 "Film studio Abundantia beefs up creative team")
Vikram Malhotra's independent film studio Abundantia Entertainment Private Limited has beefed up its team having roped in former Viacom18 Motion Pictures creative chief Shivaji Dasgupta and former Sahara Movie Studios' head of content and development Shikhaa Sharma.
Dasgupta, an industry veteran of two decades, has played a key role in green-lighting and producing some of the most critically acclaimed films of the last decade. His filmography includes Gangs of Wasseypur, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Madras Cafe, Kahaani, LSD, Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai and Chashme Baddoor amongst others.
He will run Abundantia's creative and production business and will have additional charge of commercial for his slate of films. Sharma's mandate is to spearhead Abundantia's content development and incubation business across films, television and digital. She was until recently in-charge ofthe content and development function at Sahara Movie Studios and has also served in senior roles in the creative functions at Balaji Motion Pictures and Tips Industries in the past.
Shikhaa's filmography includes recent hits like Maqbool, The Dirty Picture, Kya Super Kool Hain Hum, Ek Thi Daayan, Shor In The City and Race. Shikhaa's core strength of identifying and mentoring new talent has seen her successfully support work from first-time writers and directors in the past. While the two will manage their roles independently they will report in to Malhotra, founder and CEO of Abundantia.
"Creativity, ideas and innovation are at the heart of Abundantia's business model. Shivaji has been associated with some of the finest film content in recent times and his productionand commercial acumen will significantly enhance the quality and profitability of our slate. In Shikhaa we have somebody with formidable creative understanding and content development ability and coupled with her deep industry relationships, I look forward totaking our creative capability to the next level. I am confident that this dynamic duo will raise the bar for creative content in ourbusiness," said Malhotra.