INDIAN telecom conglomerate Spice Group plans to focus on Asian themes in entertainment, and will set the ball rolling with an English-language film on Buddha to be directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.
New entity Spice Enfotainment will have a presence in film and television production, broadcasting, music and gaming with an initial investment of Rs4bn (£54m/$81m), chairman BK Modi said.
Its first projects will be Buddha, to be directed by Gowariker (Lagaan, Swades and Jodhaa Akbar) and a commercial potboiler titled No Problem in association with Anil Kapoor Productions to be directed by Anees Bazmee (No Entry and Welcome).
"In spite of being an intrinsically Indian venture at heart, Spice Enfotainment will present the best of the Israel-to-Indonesia ‘brown’ belt to the global audiences," Modi said.
It is looking at several movies coming out of India with Asian themes and actors, global language and technology, he said.
Buddha, with a diverse cast and crew, is expected to go on the floor in May 2010 and be completed by the end of the year.
Spice follows in the heels of local firms UTV Motion Pictures and Reliance Entertainment that are looking beyond Indian shores for content and audiences.
Reliance, which has deals with more than half a dozen Hollywood production houses, also has a $1.5bn (£994m) deal with Steven Spielberg for a new studio to make films.
Meanwhile, Hollywood studios including Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Fox, Viacom and Warner Brothers are looking for a bigger share of India’s entertainment business, forecast to grow by more than nine per cent annually over the next five years.
