MUMBAI: Ajay Patadia, former Balaji Telefilms president has taken the entrepreneurial plunge. The 29-year-old has teamed up with Prima Entertainment, a South East Asian media company, as managing director and CEO.

Patadia heads Prima Entertainment India, a joint venture company (in which he has a stake) that is a subsidiary of Prime Movies International Ltd headquartered in Singapore.

Prime Movies International's group companies include Prima Entertainment (Indonesia) and Cathay Holdings Organisation Ltd (Singapore). Prima Entertainment is also present in Singapore, Malaysia, China and Taipei.

Patadia's endeavor in the Indian chapter will essentially be to replicate the business model that has worked for Prima in other Asian countries. The company is essentially in the business of producing mega series, weekly series, TV movies and mini series in multi-genres like family drama, romance, teen drama, comedy, action, suspense, mystery and thriller. Prima has a library of over 2,500 hours of prime time programming, says Patadia. With over 330 TV movies produced under the brand "FTV", Prima is a household
brand in Indonesia, says Patadia.

"This is going to a very exciting challenge for me. The plan is to become the leader in Asia's market, and handling India will be an extremely interesting proposition," Patadia gushes.

According to Patadia, the plans for the Prima India are as follows:

• Production of 3-4 small budget feature films in a year with budgets not exceeding $ 0.4 million.
• Production of cross-over serials leveraging the infrastructure & facilities of group companies
• Entering the exhibition business through setting up multiplex chains
• Production of television Software in different genres for satellite and terrestrial networks in Hindi as well as regional languages
• Distribution of Indian TV serials and movies worldwide through the network of group companies

"Apart from production and distribution we will be looking seriously at the creation of television software in different genres for satellite & terrestrial networks in Hindi as well as in regional languages," says the young and ambitious Patadia.

The management team in India consists of chairman Gunawan Sulaiman who has over 10 years experience in very senior positions Indonesia's leading media companies and TV stations. His other principal investments include, controlling stake in KPSG, Indonesia's largest outsourcing provider of direct selling, tele-selling & consumer services & controlling stake in 'Globalfon', a telecommunications system operator based in Jakarta. Group advisor is Shailesh Dave, a chartered accountant associated with the media industry for the last 20 years.

And finally, there is Patadia himself --- MD, CEO, and founder-promoter of PMI India. "The sky is the limit," he exhults.