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The Ashok Amritraj Chat

Singh: One of the first people I met in L.A. was Sidney Poitier and this was at the tennis court in a friends house where we used to have Saturday morning games. Charlton Heston and Sean Connery I met through charity events where we raised funds for various foundations. All three of them continue to be good friends and, in fact, Heston presented me with my plaque when I joined the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Mr Amritraj HOW DIFFERNT IS HOLLYWOOD FROM BOLLYWOOD AND WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER?

Ashok, Heston is going through rough days, do you plan to have in any of your films?

Ashok: Tell us some of your memorable experiences in the movie business

Wannabe: Hollywood is a very difficult place to break into. Either in front of or behind the cameras. The competition is fierce from hundreds of hopefuls who arrive in LA every day. Hollywood seems to attract the best and the brightest from different parts of the world. The keyword to making it in Hollywood is perseverance and determination.

HOW SHOULD ONE TRY TO ENTER HOLLYWOOD?

ASHOK: WHICH IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU RECEIVED ON THE MOVIE-MAKING BUSINESS?

Amritraj: Can you tell me why entertainment companies like ABCL has turned bankrupt?

Mr Amritraj: What do you think is wrong in the Indian film industry? What can be done to correct it?

Kasey: Hollywood and Bollywood are worlds apart. In Hollywood actors do one film at a time, the budgets are much higher, films are shot with direct sound and most films are completed in a period of one year. In Bollywood, actors tend to work in multiple pictures at the same time, all films are dubbed and though the films that I am currently involved with will be finished within one year, normally Bollywood films seem to take a longer period of time. Both industries are very interesting, varied and have plus and minus points.

Ashok: What are your future plans?

ASHOK: WHAT IS JEANS ALL ABOUT? CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR VENTURE WITH AGITHYA :-)

Jai: ABCL had the right idea in mind but tried to do too much too soon as a result they over extended themselves. My company Amritraj-Solomon Communications would also like to build a one-stop shop for film makers however we are approaching this more slowly and conservatively.

TELL ME, ASHOK, HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT YOUR PLAN?

Ashok: What is Jeans about?

Ashok: What is Jeans about?

Mona: Jeans which is a play on words since the film also deals with Genes is an interesting love story between Aishwarya and Prasanth who meet in America and their romance takes them to India. The film is being shot on location around the world. The Tamil film, with Agathian, starts filming in September and is also an entertaining love story.

Hi Ashok, how you doing and where are you chatting from? So tell me which are your upcoming Hollywood releases? Do you plan to make a Ivory Merchant kinda film? Something worthy of film festivals?

Amritraj: That did not serve my answer. I want to know the reason why it started making losses inspite of doing well in the beginning??

WHAT ARE YOUR BIG PLANS. ASHOK, YOU SEEM LIKE A VISIONARY :-)

Ashok: DID YOU EVER THINK OF ACTING AND DO YOU PLAN TO DIRECT FILMS?

Jeanswallah: I'm chatting from my office in Los Angeles. We are currently in production on a film titled White Raven from a best-selling novel and staring Roy Scheider, Ron Silver and Joanna Pacula. It is a wonderful thriller. We have a film in the works titled The Lords Prayer with a wonderful cast and director which we expect to produce later this year and which could be classified as a film festival kind of project.

Amritraj: The film industry all over India has a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, do you foresee that in coming five years the industry will reach the target of Rs 2000 crore??

ASHOK, tell me about The Lords Prayer who is directing it? By the way, why haven't your pals Poiter and Connery ever worked with you?

Mamta Jain: I have always preferred to see a film go from the development of the screenplay, through production all the way to the screen rather than being involved in one facet of film making like acting or directing. However I do small appearances ever so often in my own productions.

Amritraj: What is the reason that producers are more interested in producing films abroad rather than India??

Ashok: What do you think of the Jag Mundhara brand of film-making? and what about Mira Nair do you think she is a better businesswoman compared to a film-maker?

Jai: I think the film industry will continue to grow at a very rapid pace. Additionally, revenue from television sales of both satellite and terrestrial rights will help Indian producers make bigger and better films.

Ashok: Tell us the story of how you came into Hollywood and reached where you are today :-)

BUT ASHOK, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE BROADCAST BILL

Ashok: What is the reason for television channels making losses, SONY, HOME, STAR, BiTV ET AL? Do you foresee a situation in five years time that these channels will start making profits??

Hi Mr Amritraj, it's such a pleasure to be talking to you. Sir, what do you think is the key element that Indian film-makers lack that stops them from achieving international success?

Milind: I originally came to Los Angeles to play tennis for the Los Angeles Strings Tennis team. Which I did for a period of three years. Through the tennis I was able to meet various key players in the entertainment industry. In 1980 I decided to take the plunge and formed my production company. It took me five to six years for Hollywood to start to take me seriously. the last six or seven years have been very successful and as always in any business it is a combination of luck and hard work.

Amritraj: Who is typing for you?

Ashok: Do you plan to make any festival material in India?

It's been fun talking with everyone. See you at the movies.

Ashok: Do you have any plans of getting PLANET HOLLYWOOD TO INDIA?

MR AMRITRAJ, AT LEAST ANSWER FIVE MORE QUESTIONS

Bye, Mr Amritraj

Good night, Mr Amritraj