For all those film buffs who dreamt of getting close and personal with the Amitabh Bachchans, Shah Rukh Khans, Aishwarya Rais and Karan Johars of this world, there's hope at hand. The best part is that you will even get paid for rubbing shoulders (well, almost) with the stars. No; they're not in the market for hangers on. It's just that increasing corporatisation of the Indian film industry is creating new job opportunities for professionals who have hitherto steered clear of it.

"The entertainment industry is increasingly hiring professionals in areas like operations, marketing and publicity," says Ketaki Gupte, Senior Client Partner (Consumer & Media Market) Korn Ferry, a leading executive search firm. "Already, companies like UTV and a few others are run along corporate lines; and with large business houses like the Aditya Birla Group and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises (ADAE) entering the sector, this trend is here to stay," she adds.

Anshumaan Swami, CEO of Applause Entertainment, which is the A.V. Birla Group's entertainment industry vehicle, agrees. "The environment is changing. It's a gradual process, but the Indian entertainment industry is becoming more structured. It's also becoming more professional. This is naturally creating a demand for all kinds of professionally qualified people."

And it's already showing in the numbers. At the entertainment/theme park divison of Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, for instance, post-graduates, including MBAs and MSCs, now account for 20 per cent of all employees (about 130 people in all). "And we will hire 500 more professionals within the next two-to-three years," informs Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Vice President of Ramoji Film City.

Applause Entertainment's Swami: "We need qualified people"

"This year, we will be recruiting 12 graduates from various management institutes. They will join key divisions like acquisitions, programming and films," says Sushma Desouza, General Manager (Human Resources), UTV, one of the largest players in the entertainment industry. "The idea is to take on board future leaders who can be groomed to man strong second and third lines initially before moving up further," she explains. Adds Swami: "We need qualified people in the finance and legal departments. Typically, we hire lawyers, chartered accountants and MBAs who are given clearly defined assignments like drawing up star contracts, etc. This process (of professionalising the industry) is still at an early stage, but it will gather steam as we go forward." If one reads between the lines, the message is clear: These are early days; those who get in on the ground floor now will benefit from the early bird advantage later. Says Sharath Babu, Senior Manager, IMAX, Hyderabad, and a 1998 batch MBA from Osmania University: "I joined this sector because I noticed that it was booming, but wasn't getting the kind of attention that it was."

But where is the industry itself heading? A study conducted jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and leading consulting firm KPMG in 2005 titled "Indian Entertainment Industry Focus 2010: Dreams to Reality" says the industry as a whole should grow from Rs 22,200 crore in 2005 to 58,800 crore by 2010. Sixty per cent of the incremental revenues will come from television, the report adds.

So, television is clearly where the biggest opportunities lie. "And here, it's important to have qualified people since they need to understand what Television Rating Points (TRPs) mean simply to know how a programme or show is doing," says Swami. And, this should come as music to the ears of professionals, "the business here is very structured; there are no grey areas," he adds. The problem, though, is that there are very few specialised media schools that train professionals for the industry. So, companies hire executives from other industries and train them for the jobs at hand. "We have people who've joined us from the consultancy, it, FMCG, consumer durables and retail sectors," says Desouza.

The creative side apart, television companies typically need marketers who can interact with advertisers, their agencies, media planners and media buyers. Thus, marketing professionals with sound knowledge of these functions are in great demand. And since many large entertainment companies these days have a presence in both TV and films, emerging fields like merchandising-which is expected to take off in India following the success of animation film Hanuman-will also throw up opportunities for marketing pros.

UTV's Ronnie Screwvala: Taking on board future leaders

But despite the demand, there is still a dearth of talent entering the industry. Complains Ashoke Surana, Director, Channel 8, one of the largest entertainment companies in eastern India: "There is a huge vacuum in production management, which is vital for us." Production management encompasses the entire gamut of activities ranging from managing human resources, marketing, finance and administration.

