Mumbai-based producer Seven Entertainment is making its Cannes debut with an expanded line-up of independent pictures, just a few months after securing backing from optical disc manufacturer Moser Baer.

The company is currently ramping up production after sealing a $10m deal with the industrial giant in February to produce 12 films over two years. It also has a $15m deal to produce 12 pictures for Indian music giant T-Series.

Heading Seven's slate are a biopic of Rajiv Gandhi, to be directed by Anubhav Sinha, whose action thriller Cash is one of Bollywood's biggest releases this summer; Jahnu Barua's Butterfly Chase, set against the backdrop of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, and Maqbool Khan's Kabootar, about four teenage friends who are forced to turn to crime.

Founded in 2004 by producer Anish Ranjan, Seven is attempting to break the Bollywood mould by making a diverse slate of product from glitzy mainstream pictures to edgier, independent fare.

Producer-director Sinha joined in 2005 as chairman, and is making films through the production outfit, along with filmmakers such as Kanika Verman, Vikram Bhatt and Aditya Bhattacharya, who is readying underworld drama Bombay's Most Wanted, set to star Irfan Khan (The Namesake), for the company.

Currently, international rights to Seven's productions are being handled by various financing partners, but the company is attending Cannes to assess international distribution strategies. It also aims to work with overseas companies and filmmakers to set up international co-productions.

Moser Baer is attempting to revolutionise India's home entertainment market and undercut piracy by selling DVDs for Rs39 or less than one US dollar. The company has also been quietly buying up content and now has a library of 7,000 titles across various Indian languages.

Topics