Pookutty turns director-producer, eyes Rs 300 cr funding

The Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who just launched a production house Le Penta Entertainment, along with Reliance Entertainment ex-chief Mahesh Ramanathan and three others, expects to mop up Rs 300 crore within the next three months and launch his maiden film.
The 44-year-old Pookutty, the latest celebrity to join the start-up bandwagon, told PTI that he expects the funds to come from long-term investors and not fly-by-night ones.
"I am hopeful of making it (arranging Rs 300 crore over the next three months) and launch the first film, which will be a Bollywood flick. We will also have regional offerings as we move forward," the National Award and Padma Shri recipient Pookutty told PTI.

Le Penta Entertainment, which will be a film production and services company focused on Hindi and regional films, has a seed capital of over USD 1 million, chipped in by the five promoters, Pookutty said, adding that he owns 55 per cent in the Andheri, Mumbai-based venture.
He also said that if all goes well, he will take Le Penta public within the next five years and pointed to the increasing trend of corporatisation of film production houses in the country as elsewhere.
Pookutty's other partners are Kumar Bhaskar, who was earlier with Reliance Entertainment; Kuldeep Singh Rathore, who earlier worked with Sony and PVR, among others, and is now an independent producer; and commodity trader Girish Raghavan.

It can be noted that Mahesh Ramanathan was the chief operating officer at Reliance Entertainment and had recently quit the Anil Ambani Group after an eight-year stint to pursue own interests.