Riot act

Though Arindam Chaudhuri runs a serious cluster of management institutes, when it comes to films he prefers a strong dose of comedy

Riot act

Though Arindam Chaudhuri runs a serious cluster of management institutes, when it comes to films he prefers a strong dose of comedyu00a0

One is used to finding people either dressed casually in t-shirt and jeans or formally in a three-piece suit, but when this reporter saw Prof Arindam Chaudhuri, he was wearing a white monogrammed jacket in a posh hotel.

But he graciously agreed to remove the jacket for the photo shoot when it was pointed out to him that the white jacket against a white curtain appearing on our white pages would be barely discernable.u00a0

He promises us that his three upcoming movies Do Duni Chaar, I M 24 and Sunglass will all have a good dose of comedy.u00a0

Talking of entertainment, in the near future, won't the two great upcoming entertainers IPL and elections hamper him when he tries to draw people to theatres? Chaudhuri says that they will not hurt him because people in India like both cinema and cricket. Regarding elections, his views are harsher. "India doesn't vote and it is a shame, not on the people but on the politicians who don't inspire people."u00a0

Describing himself as a maker of different films, he says that he itches to take on projects that others don't like. "We made a black and white movie like Dosar, an English movie like The Last Lear, and a comic movie on the underworld like Mithya," he points out.u00a0

One interesting feature about the homepage of his movie production venture is a link that invites people to contribute scripts. Has he discovered any talent? "Regretfully, no." He says that while some scripts submitted to him have potential, most of the submissions of new scriptwriters tend to be raw and need to be polished.u00a0
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What was his favourite movie? "Sholay," he replied. Chaudhuri says that Sholay is his favourite movie primarily because it deals with diverse subjects like comedy, friendship and love very well. He also feels that the type of male bonding depicted in the film has also contributed to its success.u00a0

Talking about the recession and some of his future plans, he admits that some of his financers have backed out, but states that this is only a temporary setback.

At a glance
Arindam Chaudhuri is the founder of the Planman group of companies. He completed his PG diploma in planning and entrepreneurship from The Indian Institute of Planning and Management in 1992. This institute was founded by his father Dr MK Chaudhuri in 1972.u00a0

He has won awards like the Priyadarshini Memorial Award for Excellent contribution to Management from the Priyadarshini Academy, Mumbai and the Example to Youth award from the Rotaract Club of India. He has also published three books Planning India, Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch, and The Great Indian Dream.

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