Bollywood Biz : From Heroes to Producers

Red Chillies Entertainment
Shah Rukh Khan
Bollywood stars are more than just pretty faces. In fact, they are astute businessmen who know exactly how to get a return on their investment. Today, almost all of the top stars don’t just act in movies, they produce them too. Corporate Citizen rounds up the top production houses in Bollywood backed by stars, along with their track record.

Aamir Khan Productions
Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan is one of the very few commercially bankable actors who doesn’t hesitate in experimenting with alternate cinema. In 1999, When Aamir was impressed with the script of Lagaan, he approached many production houses, but they weren’t interested in the unconventional script. It was then that Aamir decided to start his own production company, to ensure that good films got to see the light of day. Lagaan became a critical and commercial success, and there was no looking back for Aamir. All of the movies produced by the production house since then have either gone on to become super hits like Taare Zameen Par, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, and Delhi Belly, or become semi hits like Rang De Basanti and Dhobi Ghaat. All the movies have managed to recover their money and rake in a profit. In addition to producing movies, Aamir Khan Productions also produces the immensely popular show Satyameva Jayate.

FilmKraft Productions
Rakesh Roshan and Hrithik Roshan
While one mostly equates FilmKraft Productions with Hrithik Roshan starrers, this is in fact a relatively old production house, founded by Rakesh Roshan in 1977. It financed movies like Aap Ke Deewane and Kaam Chor, and tasted real success with Karan Arjun in 1995. Since then, however, the production house began a lean phase, until the launch of Rakesh Roshan’s son Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, which became one of the most successful movies in Bollywood history, and made Hrithik a bonafide superstar.

Since then, Hrithik has been a part of almost all of FilmKraft production’s films, and all of them, from Koi Mil Gaya, Krrish, and Krrish 3 have been extremely successful. The interesting part is that most of these movies have also been directed by Rakesh Roshan. With this magical father-son combination, FilmKraft production is sure to have a very ‘Roshan’ future.

Hari Om Entertainment
Akshay kumar
In 2008, Akshay Kumar was at the peak of his form, with back-to-back hits like Namaste London, Welcome and Phir Hera Pheri. It was then that he, along with his wife Twinkle Khanna, decided to leverage his star power by banking on it with their own production house.

Thus was born Hari Om Entertainment. It made its debut by producing Singh is Kinng, which became a blockbuster hit, and cemented Hari Om Entertainment as a credible production house.

Unfortunately, Singh is Kinng was followed up by box office duds like Khatta Meetha, Action Replayy, Tees Maar Khan and Joker. By the end of 2012, however, this bad phase was over, and Hari Om Entertainment delivered certified hits like Khiladi 786, OMG, and most recently Holiday in 2014.

By Neeraj Varty