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Tag: Ashok Amritraj

  • Smashers Sports acquires Delhi franchise of World Pickleball League

    Smashers Sports acquires Delhi franchise of World Pickleball League

    MUMBAI: In the leafy backyards of Bainbridge Island, Washington, a humble paddle, a wiffle ball, and an improvised net birthed a game that would one day cross oceans and cultures. Pickleball. Once a suburban pastime invented by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum for their children in 1965, has transformed into a global sensation—and now, it’s ready to smash its way into India’s booming sports arena.

    With the same spark of ingenuity that gave the world the number zero and yoga, India is poised to elevate pickleball from backyard origins to center stage.

    Smashers Sports, powered by Terra Invest and Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group, claims the Delhi franchise of the World Pickleball League (WPBL). This alliance of global capital, sports innovation, and India’s growing appetite for niche sports promises to redefine the country’s athletic and entertainment horizons.

    Stay tuned, because the pickleball fever is about to hit India like never before!

    The WPBL, affiliated with the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA), features six competitive teams. With pickleball recognised as one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, its appeal is spreading rapidly among urban audiences and younger players in tier two and tier three cities in India.

    Former Wimbledon tennis player and renowned Hollywood producer with global revenues exceeding $2 billion, Amritraj remarked on the acquisition, “Having spent decades in sports and entertainment globally, I see tremendous potential for pickleball in India. The WPBL offers a unique opportunity to combine competitive sports with entertainment-driven narratives that can engage audiences worldwide. Smashers Sports’ vision for the Delhi franchise aligns perfectly with this mission.”

    Terra Invest partner Ankiti Bose highlighted the sector’s growth prospects, “The sports media and entertainment sector in India is entering a golden age. With rising disposable incomes, AI-driven engagement platforms, and increased time for leisure activities, this market is on the cusp of exponential growth. We believe that sports, coupled with technology and entertainment, will play a transformative role in defining the next decade of India’s growth story.”

    Globally, private equity investments are reshaping sports ownership, as seen in the NFL, NBA, and Major League Pickleball. This acquisition reflects the international momentum of private equity firms leveraging sports as high-value assets with commercial and media potential.

    With Terra Invest and Hyde Park Entertainment Group’s expertise, the Delhi Franchise is set to become a premier sporting platform in India, blending competitive sports with entertainment. The involvement of high-profile investors and celebrities in emerging sports underscores pickleball’s potential to transform into a cultural phenomenon.

    What started as a DIY game for kids is now a global sensation. Could your backyard brainchild be next?

  • DD to telecast unique series on film making contest on Millennium Goals

    DD to telecast unique series on film making contest on Millennium Goals

    NEW DELHI: Public service broadcaster Doordarshan is launching a unique reality series: ‘Chance of a Lifetime,’ from this Friday that aims to not only highlight little-known talent but also raise issues concerning people.

     

    The show will be telecast every Friday from 29 August at 9.00 pm.

     

    A senior officer from Doordarshan said, “As far as DD choosing this show, it was liked because of the unique concept and high production value, and because of the involvement of Hollywood director Ashok Amritraj, and something that has immense appeal for the youngsters. DD always prefers anything that is out of the box especially in the non-fiction category. ‘Chance of a Lifetime’ has a unique concept that has not been explored by many GEC channels.”

     

    The series is a reality show based on a filmmaking contest amongst handful of creative youngsters. The show is produced and hosted by renowned Indian sports personality Ashok Amritraj who is now a popular Hollywood producer and director.

     

    The show is divided into seven episodes and each episode carries a public service announcement on the United Nation’s Millennium Goals made by famous names in entertainment and Hollywood such as Beyonce, Nicole Kidman, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonders and Antonio Bendaras.

     

    The known names in the Indian film industry like Santosh Sivan, Nagesh Kukoonor, Anubhav Sinha and Ketan Mehta are the judges evaluating the films made by the contestants in the show. Each movie is evaluated critically and only one 10-minute film on “Universal Education” will be selected for final screening in the presence of UN officials and later in the Cannes Film Festival.

     

    For the show, filmmakers have been selected from India, Singapore and United Arab Emirates and divided into four teams. Each team is expected to make movies on UN global issues such as AIDS, Migration, Poverty, Universal Education and Economic Development. At the end of each episode, one Hollywood personality will make a public service announcement.

