Bollywood Inc?

At the office of Metro Films a distribution concern owned jointly by Tolu Bajaj, Subhash Ghai, Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria on the first floor, last week8217;s copies of Trade Guide and Film Information lie scattered about and lobby cards of Badhai Ho Badhai which Ghai8217;s Mukta Arts is presenting receive pride of place on the soft-boards on the wall.

Inside his ten-by-ten cabin, Bajaj is entertaining a bunch of exhibitors with whom he8217;s negotiating the terms of agreement for his next release. One paan-chewing exhibitor from a remote town in Central India haggles over a few thousand rupees while the others ask to have their glasses of chhaas replenished.

Down the corridor at another distributor8217;s office, lunch is being laid out. The staff gathers around the reception area and unpacks a tiffin box on the newspaper sheets laid out. The container with tandoori chicken in it is the first to be attacked, following which dal, rice, aloo bhaji and salad pronounced salaaad is offered around. There aren8217;t enough spoons to go around, and from the look of it, this is a common occurrence. At least three office boys will go without cutlery, but they8217;re not complaining. Over loud belches and slurping sounds, a satisfying meal is had. Telephone calls8212;even out-station, urgent ones8212;are either ignored, or answered with a curt 8216;8216;Bees minute ke baad phone karo, lunch time hai Call after 20 minutes, it8217;s lunch time now.

At R.G. International upstairs, where Harry Potter lobby cards share space with two mammoth posters of Ajay Devgan in Bhagat Singh garb, Rajesh Thadani is promising to arrange tickets for Aankhen for his friend in the media. Instructing his peon to rush downstairs to check if the Aankhen distributor has any seats reserved at Gaiety Cinema, Thadani dodges calls from acquaintances who8217;ve been harassing him to arrange 30 tickets for a late-night weekend show of Harry Potter.

Veteran producer and head of several film bodies Pahlaj Nihalani, who sold his office in this building to Devgan Entertainment some years ago, is making his way upstairs to meet a friend.

A group of cronies trailing behind him gossip amongst themselves about the poor advance booking for the latest Hrithik Roshan starrer, while Nihalani himself is on his mobile phone, enquiring how the shooting of his film Talaash is progressing in the suburbs. 8216;8216;Bolo main bhej deta hoon kal tak Tell them I8217;ll send it by tomorrow,8217;8217; he tells his production manager at the other end, then proceeds to call a distributor and remind him that his installment is long overdue. 8216;8216;Wahan shooting chal raha hai, aap paise bhej do shaam tak Shooting is going on currently so please send the money by this evening,8217;8217; he says politely first, then repeats the same line at least four times in growing decibels.

At Shyam and Balakrishna Shroff8217;s Shringar Films office on the second floor, the soft-board is filled with photocopies of reviews of some of their big offbeat successes. Kandukondain Kandukondain, Bariwali, Taxi, Halo, The Terrorist, and Chandni Bar all seem to have received four or more stars by hard-to-please critics, and evidently the Shroffs are proud of their choices. Even as they get ready to release their next regional gem, Mani Ratnam8217;s Kannathil Muthamittal this week, they know the big bucks will come with July8217;s all-star action extravaganza, Kaante.

On your way out you make a stop at the VIP Enterprises office, where Vinay Choksey now manages all responsibility in the absence of his partner Bharat Shah. With the release of Devdas just around the corner, many loose ends have to be tied up, advances have to be collected from distributors of various territories, and Shah8217;s Rs 45 crore-investment has to be recovered.
8216;8216;Chal jayegi picture. Sab kuch theek dikhta hai The film should work. Things are looking good,8217;8217; says Choksey, wiping off the beads of sweat from his forehead.