MUMBAI, January 28: The race for Planet Bollywood is about to begin. And the hottest stars in town have lined up on either side of the fence, each group trying to beat the other to the post. First, Stars In Business, a company formed by Shah Rukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, Ajay Devgan and Kajol announced its plan to open a chain of theme restaurants around the country called Movie Magic a few days ago. And today, Wizcraft Entertainment Agency along with G S Entertainment announced India Talkies, an international chain of theme restaurants endorsed by Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Govinda, Karisma Kapoor and Mahima.The food and beverage consultant for this exclusive Indian fast-food restaurant which will serve Kabab-e-Khalnayak and Judwaa biryani, among other delicacies, is Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Art director Nitin Desai and architect Shakti Parmar are in charge of designing the decor for the restaurant.
However, while India Talkies has only pulled in celebrities for endorsements andstar value on the lines of Planet Hollywood, Stars in Business is wholly owned by the stars themselves.
And both sides claim their project is the real thing. ``We only found out about their plans a few days ago. But our project is at a stage where you'll soon be eating at one of our restaurants,'' says Gulshan Grover.
But the promoters of India Talkies are not taking this effort seriously, yet. ``Do they have a logo or a signature tune for their venture? We have everything lined up and the strength of our project is that our company is steeped in merchandising and event management,'' says Sabbas Joseph of Wizcraft, which has a 70 per cent share in India Talkies.
The promoters revealed that the first restaurant will open by the end of this year in Mumbai with an initial investment of Rs six crore. And while three venues are being considered for their first outlet, it is most likely to be on Linking road. There are plans to open 10 restaurants in the next five years in other countries, including the UK,USA, Hong Kong and Singapore.
But Mumbai might not be the battleground just yet. In a surprise move, Stars in Business has announced that it will not have an outlet in Mumbai, but will launch its theme restaurants simultaneously in six other cities.
``We are all friends in the industry and we don't want to become business rivals. So we will make sure that we don't get into a situation where there is direct competition,'' says Grover.
Stars on both sides of the fence seem to be wary of going public on their obvious clash of interests. So while Salman, Karisma and Mahima did make a token appearance at the press conference to announce their venture this afternoon, they refused to answer any questions about their involvement with the project.
But neither side is in a mood to back out. Though there is a hint of some sort of compromise to protect their respective interests. ``We will work out various formulas so that we don't end up clashing with one another,'' says Grover diplomatically.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