     

    In collaboration with the world famous Variety Magazine, the winning film which is much appreciated by UN Headquarters and the officials gets the chance to be a part of Cannes Film Festival.

     

    ‘Chance of a Lifetime’ not only explores the idea of tapping the creativity of film making in young minds, but also encourages them to think and create through provoking films on global issues that need to be heard and understood. 

  • Ashok Amritraj open to Tamil films

    Ashok Amritraj open to Tamil films

    PANAJI: The Indian Documentary Producers Association is to help Hollywood giant Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park-Image Nation to find four Indian filmmakers for a special non-scripted television series featuring filmmakers in West Asia, India and Singapore.

    The United Nations, Hyde Park-Image Nation, and Variety magazine had two months earlier teamed up to produce the series, ‘Chance of a Lifetime’, to be hosted by Amritraj.

    The former tennis ace who is now settled in Los Angeles said: “This unprecedented effort will bring together documentary filmmakers from diverse backgrounds in a filmmaking competition where the contestants must team up to produce one cinematic vision while drawing on their varied cultural perspectives.”

    Amritraj, a retrospective of whose films has been held at the IFFI, said the series will shine a spotlight on a number of United Nations global initiatives. The series will be shown to the UN Secretary General and then taken to Cannes, and later will air on an as-yet-undecided network.

    The topics and tone of the films will reflect the Millennium Development Goals established at the United Nations and will include storylines that highlight issues that are central to the “Every Woman, Every Child” effort.

    The winning team’s documentary will be screened at the United Nations, and they will receive a special recognition from Variety during the 2013 Festival de Cannes.

    “Bringing the Middle East, India and Asia to a global audience has always been a passion of mine, and I’m thrilled to provide this platform for filmmakers of such diverse cultures to have a truly collaborative cinematic experience. The United Nations and Variety have been amazing partners on this project,” said Amritraj.

    In 2009, Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment and Image Nation, the Abu Dhabi production company, partnered on a $250 million financing deal to develop, produce and distribute feature films. They extended their partnership to create a strategic alliance with Singapore’s Media Development Authority. Under this deal, Hyde Park – Image Nation Singapore was launched in 2010 to fund multiple films worth an estimated production value of $75 million.

    Although the entire funding will be by Amritraj’s company, the UN had made available its archival material for these short ten-minute films.

    Meanwhile, Amritraj – who has made 114 films so far in Hollywood – said he had not thought of making any Indian film but was open to good content and screenplays from anywhere. In 1994, he had made the Tamil film ‘Jeans’ starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan which was also dubbed in Hindi. He said he was open to Tamil films if he gets a good screenplay. He said he had plans of opening an office in Chennai.

    He was happy that India had made huge strides in cine technology and had the latest digital equipment, as this would prevent piracy. He said the United States lost around $5 billion every year because of piracy.

    Answering a question, he said India is fashionable around the world today because it was emerging as a tiger economy.

    He said China was a good market for Hollywood films but Indian films are themselves so strong that there is no place for Hollywood. If India had failed to make a mark overseas, it was because Indians needed to make Indian stories that appeal to western audiences. But as ideas get non-traditional, Indian films will also make a mark in other countries. He said he thought of himself as someone who connects the world – India and Hollywood.

  • Ashok Amritraj’s sequel of Ghost Rider opening on 17 February

    Ashok Amritraj’s sequel of Ghost Rider opening on 17 February

    MUMBAI: Veteran tennis player Ashok Amritraj is gearing up to release the sequel of Ghost Rider titled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D on 17 February.


    A sequel to the 2007 film, Ghost Rider has Nicolas Cage returning as Johnny Blaze. Directed by Mark Neveldine, the film also stars Ciarán Hinds and Idris Elba.


    Amritraj, a big fan of Marvel Comics, feels that the sequel is a big step forward for the franchise, especially in terms of special effects. About the current craze of filmmakers going in for making films in 3D, Amritraj has been quoted to have said, ” 3D looks terrific for certain films like Transformers where it enhances the viewing experience. However, if it is used as a gimmick, then it can get annoying. Much of the experience depends on the content of the film itself and I feel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance fits the 3D bill perfectly.”


