Shah Rukh Khan has ruled Bollywood for over two decades with nearly 50 odd feature films under his belt. But after he started his own production house – Red Chillies Entertainment along with his wife Gauri Khan in 2004 and Main Hoon Na being the first project, there has been no looking back for the Baadshah as he also began the VFX arm in Red Chillies VFX and assigned the management of the post studio to the dynamic duo of Keitan Yadav and Harry Hingorani.
Now, in the 13th year since its inception, Red Chillies Entertainment is venturing into the distribution market with the aim of reaching out to its customer base in places far and wide. Their first project under this would be the big-ticket Dilwale, which also marks the come back of the Kajol and SRK ‘jodi’ after a long hiatus.
“Ultimately, we have been making films, which is one side of the business. The second side is taking it to the consumers. That’s a significant large piece we wanted to participate in, and that’s why we decided to distribute ‘Dilwale’,” stated Red Chillies Entertainment chief revenue officer Gaurav Verma.
By getting into the distribution business SRK’s Red Chillies banner will now have the opportunity to multiply and produce more films, to finally generate more content. “This is a critical aspect of our business, that’s why we are doing it ourselves,” Verma added.
Dilwale, directed by Rohit Shetty and starring onscreen power couple Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol with Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, is a much-awaited project which will release ahead of Christmas this year. There are multiple reasons why the traction for the film is high among exhibitors.
Big films are generally attached to a studio and they tend to take a call (on the territories) sales two to three months before, and there isn’t any recent example where local territories have been closed so early, when the film’s release is six to seven months away. That’s been a key development for Dilwale and it’s a reflection of the buzz around the film.
Dilwale is currently being filmed in Bulgaria, and it will be shot in Hyderabad at a later date too.
The banner has earlier produced films like: Happy New Year, Chennai Express, Student of the Year, My Name Is Khan, Om Shanti Om, Main Hoon Na, Chalte Chalte and Ra.One.
Film production apart, the visual effects wing of Red Chillies Entertainment has turned out to be profitable over the years under the supervision of Keitan and Harry and strong support from SRK as well.
