MUMBAI: NDTV Imagine has joined hands with Adlabs founder Manmohan Shetty and celebrity manager cum film producer Sunil Doshi to launch NDTV Lumière.

Shetty and Doshi will be directors in NDTV Lumière.

NDTV Lumière aims to meet the long-existing need of film enthusiasts. It will provide access to top quality cinema from across the world, premiering the best of world cinema in Indian theatres immediately following their worldwide release. The movies from NDTV Lumière will also be made available across multiple platforms such as home video, a 24 hour TV channel, pay-per-view across DTH platforms and internet downloads.

NDTV Imagine CEO Sameer Nair said, “At Imagine, we aim to explore every possible avenue in the entertainment business. Having successfully launched our Hindi GEC that caters to a mass audience, we now present an exciting new initiative to bring contemporary international cinema to discerning Indian audiences.”

NDTV Ltd executive chairperson Dr. Prannoy Roy said, “NDTV Lumière is a commitment from us and our partners to bring the finest contemporary world cinema to audiences all across India. The best of world cinema on NDTV Lumière will be available across multiple platforms. There is a growing population of international film lovers across the world and in India and with NDTV Lumière these film lovers will have easy access to international movies of the highest quality.”

Shetty added, “While the Hindi film industry and other regional cinema continue to rule the box office in India, I always felt that there was space for cinema from Europe, Latin America, Africa, South East Asia and Arabic countries. I am happy to have partnered with NDTV Lumière to bridge this gap by providing contemporary world cinema to the growing and evolving audience in our country.”

This is the first time world cinema will be brought to India on such a grand scale. New age masters such as Fatih Akin, Aki Kaurismäki, Elia Suleiman, Pedro Almodóvar, Emir Kusturica, Wong-Kar Wai and Abbas Kiarostami amongst others will be complemented by legendary veterans such as Fellini, Truffaut, Bergman, Louis Malle, Antonioni and Chabrol, offering a collection of films that showcases the best talent from around the world. 

Doshi said, “The Lumière brothers brought cinema to India from France in 1896. It is only fitting that more than a 100 years later, the movement that is bringing a new wave of cinema back into the country should be called NDTV Lumière. Also during my tenure as jury at the various international film festivals over the last 12 years, I have observed that world cinema in India has been sadly restricted to films from Hollywood and a few scattered film festivals. We have never really offered the best of contemporary world cinema to our audience here. NDTV Lumière heralds my long cherished dream to bring diverse and contemporary world cinema and the works of new and emerging master film-makers to India on a grand scale and offer viewers a multiple distribution platform including a 24 x 7 television channel.”

Alliance Lumière Pvt. Ltd. will be a joint venture of NDTV Imagine, Manmohan Shetty and Sunil Doshi which will distribute its content under the brand name NDTV Lumière.

Shetty founded Adlabs along with Vasanji Mamania in 1978 as a small film processing unit that catered to ad films. In 1989, the firm entered mainstream cinema processing. In 2005, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital picked up a majoirty stake in the company. Late last year, Shetty resigned from his position at Adlabs to pursue other interests.

Doshi, on the other hand, handles celebrity endorsements for the likes of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan. Recently he also produced films like Mixed Doubles and Bheja Fry.