    Elaborating on the changes he has seen in the last three decades, Amritraj said, “The market is changing with newer distribution and production challenges. Suddenly, DVD has gone down and streaming is up.We are talking to a lot more with companies like Google, Netflix and Facebook for marketing and distribution purposes.”


    The film, made under the Hyde Park Entertainment banner, is being released under the banner of Marvel Knights.

  • ’50 per cent of the challenge of filmmaking lies in marketing’ : Ashok Amritraj – Entertainment chairman and CEO

    ’50 per cent of the challenge of filmmaking lies in marketing’ : Ashok Amritraj – Entertainment chairman and CEO

    Former tennis player turned Hollywood film producer Ashok Amritraj has reason to celebrate. Having spent 25 years in filmmaking, he was recently in India to collaborate with English movie channel Pix from the Sony stable to kick off a reality show titled ‘Gateway.’

     

    Amritraj’s new hunt: to discover the “hidden filmmaking talent in India.” His firm Hyde Park Entertainment will act as a platform for this talent to go international.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto, Amritraj shares his insight into the business of filmmaking in the West, his relationship with studios and the experience of working with top talent in the industry like Bruce Willis and Steve Martin.

     

    Excerpts:

    What opportunities does the burgeoning Indian media and entertainment scene offer for Hyde Park?
    The good news for India is that the entertainment industry is growing. The television industry has seen enormous growth. The motion picture industry will hit a steep curve over the next five to seven years. The younger generation of filmmakers are much more globalised. They understand filmmaking in a different way compared with their predecessors.

     

    There are interesting opportunities in a growing industry. My business is in Hollywood first and foremost. But I have always felt a great affection and affinity for the country where I grew up. This year is the 25th anniversary of my being in Hollywood and I have made over 95 movies. It felt like the time was right to come back and do something here.

    How did the idea for ‘Gateway’ come about?
    Young Indian filmmakers have a lot of talent. Around a year ago over dinner with Sunder Aaron (Pix’s business head) I expressed an idea that involved a search for a talented aspiring filmmaker who would be given an opportunity to work with my company and make a Hollywood film.

     

    Pix was interested and so we started to evolve the whole idea. The concept got bigger and better. We are excited about seeing ‘Gateway’ come to fruition.

    In the US Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg did a film-based reality show On The Lot which didn’t fare as well as had been expected. What went wrong and how confident are you that ‘Gateway’ will take off?
    I don’t think that anything went wrong. It comes down to a person’s take on a certain kind of a show. At the end of the day our show will pick a director and give him an incredible opportunity. Spielberg’s show was the same way.

     

    However, the way of getting there and the tasks that they go through the elimination process is completely different. In one way it is close to The Apprentice as I will act as a mentor. In another way it is also close to Project Greenlight, which was done by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

     

    There are different things being done. Our show is very India centric. It is for Indians. The aim is to make the path of a talented Indian filmmaker to Hollywood easier. We are looking to provide a platform for a young fresh Indian director to showcase his/her talent on the world stage. He/she is guaranteed a distribution of his movies between Sony and Hyde Park Entertainment.

    What brought you and Pix together?
    Our relationship with Pix is based on their tagline – We Tell Stories. This is the basis on which Pix was launched. A lot of what they do is story based. Top Hollywood producers also feel the same way.

     

    Money is available from a myriad of sources like hedge funds. However stories, talented and original storywriters are hard to find. When you do an initiative like Gateway you could find an extraordinary talent like an Ang Lee or an Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

    What are you looking for in candidates?
    I often speak at schools and colleges and also at UCLA, AFI and so on in the US. I say that PQ plus CQ will always beat IQ which means that in films the passion quotient combined with the curiosity quotient will always trump the intelligence quotient.

     

    You also need abilities like how to handle actors, how to work with creativity, how to formulate a story, how to keep a producer happy. As you put all these pieces together and add to that a personality that can work, you try to frame the whole picture.

    Are you looking at other television projects?
    No! I am a film guy. I have not done television. Internationally Gateway represents my first foray into television. This project is personal. It is less about doing a TV show and more about finding hidden filmmaking talent in India.

