03-10-2009, 12:11 PM
Chennai, March 9 Moser Baer Entertainment Ltd, a unit of Moser Baer India Ltd, plans to invest Rs 120 crore in film production and acquiring home video rights across languages.
According to Mr G. Dhananjayan, Chief Operating Officer, Moser Baer Entertainment, the company has lined up 10 films for 2009.
It has acquired the Tamil rights of the Hindi hit film Jab We Met and is planning to remake the film under the title Kanden Kadhalai, with Bharat and Tamanna in the lead. It is also planning two more films in Tamil — Mayilu and Aval Peyar Thamilarasi.
In Hindi, it is producing two films — Sanket City, which is scheduled for release in April, and a thriller with a new star casting. “Besides, we are entering the Malayalam film industry with five new films at an overall budget of Rs 22 crore,” said Mr Dhananjayan.
Last fiscal, Moser Baer forayed into film production with three Hindi films and three Tamil films. It also teamed up with Duet Movies, a Tamil film production company founded by actor Prakash Raj, as equal partners to produce three Tamil films — Vellithirai, Abhiyum Naanum and Mayilu.
While the first two films were released, Moser Baer has decided to do the third film, Mayilu, on its own and snapped the production tie-up with Duet Movies as “Prakash Raj was busy with some other project”.
Home videos
Talking about the home video rights, the company’s mainstay, Mr Dhananjayan said it has acquired rights for some of the recent Tamil movies including Subramaniapuram, Naan Kadavul and Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu and many Hindi films.
For the year to come, we have earmarked Rs 60 crore for acquiring home video rights in languages including Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.
“Unlike in the Telugu and Malayalam film industry, where the movie’s satellite and home video rights are bought and sold separately by a third-party company, in the Tamil film industry the entire rights are bought directly by satellite TV companies. And this makes it difficult for us to buyout only the home video rights,” he said.
According to Mr G. Dhananjayan, Chief Operating Officer, Moser Baer Entertainment, the company has lined up 10 films for 2009.
It has acquired the Tamil rights of the Hindi hit film Jab We Met and is planning to remake the film under the title Kanden Kadhalai, with Bharat and Tamanna in the lead. It is also planning two more films in Tamil — Mayilu and Aval Peyar Thamilarasi.
In Hindi, it is producing two films — Sanket City, which is scheduled for release in April, and a thriller with a new star casting. “Besides, we are entering the Malayalam film industry with five new films at an overall budget of Rs 22 crore,” said Mr Dhananjayan.
Last fiscal, Moser Baer forayed into film production with three Hindi films and three Tamil films. It also teamed up with Duet Movies, a Tamil film production company founded by actor Prakash Raj, as equal partners to produce three Tamil films — Vellithirai, Abhiyum Naanum and Mayilu.
While the first two films were released, Moser Baer has decided to do the third film, Mayilu, on its own and snapped the production tie-up with Duet Movies as “Prakash Raj was busy with some other project”.
Home videos
Talking about the home video rights, the company’s mainstay, Mr Dhananjayan said it has acquired rights for some of the recent Tamil movies including Subramaniapuram, Naan Kadavul and Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu and many Hindi films.
For the year to come, we have earmarked Rs 60 crore for acquiring home video rights in languages including Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.
“Unlike in the Telugu and Malayalam film industry, where the movie’s satellite and home video rights are bought and sold separately by a third-party company, in the Tamil film industry the entire rights are bought directly by satellite TV companies. And this makes it difficult for us to buyout only the home video rights,” he said.