Producer’s Forum

AUSHIM KHETRAPAL

Eye on the showbiz bigtime
Starting his career with Delhi Doordarshan’s sports channel, Aushim has been responsible for promoting games like tennis, golf and cricket in India to a large extent. He can also take the credit for marketing sports persons like Ajay Jadeja, Leander Paes and Geet Sethi, to name a few.
"I believe in promoting excellence in sport," says Aushim, who is always on the move. He wants to basically try his hand at everything possible but within his own parameters.

No one has so far managed to handle both sports and entertainment, and do justice to either. And don’t forget, he’s also a newsman -- the first edition of the news on Doordarshan is still produced by him.

Hindi films are an extension of his varied interests. "That’s right. I thought it would help me branch out into various other fields as well," says the actor, who was launched with Aap Jaisa Koi Nahin in 1999 opposite Sharbani Mukherjee. The film also stars Kader Khan, Shakti, Raj Babbar and Prem Chopra with Govinda and Sunny Deol in guest appearances.

But prior to that, Denim Enterprises Ltd, a composite production house, was launched and the company, in order to grow bigger faster, started making films and thus began AJKN. Denim Enterprises Ltd, a production house is waiting to spread its wings into the entertainment industry, feature films, TV programs, business promotion and music promotion.

"Today it is the fastest growing media company and is getting 50 percent of its revenue from films," says Aushim whose foray into marketing and advertising in the initial days of his career has helped him a great deal in reaching out to the public. "Which is why, I have decided to come out with a public issue soon," he says.

What of the Chris Lewis controversy, we ask him, the allegation that he had approached the English cricketer to tank a match. And Khetrapal is quick to respond. "My name was unnecessarily dragged into all this, though I was never involved with betting or getting cricketers to throw matches. There isn’t a shred of evidence in these allegations. Any way, it’s all in the past now, and it’s best forgotten," he says.

Talking about the future of the entertainment media, Aushim declares that in the next ten years, the Hindi film industry will be bigger than Hollywood and that showbiz will become more export-oriented.

Currently Aushim is busy making Sai Baba, "a feature film which will create history of sorts. Because for the first time in the history of Indian cinema, a film has been shot inside the temple at Shirdi where even photography is prohibited. On Ram Navami Day, a festival when the temple is extremely crowded, we shot a scene wherein all the devotees numbering about five lakh was canned. We even erected a village there. Of course, all this was with prior permission from the authorities. And we are grateful that our efforts have paid off," says the actor.

Elaborating on the film, Aushim says he wants to cash in on the popularity of Sai Baba. But this one’s quite unlike other Sai Baba films. "It’s not a mythological. Sai Baba is the only saint who has a large number of devotees all over the world. Sai Baba is an avtaar of Shiva, Ram and Christ and I wanted to convey that message across. So I play the crusader who spreads Baba’s message to the common man. Sudhir Dalvi plays the title role of Sai Baba. The others in the cast are Arif Zakaria, Vikram Gokhale and Ramesh Bhatkar. It is packaged more with the NRIs in mind as they are more serious bhakts than Indians," he says.

The film is 40 per cent complete with a budget of Rs 6 crore. And Aushim says he has not borrowed a penny from outside. If the film remains unsold, his company may venture into distribution, too, in order to release it. He plans to release it in September, just before Dasera, when the Baba’s demise occurred.

Another highlight of the film, says Aushim, is that Master Choa, the biggest living saint, is playing himself in the film. A Phillipino, he follows the preachings of Sai Baba.

The other unique thing about the film is, it has a nine-minute rock number composed by Bali Brahmbhatt and Pandurang Dixit. Also being shot in Spain, America, Rajasthan and Bengal, the film has special effects by Crest Communications.

Aushim also plans to launch a website on the film Sai Baba with a hundred page details on the whole film. This will also include a chat room about the film and is known as Saibaba movie.com.

He says he has taken special pain to make a good film. "I want to give value for money. Not only that, to do well in life, our mission should be clear -- conviction in our work is essential."

Aushim, who has also been writing for 40 Indian newspapers, is also into making albums as well as anchoring. He says his main intention in getting into showbiz is to make money. "Besides," he says, "acting is not difficult."
An audio album that was released recently is titled Syndrome of Love. "And what will make the album so unique is, for the first time ever, there are six singers rendering songs in one album." The album is a vocal fusion in the pop segment. The highlights? It blends Indian elements with western symphony.

Besides all this, the company launched major projects within three months of its inception. Six serials will go on air soon. They include an 104 episode-serial, Shirdi Ke Sai Baba, Shobha Kapoor’s Disha and a chat show titled In Touch with Aushim Khetrapal, which will start from May 3 on DD Metro at 9.30 pm. Initially for 52 weeks, the programme will have celebrities and newsmakers of India on the show and will highlight their lifestyles as well as contributions to their field of work. He bagged the show at a party, when he happened to meet Arun Jaitley, minister for information and broadcasting, who, he says, offered him the slot and insisted he take it up.

Besides there are also two serials for Alpha TV Punjabi. Four films also went on the floors in recent times -- Thoda Sa Pyar, directed by Vibhash Mukherjee and starring Mamta Kulkarni, Rahul Bhatt and Aushim, Yusuf Bhatt’s Sunil Shetty-Aushim starrer and a Shiba Mishra directed romance among them.

"I’m confident I can do well as a producer. Which is why I have decided to make at least six films a year. Moreover, I have now learnt the tricks of the trade. I know I have it in me to make the most of it."

As if that is not all, Aushim has more plans up his sleeve. His portal may be launched in June. He also wishes to launch his own website, called channel aushimnet work.com, which will feature everything about himself and his company.

"Well, for a 32-year-old isn’t that quite a handful?," Aushim concludes.

Namita Nivas