Dream Merchants

MOVIE MOGUL BHUSHAN KUMAR BELIEVES MOVIES ARE FOREVER. SUPPORTING HIM IN HIS ENDEAVOUR ARE HIS DIRECTORS NIKKHIL ADVANI, ANURAG BASU AND REMO D’SOUZA. A FILMFARE EXCLUSIVE...

Bhushan Kumar. Nikkhil Advani. Anurag Basu. Remo D’Souza. Four individuals, who are as different from each other as the proverbial chalk and cheese and yet are united by their passion for cinema. Directors Nikkhil, Anurag and Remo all champion different brands of cinema. While Nikkhil has progressed from making romantic films to thrillers, Anurag is a genuine storyteller, hopping from genre to genre in his quest to interpret life on celluloid. Remo has played to his strength making dance films. He has reinvented the genre in India. They aren’t newbies needing handholding but skilled veterans, who know the industry inside out. That they still have chosen to join in a partnership with T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar speaks of his standing in the industry. You get the marketing expertise of T-Series behind you when you join hands with him. Then, he’s said to be a non-obstructive producer, content to let you hold the reigns of the racing horse, not known to give unsolicited advice or changing riders midway. Bhushan is also known to splurge on his films but he makes sure the splurge is justified. That most of his hunches have paid off owes more to an astute reading of the playing field than to luck. Above all, he invests in relationships – those that endure beyond statistics and seasons. Filmfare chats with Bhushan Kumar and his three comrade-in-arms to understand their dreams. Excerpts...

“I MIX PASSION WITH BUSINESS”

BHUSHAN KUMAR ON THE THREE C’S OF SUCCESS – CONTENT, CREATIVITY, AND COLLABORATION. RAGHUVENDRA SINGH DECODES HIS WINNING FORMULA

WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES WHEN YOU TOOK OVER THE COMPANY AFTER YOUR DAD GULSHAN KUMAR’S DEMISE?