Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment on Sunday said its film production and distribution business in India will partner Phantom Films, a company formed by Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, in a 50:50 joint venture to produce more films.
Reliance will own 50 per cent shareholding of the combined business, while the balance will be equally shared by the four promoters of Phantom Films. The day-to-day operations of the joint venture will be managed by Phantom Films.
The combination of Reliance and Phantom Films plans to develop and produce at least five to six films every year, apart from distribution of films in India and overseas, and syndication of rights from the over 175 films strong library, Reliance Entertainment said in a statement.
Reliance Entertainment has produced, distributed and released more than 170 films in multiple Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, etc. Reliance Entertainment did not disclose the financial details.
Reliance Group, MD, Amitabh Jhunjhunwala said in a press statement: “We are delighted to partner with such creative and talented individuals as Anurag, Madhu, Vikas and Vikramaditya, who have an enviable track record of creating great cinema. This partnership is in line with our evolving strategy in the media and entertainment business, of aligning with like-minded people who are trailblazers in their own field, and playing the role of supportive investors on our part.”
Madhu Mantena added: “It’s great to be appreciated by India’s leading entertainment company, and being given such a huge responsibility. We are overwhelmed with this partnership, and hope to do justice to it.”
“This not only gives us partnership with people we look up to and want to learn from, it opens up our world of learning and access to people and infrastructure which was way beyond our imagination. We are confident we will make even better films thanks to this merger,” expressed Vikas Bahl.
Anurag Kashyap said: “This deal opens up our windows to international opportunities and talent. We hope to optimise on this opportunity and take Indian cinema international, and also attract excellent talent into the country.”
Vikramaditya Motwane commented, “This partnership and the avenues it opens up to us give us the opportunity to take our movies to the next level in domestic as well as international cinema. We couldn’t be more excited with this partnership.”
According to industry insiders, The Phantom deal is structured on the lines of Prime Focus. In July 2014, Reliance MediaWorks (RMW), the media and entertainment arm of Reliance Group, announced the merger of its global film and media services business with Prime Focus. As part of the deal, the India and overseas operations of RMW’s film and media services business were merged with Prime Focus through a slump sale, creating the largest media services group in the world with 5,500 people working across 20 locations. Reliance Entertainment is the flagship motion picture arm of India’s Reliance Group with a significant presence in filmed entertainment.
Phantom Films has an impressive slate of six films releasing over the next 12 months, including Bombay Velvet starring Ranbir Kapoor, NH 10 with Anushka Sharma, Shandaar with Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Udta Punjab with Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Hunterr and Ghoomketu.
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