Anil D. Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment announced that its film production and distribution business in India has formed a joint venture partnership with Phantom Films.

Phantom Films is a company formed by Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena.

“The proposed combination will leverage the proven creative and production capabilities of the Phantom team, while enjoying access to the established domestic and international sales and distribution infrastructure of Reliance Entertainment, including the wide reach of IM Global, a Reliance Entertainment company based in Los Angeles, with operations in North America, the UK and Europe, Asia-Pacific, China, Latin America,” said a press statement.  

The combination of Reliance and Phantom Films plans to develop and produce at least five to six films every year, apart from distribution of films in India and overseas, and syndication of rights from the over 175 films library.

Reliance will own 50 per cent shareholding of the combined business, while the balance will be equally held among the four promoters of Phantom Films. The day-to-day operations of the joint venture will be managed by Phantom Films.  

Attracting talent Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, Group Managing Director, Reliance Group, said: “This partnership is in line with our evolving strategy in the media and entertainment business, of aligning with like-minded people who are trailblazers in their own field, and playing the role of supportive investors on our part.” Anurag Kashyap said, “This deal opens up our window to international opportunities and talent. We hope to optimise on this opportunity and take Indian cinema international, and also attract excellent talent into the country.”

Phantom Films will also be in a position to leverage capabilities of the recently announced Reliance MediaWorks – Prime Focus combination in digital, visual and special effects, pre and post-production, physical studio, with facilities in multiple locations.

Reliance Entertainment has produced, distributed and released more than 170 films in multiple Indian languages, including films like Singham, Guru, Paa, Abohoman (Bengali) and Kutty Shrank (Malayalam).

Related Topics