So far, it was US turn to acquire firms in India and capitalize on its growth. Not anymore! The trend is reversing. I was watching a CNBC late night show on India Rising and from the interviews of all the tycoons of business in India, I could see the spirit is high. The business leaders of Reliance, Godrej, Tata and many others are extremely upbeat about growth of India, but they are also unusually confident about India’s ability to take over the world of capitalism. Its not a question of “do we have the money to do it?” (though they do have tons of capital). It is all about the vision and courage to go for the sky and conquer the world! This reflects the attitude that was prevalent in the US years ago (perhaps, not as much now in comparison), when American leaders had the vision to be the most powerful country in the world. They didn’t look at in terms of their abilities or money, it was a shear determination to dream and the will to make it happen. I see a similar wave of aspirations in India now and especially among the rich and famous of business, media and entertainment This is likely unprecedented given the conservative history of India.
Following the Spielberg partnership with Reliance group, another group within the reliance world, Adlabs, is looking to grow in the US via partnerships and distribution. It recently made an agreement with the Newyork based ImaginAsia entertainment to oversee some of the theater chains in the east and west coast cities with large concentration of Indian diaspora. This is interesting as it captures & strengthens the distribution value chain for the reliance and media making machines in Bollywood. Last year, Indian theater chain, Pyramid Saimira acquried Texas based FunAsia’s theater properties strengthening their distribution of Indian films in the US. Not only they want to control and reach the Indians in these cities through these theater chains but also earn in $$ for what was mostly produced in Rupees! Good Deal!
