Ambani signs Bachchans for Rs 1,500 cr

It started with Amitabh Bachhan blogging on BidAdda.com, a social networking website owned by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Reliance Big Entertainment. And now, Anil Ambani has reportedly signed on the Bachchans for a Rs 1,500 crore deal!

The Times of India quoted Amitabh Bachchan as saying, "We will provide the creative inputs and also share the profits. As of now, we plan to start with film projects and work in a way that will benefit us mutually…they have given us the liberty to work outside and there is an unwritten understanding that we have the first right of refusal."

Can it get better than that? The deal would reportedly include film production, TV serials and reality shows, Internet and mobile content and live shows.

While Reliance will look into the managerial, marketing and distribution side, AB Corp will provide the creative inputs and execute the project. In that sense, the two companies will be equal partners.

Four directors have been signed on to direct films for the joint venture, namely R 'Balki' Balakrishnan, Sujoy Ghosh, Rohan Sippy and Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi, with more to follow.

Reliance spokesperson told TOI, "We are confident that the creative genius of the Bachchans and the business acumen of Reliance will create magic and take entertainment to a different level. The joint venture and our strategy to tie up with Indian and international creative talent will help the company build a new-age global entertainment conglomerate."

Whoever said the Bachchans are now the first family of Bollywood and not the Kapoors, was right!