Tuesday 8th May 2007 witnessed media magnate Kishore Lulla, CEO and Chairman of India’s leading media and entertainment company Eros International, being honoured with the BDO Stoy Hayward Business of the Year Award at Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards in the presence of HRH The Duke of York, the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. Now in its 11th successful year, the event is internationally recognised as the most noted Asian event on the British business calendar.
Eros International was started by Arjan Lulla exactly 30 years ago with a view to exporting Indian films and tapping into the video boom of the 70s and 80s. Kishore Lulla took over the reins of the business from his father in the 80s and infused Eros International with a vision and clear strategic direction that has seen it achieve great heights, not only for itself as a company but for the Indian film industry as a whole, by giving Indian cinema a global platform. Already a 10 billion dollar industry slated to cross 50 billion dollars by 2015, the Indian cinema industry or ‘Bollywood’ as it is fondly termed, is at its buoyant best.
Kishore was instrumental in accelerating Eros’s phenomenal growth that has helped the company expand its operations in over 50 countries, with worldwide offices in India, UK, USA, Dubai, Australia, Fiji and Isle of Man. A pioneer with over 35% market share in a highly fragmented sector, Eros is virtually one of the only companies to truly operate on a vertically integrated studio model. Eros has a valuable film library containing more than 1,300 titles, making it one of the largest content owners in the business.
Eros Pictures, Eros Global Distribution, Eros Music, Eros Home Entertainment, Eros Content Syndication, Eros New Media are all strategic business units of the Company which were born out of Kishore’s vision and foresight to vertically integrate the business across the value chain.
Recognising the need to have visibility and currency in order to take a lead in the consolidation of the fragmented market, and to further leverage Eros’s dominance in the sector, Kishore decided to take the company public in London and Eros was listed on the AIM market in the London Stock Exchange last year. Listed at a price of £1.76, the Eros shares are already trading at over £4 and the company has achieved a market capitalisation of over 900 million dollars, clearly the largest player in the sector by miles. This year also marks Eros International’s 30th year of powering Indian cinema.
The Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards were presented at a star studded gala dinner with a lavish VIP champagne reception, and around 1,000 VIPs, public figures, MPs and millionaires attended. Some of the most respected names from the world of entertainment have hosted the Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards in its 11-year history and this year was no exception, as GMTV presenter Clare Nasir and actor Nitin Ganatra rose to the occasion. Special guests in attendance on the evening included Steve McFadden and Rudolph Walker from Eastenders, Jimmy Choo, Cleo Rocos, Nina Nannar and Asad Ahmad.
The event coincides with the exclusive release of Success Magazine, which highlights some of the success stories as well providing an up-to-date audit of Asian wealth. These Success lists will be revealed to the public on Friday 11th May 2007 within Eastern Eye.
Gurmeet Khangura, Chairman of Ethnic Media Group, which publishes Eastern Eye, says: ''We are proud to celebrate 11 years of honouring the Asian men and women in the UK business market. They have not only established themselves as important contributors to the nation’s economy, but their innovation and hard work have further inspired younger entrepreneurs striving to achieve the same levels of success for themselves.”