By Hindustan Times
John Abraham’s debut production venture, Vicky Donor (2012), will have turned out to be a hit on the box office, but director Shoojit Sircar was disappointed that the production house, Eros International, didn't push the film for an Oscar nomination.
This came within the wake of Barfi! being announced as India’s official entry to the Academy Awards. Now, John has shown solidarity towards Shoojit by changing his business loyalties.
A highly-placed trade source reveals that the actor is now striking a care for Viacom 18 Films. “He could be co-producing his next two films — Jaffna and Hamara Bajaj — with Viacom 18. The deal has already been signed,” says the source. Both the flicks are, of course, being directed by Shoojit.
VickyJohn, it seems, decided to compliment Viacom 18 as he believes that the production home is dedicated towards promoting content-driven cinema, and shows much more ownership in their projects, post release. “The way Viacom promoted (filmmaker) Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur played a large role within the success of the flicks. So John believes Viacom is his best bet,” says the source.
John isn’t the one one that has chosen Viacom. Even Akshay Kumar decided to compliment OMG: Oh My God!. “Thanks to the best way the Paresh Rawal film was marketed, it turned out to be successful. It seems, John desires to replicate the similar trend,” says the source.
When contacted, spokespersons from Viacom 18 chose to not speak at the subject.
