Business Today Net Special

From Celluloid to Cyberspace

Bollywood goes on-line with its first B2B, courtesy Devgan Entertain- ment. It's the beginning of a new romance.

By Vinod Mahanta

They may not be Bollywood's First Couple, but they sure are the dotcom's first Bollywood couple. Last month, Devgan Entertainment and Software--- promoted by actress Kajol and her star husband Ajay Devgan---launched cinexplore.com, the film industry's first B2B exchange. Says Arun Jaitley, 47, Union Minister for Law and Justice, who was present at the launch: "This portal is a marriage of two growth avenues for India, IT and entertainment. In times to come, the greatest carrier of entertainment will be IT."

A portal like cinexplore.com was begging to be set up. The film industry is highly fragmented and relationship-based, with low value per transaction. Therefore, there are is no formula mechanism through which things like talent search, site location, or financing could be done. Nevertheless, the industry does an annual business of Rs 5,000 crore. Says Kajol, 26, Director, Devgan Entertainment & Software: "The film industry has always functioned like a family, but is often separated by distance and communication gaps."

Cinexplore.com offers production houses services in both the pre- and post-production activities. It also provides equipment procurement facilities and scheduling of production. The portal also plans to bring financiers and needy producers together. Says Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Aptech, whose BconnectB.com Worldwide is one of the partners: "Basically, we are stitching together the fragmented industry via this portal."

It's a mean team that Devgans have managed to put together. The technological prowess is provided by BconnectB, a leader in ASP service. Finance and strategy is looked after by Liquid Equity Capital, co-founded by Vivek Nathwani and Madhura Samarth. Film maker Mahesh Bhatt is slated to head the site's on-line film institute. Others like D. Ramanaidu and Yash Johar are also backing the venture. Says Natarajan: "If this team can't succeed who can. I am really excited about the project."

To begin with, the site will focus on B2B transactions and then move on to B2C. The portal will facilitate the discovery of new talent in various areas like acting, modelling, and script-writing. Says Mahesh Bhatt, who will head the talent hunt : "We lack talent to locate talent. People have capabilities but not the capabilities to recognize talent in the industry." On-line courses will also be conducted for wannabe stars.

The sources of revenue are, as per the reigning virtual mantra, multiple. It will include advertisements, transaction-based fee, and subscription. People who are expected to pay for using the site include suppliers, distributors, aspirants, and students. cinexplore.com is planning to corner 15 per cent of the Rs 5,000 crore industry. Says Natarajan: "The venture will be profitable immediately. We plan to generate revenue worth Rs 15-25 crore in the first year of operation."

Some star dream this.

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