    Last year you had mentioned that Hyde Park was looking at a JV with an Indian animation firm. Has anything happened on this front?
    Practically everyone has come to us to do something. We are going to make a film here in October called The Other End Of the Line. We will use an Indian actress who could be a newcomer or who has done a couple of movies. It is a question of finding talent. Hyde Park is looking to act as a platform for Indian talent to go international. Bollywood films may not crossover into Hollywood but I certainly think that Indian directors and actors can achieve this.

    In general what does Hyde Park look for in a project before giving the go ahead?
    Everything starts creatively. Our creative team in Los Angeles is presented with around 100 pitches each month. These include novels, books, videogames, comics, screenplays. We look at over 1000 projects a year. We develop a dozen and make three to four films. Those three or four films are chosen on the basis of creativity, gut feel and the kind of film we are looking to make.

     

    Secondly you look at the distribution paradigm and you look at who will want to watch this kind of a film. The distribution team gets involved and lets us know what will work and where. Then we get a casting director to tell us things like a certain project will only work if Brad Pitt is involved or it will only work with Kevin Bacon. All these pieces are put together which is why it comes down to only three to four films.

    When you work with a big star like Steve Martin on Shopgirl how much of a collaborative process is it?
    I am closely involved with every film we make which is why we only make three to four films a year. I could make ten movies a year but we do not as I would not be able to give enough attention to each one of them.

     

    The areas where I am very personally involved is developing the screenplay to a point where I as a producer am happy with it. I am closely involved with getting the principal cast and the director. Then I get hands on post-production. During the production period the director runs the project.

     

    We start with storyboards. So you have the movie laid out before you pretty much. We know where the camera angles are, where the locations are. We then do a read through with the whole cast. Sometimes we take a complicated scene from a camera point of view and computerise it. For me the post-production process in terms of the cutting, sound and music becomes very critical.

    Could you talk about some of your favourite experiences of working with creative talent?
    I have worked with a number of very talented actors over the years. Steve Martin is brilliant as he is a writer as well. We worked very closely together on Shopgirl as it was his novel which he entrusted to me. He wrote the screenplay and produced it with me. I also worked with him on Bringing Down The House which was a completely different experience. Queen Latifah was a complete pleasure to work with. She is a great character.

     

    I did Bandits with Bruce Willis, Billy Bon Thornton and Cate Blanchett. That was a dynamic experience as was working with Anjelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas on Original Sin. All these actors are extraordinarily professional. They arrive on time and treat their craft as a business. They are very disciplined which results in success.

    As a producer when you have a film like Bandits with more than one big star, how much of a challenge is it to deal with egos?
    Actors always have to check their egos. That is a task I have to deal with. It is also part of the director’s job. When we pick a talented filmmaker through our Gateway initiative, he is going to have to understand that managing actors is a large part of the job.
    ‘ Filmmaking is getting democratised with the use of mobile phones & Youtube‘

    How did a tennis player from India like you get accepted in Hollywood?
    The first six to seven years were an incredible struggle. Nobody wanted to make a movie with me as our family was not involved in the movie business at all.

     

    I got lucky in 1984. I met a young chap who was a limousine driver. I met him again in 1990 at the Cannes Film Festival. He said that out of 800 photographs he had sent, only I had responded. The person was Jean Claude Van Damme and we made Double Impact. Then people in the industry found messages that I had called two years earlier. They got back to me and things started to roll.

    You have been making films for two decades now. What is the biggest change you have noticed in the industry?
    There have been many. In 1984-85 when I started to make movies for half a million dollars, there was at that time a fight between two formats – VHS and Beta Max. VHS won in the end. Then the international market for Hollywood grew. Satellite movie channels became more prominent.

     

    The digital revolution is amazing. You just have to look at what George Lucas did with Star Wars. A more recent film 300 was shot against a green screen. It is an exciting time to launch Gateway as directors today have more tools at their fingertips.

    Would you say that filmmaking has become more democratised?
    Absolutely! Democratised is a great word to use. One can use a mobile phone to make a movie. There is Youtube through which you can get millions of film fans to view your film and comment on it. Anybody can make a film.

     

    You do not have to be the son or daughter of someone famous to enter filmmaking. You don’t need to have a huge film background to get into it. You need talent, vision and creativity. Gateway is a democratisation of filmmaking.
    Are new forms of distribution like VoD making it easier for a film producer to recover costs?
    It is another revenue stream. But I agree with guys like Scorcese and Tarantino that a film has to make money theatrically if it is to be anything on video or video on demand.

