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Shemaroo’s Hiren Gada says there is more to his content than just films
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New FEAT Hiren Gada
Remember Padosan? The rib-tickling comedy film of 1968 starring Sunil Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Mehmood and Saira Bano?
Next year, you may be able to see its remake. To be directed by Neeraj Vohra, the new Padosan will have Ritesh Deshmukh as Bhola, the role played by Sunil Dutt. Sanjay Dutt will take the place of Kishore Kumar and Paresh Rawal will replace Mehmood. “To replace Saira Bano, the hunt for a new face is on,” shares Hiren Gada, Director, Shemaroo Entertainment Private Limited, who would produce and distribute the film, which goes on the floor this August.
Meanwhile, to watch the old Padosan, one doesn’t need to wait for the television channels. Almost all the films one can think of, especially those made in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s — Madhumati, Ram Aur Shyam, Mughal-e-Azam, Guide, Mere Mehboob, and so on — are available as CDs and VCDs from Shemaroo. It has also come out with CDs of the comedy serial of the 1980s, Ye Jo Hai Zindagi.
“We are not just a video company, as people think. We grew out of it eight years ago,” says Hiren. And the proof is Shemaroo’s diversification into alternative content such as education. For instance, fun learning for primary school students, read along videos for the five-to-ten-year-olds, personalities such as Einstein and Gandhi, etc. and health and spiritualism. Not to mention Shilpa Shetty and her yoga asanas. Says Hiren, “When Shilpa saw that there are several yoga films by the British in the U.K, she decided to do a film on her asanas for India too. I offered to take all responsibility of the shooting and it’s released in the U.K too. No Indian has released his/her CD there. She is very popular in the U.K and is nicknamed the Jane Fonda of India.”
Piracy problems
What irks Hiren is piracy. “Piracy is an organised crime today. It is the easiest business to start with. It takes one just Rs.5000 to start. A recent Interpol report says that piracy has its roots in Bollywood and the underworld. So far, so many raids have been conducted and those doing illegal trafficking have been arrested. But they are released after a warning. No one has been convicted so far. It’s high time the Government intervened and employed some stringent laws to protect the intellectual property (films). The film fraternity has little unity to fight piracy. Only IMPA (Indian Music Producers’ Association), the video association and TV associations are fighting a lone battle. We have an annual budget of Rs.40 lakh to restrain it,” he concludes.
RANA SIDDIQUI
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