Indian investor finalised for Hollywood film

Eternal Mind Productions LLC, a New York-based film production house, has roped in Visakhapatnam-based heavy cranes, tugs and barges owner — Pavan Cargo Private Limited — as the co-producer for its forthcoming, Rs 150-crore budget, Hollywood film Mobster.

“The remaining funds will be mopped up from movie venture capitalists and the Eternal Mind team. Mobster will go to sets in August this year and will have its global theatrical release in April 2010,” Nagendra Karri, owner of Eternal Mind, told Business Standard.

The Vizag-born, self-made, script writer, director and producer was in town to finalise plans for his maiden directorial venture Where Are You Sophia, a psychological thriller, and his new project Mobster.

Where Are You Sophia is the true story of a local newspaper columnist, from a rural town called Highlands where she mysteriously disappears and ends up meeting Charlie, a handsome man from Jersey Shores. She takes him on a journey where he is introduced to the realms of the unknown, which only he can unravel as he faces the mysterious forces in the evil town of Highlands. The film made its debut screening at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival.

“We are currently in talks with a Mumbai-based distributor for exhibiting Where Are You Sophia in India. We expect to close the deal in the next three weeks. The film will be released in the US and in India in September 2009,” said Karri, who wrote the script for the film, directed and produced it at age 26.

Karri added that Mobster will be a Godfather-like drama and crime thriller. “The story revolves around a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) guy who loses his family in a tussle between New York and Russian mobs. How the protagonist handles the consequences will form the crux of the story,” he elaborated.

Eternal Mind’s agents are currently in the process of finalising the starcast and are in talks with Leonardo DiCaprio (of the Titanic fame) and Russell Crowe (star of blockbuster hit Gladiator) for the main lead for the English version. Talks are on with Aamir Khan, John Abraham and Mahesh Babu for the Hindi and Telugu remakes. The production house hopes to sign up the actors by the third week of July.

“Mobster will be shot in multi-locales in the US, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The idea is to have a universal appeal with an Indian touch. We plan to release it in theatres in the US, Switzerland and Austria and through video-on-demand in Europe,” said this computer science graduate from Oregon State University, who worked as a business analyst with California-based brokerage firm LPL Financial, before plunging into film making.