Bollywood focused investor Vistaar Religare Film Fund (VRFF) has invested an undisclosed amount in Ram Gopal Varma’s film, Rann-The New(s) Battle. VRFF has invested in the film as its co-producer. The fund had earlier invested in films like Stoneman Murders, Siddhartha - The Prisoner and Victory,
Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Managing Director, VRFF said, “Any company would want to work with Ram Gopal Varma, Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish and Sudeep. The decision was a no brainer.” The fund is confident of the film and is expecting a high return on its investment.
The film is based on the war for TRPs between various news channels and the business aspect of the media. Amitabh Bachchan, who is playing the lead role in the film, said: “The film is based on the dilemmas faced by media persons and journalists when they are torn between objective reporting and the commerce of the media business.”
VRFF, which is a joint venture fund between Vistaar Entertainment Ventures Private Ltd and Religare Enterprises, has a life of 5+2 years. The fund, which has a target corpus of Rs 200 crore, is still in the process of raising it. VRFF aims to offer its shareholders an internal rate of return (IRR) of 30%. Talwar said that the fund has six films under production and six under print and advertising (P&A).
According to Suchindra Nath, Group COO, Religare Enterprises, “Films are an asset class where constant returns can be generated.” The fund’s investment management committee, that assesses the films before investments are made in them, comprises of media veterans like actor Pankaj Kapoor, film director Bhavna Talwar, film journalist Subhash Jha and Helion co-founder, Kanwaljit Singh.
