MUMBAI: Vistaar Religare Film Fund (VRFF), India's first film fund to be approved by Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India), has started the ball rolling. Its maiden film financing project: Manmohan Shetty's Victory.

The nature of the funding is unique in the sense that VRFF has agreed to invest only in the cost required for print and advertising (P&A) promotion. Shetty's Walk Water Media will receive a funding of approximately $1 million from VRFF for the movie Victory.

Says Walk Water Media chairman Manmohan Shetty, "This is a landmark deal as it is happening in India for the first time that a third party is putting in the money for P&A. The industry is in urgent need of entities that will recognise the depth of talent available in the country and work methodically to produce superlative cinema. We believe that this is the beginning of a long and fruitful association with Vistaar Religare Film Fund and we are confident that we will work together on future ventures as well."

The big budget film, featuring Harman Baweja and Amrita Rao as lead protagonists, will release on 30 January.