of $1 billion.

RBE chairman Amit Khanna said the company will produce these films in as many as nine languages over “15 to 18 months”.

Directors like Shyam Benegal, Girish Kasaravalli, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Shaji N Karun, Rituparno Ghosh, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sudhir Mishra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Farhan Akhtar, Vivek Agnihotri, David Dhawan, Aneez Bazmee, Harry Baweja and Apoorva Lakhia would be making films for the RBE.

For many of these films, RBE has entered into strategic partnerships with established producers. “Even as I am speaking,” Khanna said “negotiations are on for about 30 more films. That will add up to a slate of as many as 100 films.” Among the films on the anvil is Broken Horses, a US gangland drama to be made by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

Nick Pileggi, the screenwriter of Goodfellas, Casino and American Gangster, has been roped in as script consultant for the film. To complement its ambitious production strategy, RBE is also expanding its film exhibition presence across India, the US, Mauritius and Malaysia through a group company, Adlabs Films Limited.

“We have put in place systems and processes comparable with the best in the world,” Khanna said, expressing confidence in the efficacy of RBE’s dramatic expansion plans.