What about salaries? "The pay here is competitive," says Ramoji Film City's Jalnapurkar. Fresh recruits get about Rs 2.5-3.5 lakh plus some perks; and sky is the limit at higher levels, with director-level salaries sometimes crossing the Rs 1-crore mark.

So, if films are your passion, or even if it's money and a challenging career you're looking for, the entertainment sector might be a good bet.

-additional reporting by Amanpreet Singh, E. Kumar Sharma and Ritwik Mukherjee

COUNSELLING
Help, Tarun!

I'm a 25-year-old production engineer with an MBA in Operations. I'm currently working as an Executive Assistant in a reputed automobile manufacturer, but am not happy with the way things are going. I'm thinking of shifting to retail or consultancy services. Please advise.

With your MBA background, you should ideally be working in an industry with a slant towards technology and manufacturing. In other words, give yourself some more time in your present job. And what's more, you can always request your boss for an internal transfer. Shifting sectors is also an option, but what's the guarantee that your next job will be more satisfying than your present one?

I'm a 30-year-old handicrafts teacher pursuing a part-time MBA. My ultimate goal is to start a business. Though I have adequate financial resources at my disposal, I don't know how to go about doing things. Are there any courses/training that I can take to be better-equipped?

There are institutes of entrepreneurship in almost every major city that offer a variety of short- and medium-term courses. They teach you every aspect of business-from how to raise funds to how to reach out to clients to even personality development. Then, there are also management institutes that also conduct various courses.

I work in a BPO firm where I handle customer calls. I have not met my targets over the past one month and my team leader constantly taunts me every now and then. In fact, he even insults/embarrasses me in front of my colleagues. What should I do?

The ideal thing to do would be to wait till your performance improves. If, on the other hand, you feel things are getting out of control, then go ahead and speak to the manager. However, let me warn you that the manager may not entirely be on your side considering your performance and you run the risk of losing your job. So be prepared for that.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner, US practice) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055..

Foreign Hand In Indian Media
Expats are now joining Indian newspapers.

Mike McPhate: Looking for a full-time job in India

Not all foreigners you see around are tourists or business travellers. There's a trickle of Europeans and Americans coming here in search of employment in the aviation, business process outsourcing and hospitality industries. Now, another industry has been added to that list-English newspapers and magazines.

Mike McPhate, 30, a Class of 2000 graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz, came to Delhi from the United States in February 2004 for an internship with The Indian Express. Now, he wants to work full-time here. "I found the subjects I encountered here-conflict, poverty, health crises-to be much more interesting than anything I'd get to cover in the (United) States," he says.

Torea Frey, 22, also from the United States, is another member of this slowly growing tribe. She worked as an intern for the afternoon newspaper Today for three months back in 2004. This Class of 2005 graduate from Northwestern University returned last year and is currently looking for a job in a newspaper or a magazine. "The fringe benefits-transportation to and from work, health insurance, vacation time-are better than those I would get in the US," she says.

-Ryan Wenzel

An Officer And An Executive
Retired defence personnel eye corporate jobs.

Flight Lieutenant (Retd) Bipin Chandra: Willing to learn

Most defence servicemen who don't make it beyond Lieutenant Colonel retire in their early 40s. And those on Short Service Commission (SSC) leave the services even before they touch 30. Ten per cent of the 3,000 officers who retire every year join business process outsourcing (BPO) and ITEs companies. Says Major General K.S. Sindhu, Director General (Resettlement), Ministry of Defence: "Each year, the defence services shed 60,000-80,000 people (a majority of them jawans). Most of them have diverse and specialist skills which they can use in the corporate world." Many of them are highly skilled in high technology areas such as space and telecom; others are experts in security, human resource management and logistics. "Much depends on one's willingness to learn and adapt," says Flight Lieutenant (Retd) Bipin Chandra, who is Vice President (India Operations), Knoah Solutions, which provides BPO support. He began his corporate career as a manager at Malhotra Industries and switched a few jobs before taking up his current assignment. That is pretty much a standard career progression chart for officers who join India Inc. So, who says there's no life after retirement?

-E. Kumar Sharma