The Negotiator
In 1996 when Shravan Shroff, as a management student in Australia, prepared a statistical performance analysis of their firm Shringar Films, his father Shyam Shroff dismissed it as "bullshit". Tersely ordered to come back, Shravan joined the family business--film distribution. Within months he was written off by veterans as the brash youngster who was out to wreak havoc in a conservative business.

Today that perception has changed. An MBA distributor/exhibitor in Bollywood was unheard of but with his savvy marketing of small-budget films like Hyderabad Blues and the controversial Fire, he managed to prove his point. Shroff is now riding the growth curve. "The future lies in controlling the value chain," he asserts. After making a success out of distribution firms Cinemax and Cinestar in Mumbai, he has added three theatres to his kitty, and plans to grow. "With MNCs like Sony making inroads into the distribution business in India, desi players will have to watch their backs." The newcomer is rewriting the rules of the film distribution game.