'Films aren’t 9-to-5 business'

The company, in a decade since that cult-classic Dil Chahta Hai, bankrolled Farhan’s Lakshya and Don, Zoya Akhtar’s Luck By Chance, Reema Kagti’s Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Abhishek Kapoor’s recent National Award winner Rock On, and Vijay Lalwani’s psychological thriller Karthik Calling Karthik. And currently has on the floor Game (Abhishek Bachchan), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol) and Don-II (Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra).Farhan,of course, is the creative strength, but Ritesh is the unsung hero whomulti-tasks. Young (in his mid 30s), energetic and affable, Ritesh can be aptlydescribed as the nerve centre of Excel. From being on board the focus groups forscripts readings, to music sittings, casting and actually green-lightingprojects, Ritesh does most things effortlessly. With math being his strongpoint, this astute businessman makes sure that none of their films exceedlimits. His logic is simple. “Never over-spend on a project and you willdefinitely take home some profits. Money must be intelligentlyspent.’’ Happy to delegate to his line producers, Ritesh says,“Once I put a film on the road, then my role is that of a silentobserver.” But everyone knows that if they need some quicktroubleshooting, Ritesh’s number’s on quick dial. ForFarhan and Ritesh, films are a work of passion. They own the copyright of alltheir films and while they believe in curtailing budgets, they also don’tcompromise on quality.Ritesh, who admires the business acumen ofHollywood honchos like Jerry Bruckheimer, Warren Beatty and Quentin Tarantino,knows that the only way you can conduct a film business is by being totallyhands-on. “It is an all-consuming passion, not a 9 to 5 business, andunless you have a crazy drive for it, you can’t make itwork,’’ he says. He feels Excel has paved its own little successstory in the decade gone by and worked with every big Bollywood superstarincluding Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan, simply because as acompany, they steer clear of politics. Says Ritesh, “Box office apart, weknow that films are about good stories and great narratives. Four months of rocksolid preparation goes into every film of ours before the principal photographyactually begins.’’ Follow us on Twitter for more stories