``The deal marks the beginning of Saregama's aggressive moves in the area of music soundtrack acquisition,'' Mr Abhik Mitra, the new managing director of Saregama India told The Financial Express.

Mr Bhagnani is one of the top Hindi film producers in Mumbai, who ventured into film production five years ago after being a successful businessman dealing with cassette manufacturing and its components.

Mr Bhagnani's company comes as a major catch for Saregama, since he was earlier with rival music company Tips.

Mr Bhagnani's production company has made major blockbusters (both in terms of films and their soundtracks) like Coolie No.1, Hero No.1, Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya, Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan, Biwi No.1 and Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya.

``A notable feature of Mr Bhagnani's film production is that he commissions and completes projects on time, avoiding any delays,'' Mr Mitra said.

Among the films bagged under the contract, the first to be commissioned and released towards the end of 2001 is a multi-starrer with Anil Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and Fardeen Khan, directed by Anupam Kher and with music by Anu Malik.

The second Bhagnani film will again be a major project with music by AR Rahman. The other three projects are yet to be finalised in terms of the star cast, but would have music by Nadeem Shravan in two films and by Anu Malik in the fifth. All these five films are expected to be completed and released within three years, by end-2003.

In addition to these, Saregama has already signed 18 films, the music of which will be released over the next 18 months. These apart, the company is also in the process of negotiating with major film houses like the Rajshris, Raakesh Roshan, Yash Chopra, RK Films and others for soundtracks.

On Saregama's March-December 2000 performance, Mr Mitra said there have been a few major developments during this period. Among the big hits notched up by the company are the Hrithik Roshan megahit Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, sales of which have crossed 5 million, Refugee and Mohabbatein. Sales of these films have resulted in a growth of over 150 per cent in the new film music category.

Catalogue marketing of old Hindi film music has also shown a healthy growth of over 20 per cent, Mr Mitra said. Similarly, growth in regional music has also been satisfactory, the category having grown over 20 per cent. The company, he said, continues to be aggressive in acquiring South Indian films and has already signed 28 Tamil, 7 Telugu and one Kannada film. These films are to be released over a period of the next 18 months. Saregama has also just released two new Hindi films, ``1 2 Ka 4'' starring Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla (music by AR Rahman) and ``Kasoor'' starring Lisa Ray and Aftab Shivdasani (music by Nadeem Shravan).