Amit Khanna elected president of Film Producers Guild of India

By Bollywood Hungama -

March 10, 2003 - 12:00 AM IST

Mr. Amit Khanna was unanimously elected as the President of the Film Producers Guild of India at the first meeting of the Council of Management Meeting held immediately after the Annual General Meeting of the GUILD on September 30, 2003. Yash Chopra was elected as the Vice President while Kamal Kumar Barjatya was appointed as the Hon. Treasurer. Other prominent members of the Council of Management are Yash Johar, Ramesh Sippy, Randhir Kapoor, Bobby Bedi, Rakesh Roshan, Subhash Ghai, Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Shetty, Govind Nihalani and Ravi Chopra. Click Here for the Members of Film Producers Guild of India Amit Khanna born (01.03.1951) and educated in Delhi, Amit Khanna has been involved with media since school. He has worked in theatre, radio, television, journalism, films and new media He started his film career as an Executive Producer with Dev Anand's NAV KETAN in 1971. In 1980, he produced his first feature film "MAN PASAND". In the eighties, he wrote and directed critically acclaimed films "SHEESHAY KA GHAR" and "SHESH". He has written over 400 film songs including hits like Chalte Chalte, Ka Karun Sajni, Uthe Sabke Kadam, Jab Chaye Mera Jadu etc. He has written several film scripts including award-winning films like SARANSH and MAIN ZINDA HOON. Amit Khanna began actively working in Television as a Producer - Director in 1982 and set up PLUS CHANNEL in 1990. Later he worked with Reliance, India's country's largest corporate to launch Reliance Entertainment, Amit Khanna has edited monthly magazine Tempus(1969-71), Weekly Take-2(1981) and writes extensively on Media in various magazines and newspapers including regular columns in The Economic Times and Business Standard. He has been the President - All India Film Producers Council, President - The Film Producers Guild of India (2001-02) and is currently, President Earth Communications Office India Association, Chairman - Convergence Committee of FICCI and e-Entertainment @lliance. He is also a founder trustee of the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image besides serving on various Government and Trade committees. Amit Khanna has won several National and International Awards in film and Television. 'The Film Producers Guild of India Ltd.' which started way back in 1954, constituting stalwarts of the Indian Film fraternity has in time shaped the route of the Indian film industry to a great level. With the passage of time, The Guild has gone through some transitional phases but has successfully carved out its own niche. Without an iota of doubt, the Guild today stands at a position from where it commands respect. The time is then ripe for a change, a change that announces in a rich baritone that the Guild is ready for a major upheaval. Thus on the 30th of September 2003, during its Annual General Meeting in Mumbai, the members took an unequivocal decision of disassociating itself from the Film Federation of India. Its ability to harness its own in-built strength, the presence of the who's who from the entertainment sphere as its members and its prolific vision has prompted this decision. The Guild firmly believes that many new opportunities exist for the production sector in particular and the entertainment industry as a whole. As its primary agenda for the next few months, the Guild will take initiatives to engage all the stakeholders in a constructive dialogue. It will also leverage the strengths of organizations like FICCI and CII to expand the market for Indian films and TV programmes. It will also fight all attempts by certain trade bodies to impose restrictive trade practices even as it looks at the new revenue streams in the fast emerging Digital World. Well, the Guild has clearly made its move and with such members in its ranks, it is very difficult to imagine its vision going wrong.