Sheetal and Bhavna Talwar tie up with Religare Dharm director, Bhavna Talwar, and her producer-husband Sheetal Talwar have tied up with Religare, a big corporate house and the financial arm of Ranbaxy. Says Sheetal, "We're starting a film fund which we'll announce. We were being approached by several corporate houses for movie deals. But we weren't sure if that was the right thing to do." The idea is to get intellectual cinematic talent into the loop. And the Talwars have invited the likes of Pankaj Kapoor and Balki (Cheeni Kum) into the company.

Says Bhavna's husband film producer, Sheetal Talwar, "The idea is to have a bank of creative people. I'm certain there are many more Bhavna Talwars out there. We've lost the creative thread because we didn't respect talent. I'm not saying we shouldn't do entertaining cinema. But the reality is, we can make money even through realistic cinema. We've to keep putting out products like Dharm and the audience for it is bound to evolve. But even the motive behind experimental films is suspect. Everyone wants to invest 50 lakhs in a Bheja Fry and make back 15 lakh rupees. With this attitude we can never promote good cinema. Our idea is to just make 20 percent on our investments. In any business that's a fair return. We need to encourage a wealth of talent."

Bhavna Talwar's next directorial venture titled Awasthi is been written by Mohinder Pratap Singh. Asif Ali Shaikh who edited Dharm is making a fairy-tale fantasy. "It reminds me of Salman Rushdie's Haroun & The Sea Of Tales. But it isn't a children's film. Shaikh's film goes on the floors in June .We're also producing ad filmmaker Johnny Pinto's film, to begin at year-end which would be an Indo-US co-production. It'd convey a contemporary message on consumerism." ... full story »