Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) seems to be getting bigger by the day. Days after reports of the Anil Ambani firm planning to infuse about $600 million into Hollywood bigwig Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks comes the news of a mega deal with the Bachchans.
Sources said the deal
could be worth Rs 1,000-1,500 crore and would include
film production, television series, reality
shows,
internet and mobile content besides live shows. RBE will look into
the
managerial, marketing and distribution of the projects in the deal
while the
creative inputs would come from the Bachchans.
Some of the directors who have been signed up to direct films for the
joint
venture are Cheeni Kum director R Balakrishnan, Sujoy Ghosh, Rohan
Sippy
and Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi. A source from Reliance Adlabs said that
more
directors would soon be signed up for the joint venture.
Confirming the JV, a spokesperson for RGE
said, "We are proud of the
association with the Bachchan family. We are confident that the
creative genius
of the Bachchans and the business acumen of Reliance will create magic
and take
entertainment to a different level. The joint venture and our strategy
to tie
up with Indian and international creative talent will help the company
build a
new-age global entertainment conglomerate."
Amitabh Bachchan's company AB Corp
will
facilitate the execution of the joint venture projects. Speaking to
TOI ,
Bachchan Sr said, "We will provide the creative inputs and also share
the
profits. As of now, we plan to start with film projects and work in a
way that
will benefit us mutually. Also, they have given us the liberty to work
outside
and there is an unwritten understanding that we have the first right
of refusal."