What's behind the move?
Given that many an Indian corporate has burnt its hands in the film business (including the Singhanias, the Birlas, Vijay Mallya, and even the Tatas who produced their first film Aitbaar (2004) with Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham), Anil Ambani's move was indeed surprising.
So why is Anil Ambani interested in a film-processing business, and what will he gain from it? Also, why is he not making films like other corporates but more interested in running theatres?
Queries sent on e-mail to Reliance Entertainment officials were not replied to, and repeated phone calls to top company officials went unanswered.
But Taran Adarsh, a Mumbai-based Bollywood trade analyst, says: "Reliance is using the same strategy of backward integration for Bollywood that they did for the textile business in Dhirubhai Ambani days."
Just like the Reliance patriarch Dhirubhai initiated backward integration -- from textiles into polyester fibers and further into petrochemicals -- Anil is doing the same.
"Bollywood is growing by leaps and bounds and the multiplex experience has changed Indian cinema altogether. Reliance through Adlabs and Big will dominate distribution and exhibition in the coming years. They will start making films only after that," feels Adarsh.
Image: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai with producer-director J P Dutta at the launch of video clips of their movie Umrao Jaan on digital entertainment platform Reliance World in Mumbai. | Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
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