    When you started out you focussed on action and comedy. Are you looking to branch out further in terms of genres?
    I hate to sound egotistical but I have worked in all genres. I have done action films like Double Impact, action comedies like Bandits, serious films like Shopgirl, Moonlight Mile and family films like Dreamer. The thing that I like about Hollywood is that I can do different things.

     

    We just released Premonition with Sandra Bullock. We will release Death Sentence which is a gritty action film. It is not a ‘shoot them up’ film and I believe it will make audiences think a lot. It is about an ordinary man being put in an extraordinary position and to what extent he would go. It stars Kevin Bacon and Kelly Preston.

    You co-produce films with different studios. How would you describe your relationship with them?
    I have worked with pretty much every studio. My main deals today are with Fox and Disney. I have a first look deal with Fox and a second look deal with Disney. Death Sentence is being released by Fox on 31 August. I am also close with the guys at Sony and Paramount. I made Dreamer with Dreamworks. I have made ten movies with MGM.

    How does the Bollywood system compare with Hollywood in terms of creativity and professionalism?
    The Bollywood system has worked for many decades now. I think that they are now gravitating towards fully completed scripts before shooting commences. There are more storyboards in Bollywood now as you cannot shoot visual effects without them.

    Are films like the Oscar winner Crash a sign that Hollywood is becoming more multi-cultural now compared to the early 1980s?
    Definitely! When I started out 25 years back, I could not find another Indian guy. Today there are Indian agents, studio executives. There are Asians all over the place. Also, Hollywood is getting inspired by stories from Asia and so you have films like The Ring, Dark Water and The Grudge. Also you have Asian stars like Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

    Do you feel that there is a lack of respect for IPR in bollywood?
    I think what is lacking is good quality writers. Writers need to be encouraged more here. They are the lifeblood of the Hollywood business.

    Why can’t India have a global film like what China is doing with films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?
    I think that songs and dances in Bollywood films are a cultural barrier for someone in Idaho. However the way for Indian cinema to succeed overseas is to make films that emotionally resonate across the globe. That is what The Last King Of Scotland did. That film could have been made by anyone. Little Miss Sunshine and Letters From Iwo Jima did the same thing. The casting was also great. Emotionally resonant films come out of great stories and not necessarily from simply having a big star like Tom Cruise.

    Finally how much of a threat do you feel new forms of entertainment like gaming will be to films five years down the road?
    I know that I am not only competing against other films but also with other forms of entertainment. Marketing will have to become more savvy. At Comic Con which was recently held in Las Vegas, we gave away products to push our new film. That is one way in which you can differentiate yourself in a cluttered media environment. Fifty per cent of the challenge of filmmaking lies in marketing.
  • Adlabs to foray into production of Hollywood movies

    Adlabs to foray into production of Hollywood movies

    MUMBAI: Anil Ambani-controlled Adlabs Films Ltd is entering into production of Hollywood movies through AshoK Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group.

    “We will be making Hollywood movies only with Hyde Park Entertainment. The first co-financed movie will start production in the next 2-3 months. We are finalising the investment details. We are also working out other movie projects,” says Adlabs Films chairman and managing director Manmohan Shetty.

    The signing of the co-production, film financing deal with Hyde Park Entertainment Group comes after Adlabs Films has set up offices in UK and US. Though distribution of Bollywood movies will form the primary business activity, the overseas operations will also explore opportunities in film production and post-production activities.

    Adlabs plans to distribute 18-24 films overseas this year and has some of the biggest films lined up for release in the coming months, like Rakesh Roshan’s Krrish, Sajid Nadiadwala’s Jaanemann, Ravi Chopra’s Babul and Mani Ratnam’s Guru.

    Hyde Park Entertainment, a production, financing and international sales company privately held by American film producer Amritraj, is planning to establish a foothold in India and is in talks to form a joint venture with an Indian animation company.

  • Hollywood’s perception of Bollywood: Ashok Amritraj

    Hollywood’s perception of Bollywood: Ashok Amritraj

    MUMBAI: More than just a Q& A session, it turned out to be a live session of Koffee with Karan at the Ficci Frames. Except that, this time around there were no Bollywood stars on the show. Karan Johar, one of the most successful Bollywood Producers had his frothy Koffee with Ashok Amritraj, the most successful Indian producer to have made a mark in Hollywood.

