Washington [US], July 24: The Russo brothers are considering a collaboration with Excel Entertainment, the Indian production company run by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar (Gully Boy, "Made in Heaven").
Swati Bhat
According to Variety, Joe and Anthony Russo met with Akhtar and Sidhwani after the Netflix movie "The Gray Man" premiere and press conference in Mumbai. They discussed collaborating with Indian talent and the potential for "The Gray Man," which stars Dhanush from India, to become a franchise during the press conference.
The wide-ranging conversation between the Russo brothers and Akhtar and Sidhwani covered the theatrical experience, the significance of event films and VFX in today's market scenario, screen count in India versus the rest of the world, and its importance, the globalization of cinema, with language not being a barrier, and storytelling across cultures, working with Indian talent and the possibility of producing a film with an Indian director, as well as about work culture -- producing films with Indian directors. "We love what the two gentlemen [Akhtar and Sidhwani] have been doing with content in India, they have a brilliant knack for telling disruptive stories," Anthony Russo told the Indian media. "Although such things take time to materialize, we are definitely talking with them with regards to developing something. At this moment, I can only say that it's an exchange of ideas at this stage." Excel launched its activities in 2001 with the historic movie "Dil Chahta Hai," and since then, it has become a production powerhouse. Akhtar also directs, writes, composes, and acts in addition to producing alongside Sidhwani.
In addition to a long-term connection with Netflix, the business already has a relationship with Amazon Prime Video. "Jee Le Zara," the next film Akhtar will direct, stars Bollywood A-listers Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Katrina Kaif, and Alia Bhatt. Akhtar is now acting in "Ms. Marvel."