Anil Ambani firm signs up Bachchans in Rs 1,500cr deal

Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) seems to be getting bigger by the day. Days after reports of the Anil Ambani firm planning to infuse about $600 million into Hollywood bigwig Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks comes the news of a mega deal with the Bachchans.

Sources said the deal could be worth Rs 1,000-1,500 crore and would include film production, television series, reality shows, internet and mobile content besides live shows. RBE will look into the managerial, marketing and distribution of the projects in the deal while the creative inputs would come from the Bachchans.

Some of the directors who have been signed up to direct films for the joint venture are Cheeni Kum director R Balakrishnan, Sujoy Ghosh, Rohan Sippy and Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi. A source from Reliance Adlabs said that more directors would soon be signed up for the joint venture.

Confirming the JV, a spokesperson for RGE said, "We are proud of the association with the Bachchan family. We are confident that the creative genius of the Bachchans and the business acumen of Reliance will create magic and take entertainment to a different level. The joint venture and our strategy to tie up with Indian and international creative talent will help the company build a new-age global entertainment conglomerate."

Amitabh Bachchan's company AB Corp will facilitate the execution of the joint venture projects. Speaking to TOI , Bachchan Sr said, "We will provide the creative inputs and also share the profits. As of now, we plan to start with film projects and work in a way that will benefit us mutually. Also, they have given us the liberty to work outside and there is an unwritten understanding that we have the first right of refusal."