Fund man

Ice People

That passion has led New York-based investment banker Rohit Aggarwal, 30, to look at launching a $20 million offshore film fund in India to produce Indian and Indian-inspired 'crossover films' that will have global appeal.

The fund will function along the lines of a Hollywood film production studio. It will produce 4-5 films with budgets of $3-4 million a year and seek co-production deals with studios in the US, the UK, Canada and France. It will also seek to produce films at Indian locations (if the script allows for it).

"I have been studying the Indian film industry for over a year now. Being a hardcore Mumbaiite, I am inclined to look at Bollywood. Bollywood is getting organised, with more and more corporates coming in to invest in film production," says Aggarwal.

Investors in the fund will primarily be individuals and companies connected to the global media and entertainment industry.

Aggarwal, who has a BSc from the Wharton School of Business and an MBA from the Stern School of Business, believes that the return on investment (ROI) potential for crossover films is far greater than on mainstream Indian cinema.

He wants Bollywood films to cater to a large cross-section of cultures from all over the world.

"If you look at the revenue breakdown of recent successful crossover films, Indians globally only contributed to 20-30 per cent of sales," concludes Aggarwal.