 "AB Corp open to making big budget movies: Abhishek Bachchan")
Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan at the FICCI Frames 2014, a three-day convention, in Mumbai on Thursday
Throw some light on AB Corp’s plans? Are you looking at a particular budget for your films or you are focusing on co-productions?
We are currently co-producing a film with R Balki who made Pa for us. The budget is not a bar but the script is. If something that requires big investments comes up then we will invest accordingly. As far as co-productions go, it again depends from project to project. Many a times someone may have a good script and will need our support, we are happy to co-produce.
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Your take on increasing collabration between Bollywood and Hollywood
This collaboration is driven by finance. We are an emerging market and I think the West is looking inward to India primarily for finance with regards to the entertainment industry. The fact remains that a lot of Indian money is being used abroad to finance entertainment. Case in point say Reliance buying into DreamWorks. The global entertainment market I feel is shrinking. So there is a lot of cross-funding, exchange of ideas, exchange of creativity and talent that is going to happen. You will now see a lot of Indian actors working abroad as well. Going by the quantum of business our films are doing on the foreign territories be it the gulf region, be it the UK, Europe or America, you do see that the influence of Indian cinema is growing and is also greatly aided by the fact that there is a huge influx of Indians abroad.
According to you which production model is the best?
I think the kind of business model you will choose for a production depends entirely on the budget and the kind of script and the audience you want to reach out to. So you have to be very malleable in that sense. For eg, we made Pa on a very controlled budget because we felt that the script was very niche. So the entire business model was prepared accordingly. Anything above and beyond that is your profit and is a bonus. But you cannot have anything cast in stone saying that this is the business model that we are going to follow.
What is holding back private equity investments in movies, production houses?
I think there is still lot of organization that is required monetarily. We have been granted the industry status just about 10 years ago. Contrary to the trend in Hollywood, funding in India happens more on a private basis not as much on an institutional basis and I think the trend is going to keep growing as and when people see the opportunity. That is going to happen once the film industry gets its distribution and marketing systems better in place. They are very old but with increased transparency investors will realize that this is an opportunity where one can make a lot of money.
Regulatory measures required in the industry?
We pay a very high entertainment tax. I think we need a bit more support from the government on that. Its a huge industry and the government can earn as well. But I think some of the tax rates are prohibitively high. I think a lot more incentive, subsidies needs to be given to the film industry.
Are you looking at getting into a sports franchise similar to that of Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty,etc?
I would love to if the opportunity arises. I am very passionate about sports.
Actor or Producer? Which of the hats is your preferred one?
The actor. My only problem with production is my being an actor comes in the way of me being a good producer. I think they conflict with each other. I prefer acting. Although pre-production excites me, the execution does not as much. I enjoy sitting down and putting projects together and bringing the finance together. But once it starts rolling I like to take a back seat.