Having sealed the funding for its 50:50 joint venture with Hollywood’s iconic director Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Big Entertainment plans to make six films a year for global audiences. Production for the first movie is expected to commence this year with its release slated in 2010.

Ambani’s splashy entry to make films will allow Spielberg -- the man who made Jaws and Jurassic Park -- and music baron David Geffen to end their existing agreement with Paramount Pictures. But more importantly it will give Ambani, who is ranked by Forbes as the world's sixth-richest man a major presence in Hollywood.

The movies produced by Dreamworks will be distributed by Walt Disney globally, while the exclusive rights for India will be with Reliance Big Entertainment.

Impact on the Indian film industry

Renowned film maker Ashvin Kumar who was nominated for the Oscars for his short film Little Terrorist in 2005 says the deal could boost the Indian film industry.

“If the specifics of the deal are such that they are going to use their expertise in trying to make an Indian international film… if that is the intention then it can be something significant for the Indian film industry.”

Spielberg is not new to India. He had visited India, alone, on a hitchhiking trip around the country in the late 70s, and also for the shooting of his celebrated movie ‘Close encounters Of the Third Kind’.

As part of this new joint venture, he is likely to visit India again soon to meet with filmmakers, scriptwriters and actors to see how they can all collaborate.

Win-win situation

Film critic Chitra Padmanabhan says the deal could benefit both parties.

“On the face of it, for Hollywood it is a shot in the arm because they are reeling due to financial crunches in their system because of problems in their economy," says Padmanabhan. "As for Reliance Big they are looking for profits in this corporate business of distribution and trying to get a global presence abroad. How this works out remains to be seen.”

Some of the films that will be produced first will be a mix of genres including thrillers, action, comedy and family drama. The basic intention would be to make movies that have a global appeal that would also meet the expectations of the Indian audience.

India’s presence on the global scene

However, Ashwin Kumar believes the real spin-off from this partnership is that Indian films could make a presence in global film festivals.

“We don’t have any presence in the international film festivals. I mean actually we don’t manage to send any of our films… very, very few films in fact actually make it to Cannnes, Venice, Berlin and even to the Oscars," says Kumar. " Such a deal if it is to produce Indian films for an international audience will start seeing many more of this kind. And if that actually happens then you will also find Indian films start garnering the kind of box office, start taking part in the mainstream box offices of the rest of the world.”

Ambani’s entertainment business owns 428 cinema screens across India, the US, Malaysia and Mauritius, contributing 11 percent to the domestic industry's box office collections and 35 percent from the Hindi movies screened in the US. With another mega deal in the bag, movie buffs are keenly awaiting the first film of this joint venture.

Author: Murali Krishnan(New Delhi)
Editor: Disha Uppal