Raajkamal Films International plans IPO

Raajkamal Films International is going truly international. To fuel its global dreams, the film production company of the veteran Tamil actor Kamal Hassan, is planning to tap the primary market.

Kamal Hassan told Business Standard that the company is certainly planning to come out with an initial public offer (IPO) in a year's time.

"The pleasure of autonomy and having absolute control are the only factors that hold me back from going public. There are a few more knots to be tied before going public," he added.

He sounded cautious when asked about the size of the IPO. "I do not want to 'shoot' my mouth on it," he said.

Going public will help him produce English movies and that his production house will literally be an international company, he said.

Though he refused to divulged details, he confirmed that an international consultant has been working on the valuation of the company.

The two-decade old Raajkamal Films International has so far produced 22 movies under its banner, the latest being the Hindi-Tamil bilingual 'Mumbai Xpress'.

Hassan owns the production company jointly with his brother Chandra Hassan. For the year ended March 31, 2005, the company reported a total turnover of around Rs 40 crore.

Hassan said that, except 'Hey Ram', 15 movies were super hits and others did average business.

Kamal Hassan's earlier bilingual movies such as 'Hey Ram' and 'Abhay' ('Alavanthan' in Tamil) bombed in the box office, while 'Chachi 420' ('Avvai Shanmugi' in Tamil) performed well.