Industrialist Ratan Tata, who passed away at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday night, had once dabbled in film production. The Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group, known for his discipline, business acumen and philanthropy, ventured into movie making with the Hindi movie ‘Aetbaar’ in 2004. That, however, was the only movie he produced in his lifetime. The industrialist was not a fan of Bollywood movies and openly critiqued them in an interview with Simi Garewal in the past. In the interview, he called Bollywood movies ‘violent’. “I think there is more catchup spread in Hindi movies than there is in all restaurants of Bombay”. However, he admitted that his Hindi had improved after watching Bollywood movies on television.
‘Aetbaar’ co-produced by Jatin Kumar and directed by Vikram Bhatt released in 2004 and featured Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu in the lead. In the movie, Amitabh played Dr Ranveer Malhotra, a protective father who is unafraid to go to any lengths to protect his daughter Ria (Bipasha Basu). Their family equations are disturbed when Ria falls in love with Aryan Trivade (John Abraham) who is an obsessive lover. Though the movie was made on a budget of Rs 9.50 crore, the film tanked at the box office and earned only Rs 7.96 crore in box office collections.