Film Production
SVF earmarks Rs 100 crore for 25 big-ticket movies
MUMBAI: At a glittering ceremony held in West Bengal, the co-founders of SVF Entertainment Shrikant Mohta and Mahendra Soni made an ambitious declaration of producing 25 big-ticket films over the next three years (until 2020), allocating Rs 100 crore for the same–a figure unheard of in Tollywood so far.
The announcement was made at SVF Stories, which aims at becoming an annual gathering bringing notable personalities from the industry under one roof.
SVF co-founder & director Shrikant Mohta said, “At SVF, we have always tried to do our bit to raise the bar for Bengali cinema. Our commitment will not only aim at taking Tollywood to the next level but also serve as a platform to harness fresh young talent in the industry. In fact, with the super success of Amazon Obhijaan, we are excited and motivated to make the third part of the franchise even bigger.”
The three-year journey will also see SVF’s first film with the brilliant filmmaker Mainak Bhowmik titled Generation Aami – a ‘coming of age’ story. Birsa Dasgupta will return with a bang with Crisscross – based on Smaran-jit Chakraborty’s best seller novel as well as Bibhaho Obhijaan– an emotional saga. And Debaloy Bhattacharya will be directing his next with a new take on Byomkesh titled Bidaay Byomkesh.
SVF co-founder & director Mahendra Soni said “We are coming up with movies with diverse genre and themes for old and young alike. The next three years will also see many firsts – we will be expanding into Bangladesh with the release of the first film starring the Bangladeshi superstar Shakib Khan. Siraj-Ud-Daulah will be the first ever war film of Bengal, will also see the debut of new talents and there is plenty in store for the audience to look forward to.”The first edition saw leading celebrities like National Award winning directors Aparna Sen, Srijit Mukherjee and Bengali superstars like Prosenjit Chatterjee, Dev, Abir Chattopadhyay and others attending the event.
The exhaustive list of 25 films are as follows:-
Film (Director)
AscheAbarShabor (Arindam Sil)
Finally Bhalobasha (Anjan Dutt)
Total Dadgiiri (Pathikrit Basu)
Generation Ami (Mainak Bhowmick)
Ami AsboPhire (Anjan Dutt)
KakababurProtyaborton (Srijit Mukherjee)
Uma (Srijit Mukherjee)
Two Untitled movies – starring Ankush
Untitled starring Shakib Khan &Nusrat Jahan (Rajib)
Two Untitled movies – starring Yash
Byomkesh Gotro (Arindam Sil)
Siraj – ud – Daulah – (Raj Chakraborty)
Ek Je Chilo Raja (Srijit Mukherjee)
Feluda – (Sandip Ray)
Professor Shonku O El Dorado (Sandip Ray)
Tong Ling – (Raj Chakraborty)
Untitled starring Bonny & Rittika (Rajib)
Bidaye Byomkesh – starring Abir & Sohini – (Debaloy Bhattacharya)
GuptodhanerSandhane (Dhrubo Banerjee)
Ghare O Baire -(Aparna Sen)
Crisscross (Birsa Dasgupta)
BibahoObhijaan – (Birsa Dasgupta)
Shankar’s New Adventure – starring Dev – ( Kamaleswar Mukherjee)
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Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