    To begin with Johar got Amritraj talking about his initial struggle days in Hollywood. Taking the audience through his early days, this tennis star and now a Hollywood tycoon said, “In the early 1980s, I had gone to the U.S., to play tennis but I had always wanted to make movies. I soon realized that it was a very white world out there, and it wasn’t really multicultural as it is today.”

    And, with time Amritraj managed to break into the Hollywood circuit and has produced more than 80 films in the past 20 years. Currently, he is the chairman and CEO of Hyde Park entertainment and some of his best known films are Bandits, Bringing down the House and Raising Helen.

    Talking of how Hollywood perceives Bollwood, the film tycoon said, “There is a lot of hype being generated in the US about India as the country is slowly being recognized as a global economy. Also, there is a lot of curiosity about our culture and tradition, but, somehow that does not mean that Indian films are getting more eyeballs in America.”

    The discussion got more interesting as Johar queried Amritraj on how Indian film makers can penetrate the global markets and on the making of crossover films. “I think the European market is now more receptive to Indian movies, especially countries like Germany and France, but films like Parineeta , Kuch Kuch Hota could have been distributed better globally.” said Amritraj. “But, somehow for Hollywood, Bollywood films still don’t really exist. Americans are still not able to understand the ethos, emotions and drama which is the core of our movies.”

    On whether filmmakers need to make different kind of films for the international audience, Amritraj said, “”There is always a risk of losing out on the audiences back home. So, it is a clear choice which filmmakers have to make. One of solutions was maybe Indian producers need to have co-production treaties with the international studios for better distribution of Indian films globally.”

    The discussion turned to be not just informative, but, also brought home lessons for Indian filmmakers wanting to carve a niche in the international market.

  • Ashok Amritraj looking to form JV with animation firm

    Ashok Amritraj looking to form JV with animation firm

    MUMBAI: This is a time when foreign entertainment firms are looking at ways to get a foothold into India. American film producer Ashok Amritraj is no exception.

    Hyde Park Entertainment chairman Amritraj spoke at the convention for the business of entertainment Frames this morning. The event attracted 1500 delegates from 17 countries.

    He says that his firm is looking to form a joint venture (JV) with an Indian animation company.“I am also looking to make an Indian film in December. The problem though is that Indian films are not marketed properly abroad. One has drive for an hour in the US to reach a theatre showing an Indian film.

    “The other issue is that we need stricter anti-piracy laws in India. In Chennai, it is a non bailable offence. The same should apply for the rest of the country. There should also be better copyright enforcement. It should not be that Indian films keep being inspired by a successful Hollywood product. I found it interesting to see a non-white Ang Lee win the Oscar for best director. Filmmakers are facing the threat not just from television channels, but also form new forms of entertainment like the iPod. Therefore it is important that we make better films and at more cost effective prices.”

    Ficci president Saroj Kumar Poddar noted that Frames had evolved over the years and has added new dimensions. “It has gone from fundamental policy changes with broad brush approaches in entertainment to a deeper exploration of emerging facets in this industry. It is a matter of satisfaction for us at Ficci that having started from films, music and broadcast, we have moved into animation, gaming, visual effects, digital entertainment and this year into media. The challenge is in anticipating the technological revolution that lies ahead of us.

    “In the realm of emerging technologies, it is the digital technology whether in radio, television, gaming or films that will drastically alter the face of the industry. Nine of the top 10 box office grossing films worldwide are richly endowed with special effects. Digital technology while opening up new vistas of revenue will also challenge piracy. It will also usher in a great demand for IT professionals in India. With our vast pool of software engineers and creative storytellers, India is poised to leapfrog from a mere outsourcing destination to the holders of new intellectual property.

    “Ficci is humbly facilitating this process through instruments like Ficci Animation and Gaming Forum and Ficci Visual Effects Community. The Indian entertainment industry is witnessing phenomenal growth and is slated to grow at 19 per cent per annum to Rs 83,740 crores in 2010 from its current size of Rs 35,300 crores. The key driver will be technology,” said Poddar.