Focus

Jayantilal Gada
Penning a success story
FOR a zero debt company, PEN has a track record of consistent growth. For the financial year that ended on March 31, 2000, the company registered a turnover of Rs 15.18 crore and profit after tax of Rs 2.66 crore. Its net worth stood at Rs 25.89 crore.

Now, the company is all set to go public with an IPO of Rs 10 crore, which will be increased if the initial response is encouraging enough. Ahead of the IPO, a 20% percent stake in the company has been divested to Transatlantic Corporation, a Spain based company promoted by Harish Fabiani. The company has the required clearance from SEBI and in all probability the issue will be out in July. To reach this envious position, Gada has worked very hard and taken some tough decisions along the way, which reflects on his current position in the market.

It’s been one giant leap for a modest man who owned all but a smalltime video library in a Mumbai suburb. Today, his outfit has touched the dizzy heights of success, and evolved into a multicrore film software and corporate media group. But the 17 years it’s taken him to get thus far, have been studded with perseverance, grit and hardwork. When others diversified into Cable TV and other ancillary businesses, this man has chosen to stick to his own business, and give it new meaning and a niche all its own. Meet Jayantilal Gada, CEO and MD of Popular Entertainment Network (PEN)...

The board of directors of PEN comprises eminent personalities from the field of art and commerce -- Prakash Mehra, Dr Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, Mehul Kumar and VP Verma, ex-chief commissioner of Income Tax. Indeed, these are the best brains to deal with the various programmes the company envisages for the future.

The company hit the headlines recently, acquiring Rakesh Roshan’s mega hit Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. The price offered was something never heard of in the industry. But the man who is in the habit of springing surprises, reckons the film is worth every penny he paid for it. "It’s a goodwill price. I know everyone will be amused that I bought the film at such a high price when the market is down in the dumps. But to tell you the truth, I’m confident I’ve made a great investment. The deal’s bound to give me huge returns in the future," says an optimistic Gada.

What’s more, he is the sole rights holder to the merchandise products endorsed by the current matinee heartthrob, Hrithik Roshan.

Gada who belongs to the kutchi community known for their business accumen is endorsing Hrithik in over 70 to 80 consumer items such as notebooks, Today pens, perfumes, posters and the like. When asked if the company is making a profit through the venture, Gada smiles. "We just retain 15 percent of the earnings, and pass on the rest to the actor himself. The company is more intrested in unravelling the potential of the market at this stage, so that we can offer a good price to anyone approaching us in the future."

A major accomplishment for the company in recent days, has been signing the MOU with Zee Telefilms, for the exclusive rights of supplying films to the network. "This will result in a quantum growth in business and revenue for the company for the forthcoming year. I hope it will double the turnover, and more importantly, allow us to have a better rapport with the channel for our other projects", said Gada.

The company is into televsion software as well in a big way. Two mega teleserials Samraat Ashok and Buddha to be directed by Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi are being finalised. The two serials in all probability, with PEN’s close business proximity, will end up being telecast on ZEE.

Television is one outlet that brought PEN into the limelight. As the pioneers, so to say, to offer new films to satellite and DD channels, they offer a decent price to the producers which they never dreamt of in the past. Over the years, PEN has added more than 2000 films to its repertoire which gives it an edge over others in the market. In fact, they were the ones who offered the Ramesh Sippy blockbuster, Sholay to Doordarshan in 1995. The company has the television rights of some big and respectable banners, including films by GP Sippy, Raj Kapoor, Subhash Ghai and Mehul Kumar.

Gada feels television has been a good substitute for the video format as far as revenue generation is concerned. "Its definitely more profitable than video. The video market is in a shambles and it’s now difficult to revive it. Television is one media which will give huge returns to the producers in the future. But I have a suggestion to the industry: I am ready to pay the producer the cost of his film in one stroke, but in return, I need an NOC from the producer and distributor, authorising me to telecast the film on private TV channels three months after its theatrical release, and after six months on the National Network (DD). I feel in these days the maximum run for a film in theatres is 3 months, and there’s no point waiting for years to exhibit the film on TV. Thus the producers can get better returns and make profits on the table," says Gada. Indeed, that’s a point the film producers will have to ponder with a cool head.

PEN will provide 500 hours of film programming to Doordarshan this year, and 1000 hours of programmes to the private channels like Zee, Sony and Sahara. Gada hopes to generate an additional revenue of Rs 5-8 crore this year as a result of this projection. The company has targetted crossing a turnover of Rs 60 crore during the current fiscal, which is indeed a quantum jump by any standards.

PEN has quite a few equally big time plans up its sleeve. The company is planning to launch a music channel, Pen Music Channel, shortly. It has already done a market survey, and feels the forward integration fits in well with the larger spectrum of the company’s activities. PEN, which has already produced three films -- Sauda, Laal Baadshah and Kohraam in the past, has another six films in the pipeline. Shararat starring Abhishek Bachchan and Rishita Bhatt (directed by Gurudev Bhalla) is a quickie which will be finished in two non-stop schedules. Apart from this, Dil Ke Peeche Peeche (directed Gopal Malhotra, with music by Nadeem-Shravan), Mere Apne (directed by Ratan Irani), Kabhi Kabhi Aisa Bhi Hota Hai (directed by Mehul Kumar and starring Anil Kapoor, Urmila and Nana Patekar), Kitne Door Kitne Paas (directed by Mehul Kumar and starring Fardeen Khan) and Mr Black Mr White (directed by Mehul Kumar and starring Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar) are other projects on the anvil.

The company also recently acquired the world rights of the national award winner, Sampoorna Ramayan in all languages (except the South Indian languages).
PEN has developed a great rapport with the entertainment industry by virtue of its expertise in acquiring programme rights from both banners as well as upcoming filmmakers. Its objective is to emerge as the best and biggest independent content provider of Indian film software and become the most "popular entertainment network" in India.

Padmaraj Nair