Goldstone set to restore national archives

The media division of Goldstone Technologies Limited, a Hyderabad-based software solutions and IPTV (Internet protocol television) provider, is seeing significant business potential outside the film industry as well.

The division, which restores (cleaning a film and polishing it to remove the wear and tear of time), colourises and digitises films, is currently exploring various opportunities to revive national archives, and is currently negotiating with a few government agencies at the national level in this regard.

"There is over 50,000 hours of short-film and documentary footage of national importance, including Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha and the Indo-Pak war, which could be restored and preserved for posterity before they are lost forever. We have already initiated work on this, and expect to conclude a couple of deals in a few months," Rajesh Kalidindi, president and chief operating officer of Goldstone Technologies, told Business Standard.

On the movies front, Goldstone has identified 140-odd films in three languages "� Telugu, Tamil and Kannada "� for restoration and colourisation.

The company has already tied up with 40 movies "� 29 in Telugu, six in Tamil and four in Kannada "� including negative rights of all the 14 feature films produced by Vijaya Vauhini Pictures Private Limited of Chennai.

The films include Telugu classics Maya Bazaar, Missamma, Appu Chesi Pappukudu, Jagadeka Veeruni Katha, Gundamma Katha, Pellichesi Chudu and Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club.

The company is negotiating with three Bollywood production houses for acquiring films. "The deals are yet to be finalised," Kalidindi said, while declining to divulge further details.

The second restored and colourised film from Goldstone's stable, Nav Ketan's Hum Dono starring Dev Anand, has been completed. It is currently discussing with Dev Anand for the release timing. The company has already handed over the colourised version of Harischandra, a Kannada film, to its owner KCN Enterprises.

"We are gearing up to have theatrical releases of eight films a year, starting this year, and expect revenues of between Rs 10 crore and Rs 12 crore from theatrical, satellite and DVD rights per movie," he said.

Goldstone, which plans to invest $20 million (around Rs 80 crore) in its media business in the next 24 months, expects the media division to contribute 20 per cent to the overall revenues during the current financial year.

The company posted revenues of Rs 100 crore in the just ended financial year 2007-08, most of which was derived from its core business, information technology.