RIYADH, 22 September 2007 — Production of more films in regional Indian languages — Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada — is the goal of a new film company that was recently launched in Kerala as part of an ambitious plan to target the south Indian community.
“We are reaching out to the Indian expatriates, especially from South India, since our films will be produced in those four languages,” Zubair, producer of blockbusters like Meesa Madhavan, told Arab News during his recent visit here.
He said his film company, Varnachithraa, needs a capital injection of SR15 million to produce five films in the near future. To this end, he has been touring the Gulf states to mobilize funds for his cinematic ventures. The starting point of this exercise is a subscription drive to enroll shareholders at Rs.100,000 per share. In return, they will be issued a post-dated check, which will entitle them to receive Rs.1.5 lakh after three years. They will also be eligible to a percentage of the profits accruing from the film’s success.
Asked about the membership target, Zubair said it was 500 members who could buy a minimum of one share up to a maximum of 500.
“I have received a very encouraging response, as 230 members have already been enrolled during my swing through Oman and Kuwait,” he said. “Even in Saudi Arabia, the people have been supportive of my venture.”
He said that besides the returns on their investments, the members would also qualify for other benefits, like receiving a gift pack of audio, CDs and VCDs of every new film launched by Varnachithraa. He is also scouting for talented artists from South India, those with a flair for acting, singing, songwriting, story writing and the ability to direct films. So the field is wide open for those with financial and intellectual capital.
Referring to the success of his films, Zubair said he blazed a new trail in the celluloid world by launching new faces, producing offbeat films with a dash of humor, with pulsating music and foot-tapping dances thrown in; add to this a heartthrob like Nayan Thara and superstar Rajnikanth. The result is a box-office hit, “Manassinakkare.” Similarly, Meesa Madhavan has been such a hit that he would now like to produce it in Tamil.
According to him, the success of a film lies in the ability of the producer to churn out something new and rib tickling by mixing fact with fiction, myth and reality. In that sense he is like a magician who tosses some pieces of paper in his hat, out of which emerges a pigeon leaving the spectators spellbound.
In other words, a film, to become a money-spinner, should not ape reality, which could be dull and uninspiring. The formula for its success involves extracting some elements from a real-life situation and lacing it with a dose of fiction to let your imagination soar high into the world of fantasy or dissolve into stitches of laughter. No wonder, his star-studded cinematic ventures like Pattaalm and Kilukkam launched not only his career but also catapulted new faces into stardom.
