Eros International unveils new special logo at Cannes

Mumbai, May 19 (UNI) Eros International, the leading vertically integrated media company which is part of the US 10 billion dollars Indian entertainment sector, officially began celebrations of its 30th anniversary at the Cannes Film Festival in France by unveiling its special anniversary logo as well as announcing a series of further content alliances.

Having played a pivotal role in taking Indian cinema to global audiences, Eros International became the first company within this sector to list on the AIM London Stock Exchange in July 2006.

Established in 1977, Eros International pioneered the international distribution of Indian films across multiple formats of theatres, home entertainment, television and new media.

The company aggregated a valuable film library of over 1300 titles, including hits such as 'Sholay', 'Mother India', 'Mughal-e-Azam' and 'Devdas'.

Eros International Plc chairman and CEO Kishore Lulla said, ''The Indian film industry is going through an explosive growth phase. Our goal is to consolidate content, talent and global distribution in the first phase so that we can catapult the business to the next level. By consolidating the fragmented industry, we are looking to give it the scale and muscle it deserves to be recognised seriously on a global platform.'' Eros unveiled the 'first-look' of Goldie Behl's Abhishek Bachchan- Priyanka Chopra-starrer 'Drona,' which is Eros's first co-production with Rose Movies. Another 'first-look' was the John Abraham starrer, 'No Smoking' which will be released globally this summer.

Eros acquired 64 per cent of big screen Entertainment last year.

'Partner', a Sohail Khan Production starring Salman Khan and Govinda which will be released worldwide this summer by Eros, was also showcased. This film comes through the major output deal signed by the company with K Sera Sera last year.

Eros announced an exclusive output deal with Anil Kapoor Film Company. The first film under this umbrella to be globally presented and distributed by Eros is Feroz Khan's 'Gandhi My Father' (English and Hindi), a film with genuine crossover potential to discerning mainstream audiences, scheduled to a worldwide release this August.

Eros also announced a significant joint venture with one of the most distinguished filmmakers in the Indian film fraternity, Abbas Mastan. Renowned for his big star cast thrilling blockbusters, Abbas has given several hits most of which already form a part of the Eros library. Abbas will now exclusively make films through the joint venture company with Eros, the release said.

Leveraging its market leadership position, Eros International has a vertically integrated business model, controlling content through co-productions and output deals with production houses and talent, and by controlling global distribution channels across all multimedia formats.

Operating on a studio model, Eros produces two to three flagship films and distributes at least 30-35 films each year.

Eros International was recently awarded The Business of the Year award at the recently held Asian Business Awards in London. The award was presented to Kishore Lulla by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, the release added.

UNI