Suniel Shetty has just returned to the country after cutting a lucrative deal with the Philippines government for Loot. This is his second such major tie-up with a foreign government on behalf of his company.
Earlier Suniel had cut a similar multi-crore deal with the government of Turkey for the Apoorva Lakhia-directed big-screen actioner Mission Istanbul.
The deal for Loot cuts even deeper.
Informs the jet-lagged but hyper-excited head honcho of Popcorn Enteratinment, "Of course on the most obvious level we get to shoot in some of the most gorgeous virgin locales of the Philipines, just as as we shot in Istanbul and Turkey.
But the tie-up means a lot more. It's time we stopped looking at Bollywood as an Indian enterprise."
Pioneering entrepreneur that he is, Suniel plans many such tie-ups with foreign governments in the near future.
"Globally, Bollywood is now taken more seriously than ever before. And it's not just for the stereotypical song-and-dance films. But also themes that offer a more realistic view of India."
Suniel's EMI about the very Indian phenomenon of bank loans and their recovery, is already attracting a lot of attention abroad.
"Our work for that film has been quickly wrapped up after Sanju Baba(Dutt)'s return. We're almost done with EMI. That will be my company's first release in 2008 in April. Then in June-July we'll release Mission Istanbul."