Mumbai: The world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic gadgets Foxconn Technology may pick up a stake either in listed Mukta Arts or one of its arms, as the Taiwanese firm seeks to branch out beyond its established forte of hardware products.
Foxconn tied up with Mukta Arts’ subsidiary WhistlingWoods International (WWI) over the weekend for co-creation of content which can be used across media platforms.
Mukta Arts-promoter and filmmaker Subhash Ghai told PTI that there are many possibilities for the tie-up, and Foxconn may look at taking stakes in either Mukta Arts or WWI, which is engaged in teaching film making.
“We are still formulating where and how it is coming … we wouldn’t like to speculate into which company it is coming in,” WWI vice president for business development Chaitanya Chinchlikar, chipped in quickly.
Mukta Arts had reported a net loss of Rs 6.99 crore in 2014-15.
Veteran filmmaker Ghai said Foxconn, which manufactures Apple i-Phones and a host of devices for other manufacturers, needs content which will run on the hardware devices it manufacturers, and hence, it has tied-up with WWI.
It has made a start by donating products manufactured by it for a media lab within WWI which will go one step ahead and result in co-creation of content ranging from one minute to 200 minutes.
“Donation is just a gesture. Otherwise we are going to have co-content creation,” he said.
Chinchlikar said this content will not be restricted to any single format like animation or real life, and will be such that it can be used across various media platforms including digital ones.
“Foxconn is making the i-Phones, I must make content to play on the i-Phones, television sets,Youtube, everything,” Ghai said, adding both the companies will soon be announcing joint projects which they will undertake.
It can be noted that from being one of the most successful directors and delivering box office successes like Taal, Karz, Hero and Pardes, Ghai and his Mukta Arts have not had a similar big success recently.
