Rituparna Sengupta shoots for Comeback

When major players like Reliance Big Pictures and Mumbai Mantra are going slow on their regional film projects, city-based Channel Eight Motion Pictures plans to launch more than a dozen films this year!

“We have an edge over others as we understand the audience pulse and local market better. That’s why we have decided to make commercial films with a budget of Rs 85 lakh-Rs 1 crore each. We are looking at 15 to 18 releases a year,” said Ashoke Surana, the chairman of Channel Eight Motion Pictures.

Three films — Comeback, Target and Vaastav — are already on the floors. Prothom Bhalobasha is the next project and by far the most ambitious. “We will shoot about 80 per cent of the film in Malaysia and Singapore. It has a budget of Rs 1.2 crore. We will launch new faces,” he added.

Channel Eight, the TV channel which airs Bengali films, has recently been acquired by Sony Pictures. The Kolkata Knight Riders matches with Bengali commentary are being aired on the channel. “Reliance, Star and Sony wanted to buy our channel but Sony gave us the best deal. We will continue airing Bengali films. After the IPL, Sony will decide on the programmes they want to beam,” Surana said.