MAM
Bharat Dabholkar gets ready for new innings
NEW DELHI: Bharat Dabholkar, managing director of Publicis India, is on verge of releasing his maiden directorial venture in the movie industry, a two-hour English movie – God Only Knows.
The movie has been produced by Mumbai-based production company Why Not Productions (WNP) and is expected to get released in December.
“This is my first directorial effort and first movie produced by Why Not Productions. The movie is about a politician, who through his cunning ways, creates chaos in heaven. Ultimately, it leads to destruction of entire universe,” says Dabholkar.
Describing it as a project full of humour, Dahbolkar says though the climax of the movie is set in heaven, it has got links from daily life as well. “The entire movie is based on this politician, who is chosen by Narad Muni to interact with gods. It has interesting anecdotes, for instance, this politician forms opposition party in heaven,” adds Dahbolkar.
Besides releasing it in local market, WNP is also targeting foreign markets and is in the process of tying up with distribution companies or professionals to reach out to wider audience.
WNP, which has been co-founded by Dabholkar and Annanya Dutt, is not only planning to produce movies but it also intends to get into television programming, music videos and advertising films.
“We had earlier produced a music video based on Prime Minister’s poems, which has been on air on Doordarshan. We soon would be getting into other projects,” says Dabholkar, who also mentioned there is no hierarchy as such in WNP.
The movie God Only Knows has got more than 15 special effects, executed by post production house FX Factory. Apart from Dabholkhar, WNP’s Dutt is involved as an actress, co-director and executive producer.
Dutt has performed a crucial dance sequence ‘Tandav Nritya’ towards the end of the movie, which has also got some exciting special effects. More than 30 members from the FX Factory have worked on this project.
Apart from Dutt, other actors in the movie include Anjan Srivastav, Dileep Prabhawalkar and Sharbani Mukherjee
Brands
Flipkart completes reverse flip to India ahead of IPO
Walmart-owned e-commerce giant shifts domicile from Singapore to Bengaluru
MUMBAI: Flipkart has completed its restructuring to move its parent company from Singapore back to India, marking a key milestone as the Walmart-owned marketplace prepares for a potential initial public offering on Indian stock exchanges, ET reported, citing people aware of the matter.
The move, often referred to as a “reverse flip”, relocates the company’s legal home to India and aligns its corporate structure more closely with its largest market. It also clears an important regulatory step for Flipkart as it explores listing plans.
As part of the restructuring, several Singapore-based entities have been merged into Flipkart Internet Private Limited, which will now serve as the main holding company for the entire group.
The consolidation brings a number of major businesses directly under the Indian parent company. These include fashion platform Myntra, logistics arm Ekart, travel booking platform Cleartrip, healthcare marketplace Flipkart Health, and fintech venture Super.money.
Under the new structure, global investors including Walmart, Microsoft, SoftBank, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will hold their stakes directly in the Indian entity rather than through an overseas holding company.
The redomiciliation required approval from the Indian government because Chinese technology company Tencent owns around a 5 to 6 per cent stake in Flipkart. Under Press Note 3, investments from countries sharing a land border with India require prior government clearance.
Flipkart had already secured approval from the National Company Law Tribunal in December. With the latest clearance from the central government, the company has now obtained all the regulatory approvals needed to complete the relocation, ET reported earlier.
Flipkart had originally shifted its holding structure to Singapore in 2011 to tap global capital more easily. However, as India’s capital markets have matured, several start-ups have begun returning their domiciles to the country ahead of public listings. Companies such as Razorpay, Groww, and Meesho have taken similar steps.
The company is now expected to move ahead with its IPO preparations and has begun early discussions with merchant bankers. According to people familiar with the matter, Flipkart could file its draft prospectus later this year, setting the stage for what may become one of the most closely watched listings in India’s e-commerce sector.
Flipkart has been majority-owned by Walmart since 2018, when the US retail giant acquired a 77 per cent stake in the company for $16 billion in one of the largest e-commerce deals globally.
