'Omkara' producer eyeing national awards

New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) Kumar Mangat, whose film "Omkara" catapulted him to the position of one of Bollywood's leading producers, says he prefers to fund subjects that would get national awards.

"I don't produce films for just money. My aim is to fund films which will give me revenues as well as earn me respect," Mangat, who first produced the Ajay Devgan-Kajol starrer "Dil Kya Kare" in 1999, told IANS.

"I'm eyeing scripts that would get national awards and also win accolades globally," he added.

Mangat tasted success in the industry with "Omkara", Bollywood's take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy "Othello", which fetched rave reviews and critical acclaim and caused film distributor Eros International's annual profit to jump.

"I loved the script of 'Omkara'. It was a very different script, which Bollywood had never worked on. I knew it would do well and as expected it worked wonders and since then I have decided to produce at least one different film in a year apart from funding the regular commercial movies," said Mangat.

Mangat is currently producing six films -- "No Smoking" directed by Anurag Kashyap with John Abraham and Ayesha Takia in lead roles, "Sunday" that stars his favourite Ajay Devgan, "Haal-e-Dil" which is the launch-pad of his daughter Aneeta Pathak, "1,2,3", "Rangeen" and "Bubblegum".

Mangat is excited about the subject of his forthcoming release "No Smoking", scheduled to hit the theatres Sep 14.

"It is a thriller about a chain smoker who quits smoking under alarming circumstances. Our intension is not to lecture people to quit smoking but I'm sure after seeing what the character goes through and how his life affects the lives of everyone around him, some people will quit smoking," he said.

He added that "Sunday", expected to release Oct 18, is a big budget thriller with scoops of comedy layered into the plot. The film, which has been shot in Delhi, uses the name of a character as the movie's title.

"Haal-e-Dil", which will be released Dec 22, is a romantic movie that revolves around three characters - two boys and a girl.

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