Ratan Tata’s company produced an Amitabh Bachchan film that lost Rs 3.5 crore two decades ago, forced Tatas to withdraw from movie business

Amitabh Bachchan shared a note in Ratan Tata's memory. The industrialist passed away at 86 in Mumbai.

New Delhi | October 10, 2024 12:59 PM IST

3 min read

Ratan Tata's company produced Amitabh Bachchan's film Aetbaar.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan took to social media on Thursday to mourn the passing of industrialist Ratan Tata. In a short note, Bachchan recalled the “wonderful moments” they spent together, and praised the “immense foresight and resolve” of the “visionary leader.” He shared on X, “Just came to learn of the passing of Shri Ratan Tata, was working very late… An era has ended… A most respected, humble yet visionary leader of immense foresight and resolve… Spent some wonderful moments with him, during several campaigns we were involved in together. My prayers 🙏.”

Amitabh Bachchan had collaborated with the Tata Group when it made its way into the movie industry in the early 2000s. Back then, Tata, under the banner Tata Infomedia Ltd, launched a production house with HS Billimoria as the Managing Director. Ratan Tata was the Chairman of the Tata group at this time. With Vikram Bhatt as the director, the film they made was titled Aetbaar. It starred Bachchan, along with John Abraham and Bipasha Basu. “We were impressed with the script and its storyline and when the opportunity to make the project arose, we quickly opted to produce it with Jatin Kumar,” Billimoria shared with Screen Daily.

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Aetbaar was released in 2004, but it failed at the box office. At the time, as per a report in Rediff, the Tata group lost around Rs 3.5 crore on the film and decided to pull out of the movie business. Soon after, the Tatas sold their stake in the company to ICICI Ventures, and the company was renamed Infomedia India. As per a PTI report from 2002, Tata Infomedia went through a detailed process to select the first film they wanted to produce. At the time, Billimoria said that Tata Infomedia was a debt free and cash rich entity with investments of up to Rs 40 crore.

When Aetbaar was being made, John and Bipasha were dating each other. The two also appeared on Amitabh Bachchan-hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati to promote the film. They also launched a mobile game as a part of the film’s promotional strategy, which was seen as quite unique for the time. However, these promotions did not help the film. Ratan Tata passed away at 86 in Mumbai.

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