Who is manmohan shetty

Tamil Nadu reports 14 deaths amid heavy rains Updated: Nov 12, , As many as 14 people have lost their lives in Tamil Nadu due to heavy rains. Paytm may not have much listing pop: Rajat Sharma Where to look for hidden gems in this market? ET NOW. Brand Solutions. Video series featuring innovators.

ET Financial Inclusion Summit. Malaria Mukt Bharat. Wealth Wise Series How they can help in wealth creation. Honouring Exemplary Boards. Deep Dive Into Cryptocurrency. ET Markets Conclave — Cryptocurrency. Reshape Tomorrow Tomorrow is different. Let's reshape it today. Corning Gorilla Glass TougherTogether. ET India Inc. ET Engage. The chairman of Adlabs on the future of cinema in India, the possibilities the digital world offers, and why Adlabs Imagica hasn't gone according to plan.

Manmohan Shetty, like many others, believes that the movie business is on the cusp of dramatic change. Tomorrow, you will buy all films on the internet on a Friday. Then what happens? Soft-spoken to a fault—my recorder strains to catch his words over the ambient music of the Atrium-Lounge at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai—amiable and self-deprecating, he chuckles often when he comments on his life and business. His views on the future of cinema in India stem from his potential, as yet undecided, future plans.

That includes venturing into some form of digital media. It has been, by all accounts, an eventful professional career for Shetty, the man credited with bringing multiplexes to India through his company Adlabs Films, the first Imax screen experience in Wadala, Mumbai. Dressed in a casual blue shirt tucked into jeans, Shetty has arrived for the meeting ahead of time—something, he says, he does habitually. The weather outside is schizophrenic—summer dry when we enter, pouring with fury minutes into the conversation.

The chairman of Adlabs Entertainment is candid, straightforward and unapologetic. Only once during the conversation does he ask for the recorder to be turned off, when I ask his opinion about a business head he has dealt with. Even as Imagica, which completed five years in May, struggles to find the kind of numbers the promoters had hoped for, Shetty is wondering what the next step should be.

He is open to expansion through partnerships, as well as buyers. He is unable to explain why Imagica did not perform according to plan. Neither is a traditional tourist hot spot, but each theme park gets millions of visitors. Shanghai Disney gets about 11 million visitors a year, and Ocean Park around six-seven million, while Imagica is at 1.

He attempts an explanation, though he admits he does not have all the answers. India has outbound, but not enough inbound, tourists, he says. So while the Imagica founders thought tourists would come from places as varied as Delhi and Dehradun, they found that people could go to Dubai, Hong Kong or Bangkok for a similar price. But my point is: You should go there first, right? Imagica is but the latest venture in the portfolio of this serial entrepreneur and risk-taker.

The fourth of nine children, the teenager growing up near Mangaluru gave up studying engineering after the first year. In the mids, Shetty decided to join his two elder brothers in Mumbai. The Ocean Park in Hong Kong is a standalone local brand, but it attracts million visitors a year, he explains.

The Wonderla group in the South has experimented with these smaller configurations and done well, he says. The Walt Disney Company, which was mulling setting up theme parks in India about five to six years ago, shied away in favour of China.

In the case of the Shanghai Disneyland Park, the Chinese government had put in 50 per cent, investing in infrastructure and connectivity. He believes the government, instead of spending time on advertising temples and heritage sites, which already have a market, should be promoting new entertainment destinations. He is confused where the problem lies.

Is it too many forms of parallel entertainment that can be accessed from the comfort of home? Netflix, Amazon? But then in the US, all the entertainment platforms — theme parks, multiplexes, Netflix — all exist and do well. So how is Shetty coping? Shetty has shelved plans for a string of theme park launches in Goa and other centres and is considering selling acres of the original acquisition of acres to reduce debt. He has even set up a new initiative to develop affordable housing units on 10 acres abutting the Imagica Park to provide residences for those working in suburban industries in the area.

From Bollywood to builder, he has come a long way! Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments.

All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.