Anil Ambani turns to Hollywood

Hollywood just got a deeper Indian connection.

And we're not talking about Indian actors starring in Hollywood projects. Rather, it has got something to do with the business of showbiz. Thanks to Anil Ambani group, Reliance Big Entertainment, Hollywood films starring big names like Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt will get to see the light of day.

After acquiring 200 theatres in America, the Anil Ambani group will now co-produce Hollywood films, a territory which until now was dominated by UTV.

Some of the films benefitting from the Reliance alliance is Nicolas Cage's Saturn Productions, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus's 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks's Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures.

Asked what the rationale was for such a big move, chief executive officer, Reliance Entertainment, Amit Khanna said, "It is not an impulsive decision. We have done our checks and balances."

Critics, however, feel that Reliance is getting into Hollywood at a time when the movie business is not doing well.

"The movie business is riskier than other businesses because here, it is all about creativity, which can be subjective and hence, unpredictable," says a Bollywood film analyst on condition of anonymity.

Asked how Reliance can tackle this aspect, Khanna replied, "We have employed the right kind of people and they will have

"George Soros recently picked up a minority stake in the company by paying $ 100 million and the company's worth was valued at $ 3 billion," Bollywood trade analyst, Vinod Mirani says. "By making such moves with Hollywood actors, it will be easier for them to raise more finance globally. They can easily offload 10 percent of their stake to international finances and at present, their company is valued at $ 5 billion."

So after shaking up the international businesses in other fields, is it time that Indian filmmakers will be the movers and shakers of Hollywood in future? "It is too premature to say that. We are looking at Hollywood mainstream market," says Siddarth Kapur, chief executive officer of UTV Motion Pictures.

UTV was the first Indian company to tie up with Fox Studios to co-produce M Night Shyamalan's film, The Happening, which is scheduled for release on June 13.

"Last year we saw Sony Pictures coming to Bollywood and co-producing Saawariya. Now we have Warner Bros coming in to produce Nikhil Advani's film Chandni Chowk to China. So all of us are exploring newer markets," says Kapur.

"Today, the world is flat and we are going to Hollywood because it is a good market," says Khanna.

But isn't it risky to venture into Hollywood with big money? "Without risks, you don't do business and without big risks you don't get big returns," Khanna quipped.