Finally,Action

Film production moves to newer domains with people from different fields taking up the job.

Film production moves to newer domains with people from different fields taking up the job.

There comes a time in life when one has to decide that its now or never, says Ashwin Varde. He was faced with such a deciding moment when Ekta Kapoor offered him the position of the COO at Balaji Motion Pictures. After working on Ragini MMS and other projects,he launched a production company,Ashwin Varde Productions,almost a year ago. Its first production Naam Hai Boss,a Akshay Kumar-starrer goes on floors this month. With this,Varde,who started his career as a film journalist,sinks his teeth into filmmaking,something he has been passionate about.

Varde made this transition after working as a journalist for nearly 20 years. Ashvini Yardi,the former programming head of Colors,also took as much time to shift to making movies after being in the television industry for almost 20 years. After Colors reached the top spot in the television industry,I was thinking of starting something new. When I heard the script of OMG Oh My God!,I really liked it and decided to launch a production house,Grazing Goat Pictures,to make it. Akshay Kumar decided to support me on this, says Yardi.

Unlike them,it was more of an expansion for Amit Chandra,who launched his promo-production company,Trigger Happy,five years ago. His first movie-making association came with Karthik Calling Karthik,for which he was the associate producer. Nearly two years after that,he launched his first film Kismet,Love,Paisa,Dilli,which will release tomorrow.

These three personalities join the rank of new producers,who are growing in numbers. Till the 90s,film production was mainly the domain of certain families Barjatyas,Chopras,Nadiadwalas,Rawails and Kapoors with only a few actors like Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha having their home production companies. However,the launch of ABCL by Amitabh Bachchan,and Dreamz

Unlimited by Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan set the trigger for many actors to take up production.

Today,however,production has come to the rescue of fading careers. Right from Preity Zinta to Mahima Chaudhury,Hansika Motwani,Neetu Chandra,Lara Dutta and Diya Mirza all are turning producers. There are also others like Aamir Khan,Ajay Devgn,Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan,who have made a profitable business out of this.

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Now,the field seems to have opened up for other professionals too. It isnt tough if you really have a passion for it, says Yardi,adding,

I have been planning and strategising as a television programmer for many years now. This is just on a larger scale. Also,my research in television has helped me understand the audience well.

Having made promos for films such as Dus,Khosla Ka Ghosla,Om Shanti Om and English Vinglish,Chandra understands the pulse of the audience. I want to make entertaining films,which I would like to go to the theatre and watch, he says.

Varde seconds the thought. What puts Varde at an advantage is his access to the film industry. My journalistic stint helped me form relationships with actors,filmmakers and technicians. But thats where it ends. Eventually,nobody is going to do a film with you just because you happen to be a friend. You have to get something on the table that sets you apart from the rest, says he.

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Both Chandra and Varde share the advantage of studying films objectively. Since I have analysed films as a critic and watched them as an audience,there are lesser chances of me trying to please others and going against my own conscience, says Varde. Yardi,who has always dealt with TRPs,believes that filmmaking is a business. A good film is one that makes everyone happy the cast,the crew and the audience, says he.