Manoj Punjabi is a filmmaker whose wealth exceeds Bollywood biggies like Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra.
India, China, Japan, and Korea have largely dominated the Asian cinema in terms of cultural impact and box office as well. The films from these four regions (including Hong Kong) routinely rival Hollywood hits in their reach within the continent. But recently, an unheralded Indonesian film did the same. And its producer, a man of Indian origin, is now set to build a ‘new Hollywood’ in south east Asia.
Who is Manoj Punjabi?
Manoj Punjabi is the co-founder and CEO of PT MD Pictures, and Indonesian film production company. The firm recently made horror film KKN di Desa Penari (Curse of the Dancing Village), which took the nation by storm, breaking box office records, selling over 1 crore tickets, the first time an Indonesian film has done that. As per a Moneycontrol report, the horror hit surpassed the collections of Avengers Infinity War in Indonesia. It is now the highest-grossing Indonesian film ever. This has seen a 186% increase in the stock prices of PT MD Pictures, turning Punjabi into a dollar billionaire
Manoj Punjabi’s net worth
As per Moneycontrol, Manoj Punjabi’s share in the company – and consequently his net worth – now stands at $1.6 billion (Rs 13,000 crore), which makes him one of the richest filmmakers in the world. Even the likes of Aditya Chopra (Rs 7000 crore) and Karan Johar (Rs 1700 crore) are no match for his wealth. The only Indian filmmakers in the billionaire club, as per Forbes, are Ronnie Screwvala and Kalanithi Maran.
How Manoj Punjabi is building a new Hollywood in Indonesia
While Indonesia has had a big film market, Hollywood blockbusters have often overshadowed the local films in collections. This is something Punjabi is trying to change. “It’s a remarkable success given the fact that he’s only famous to Indonesians. Manoj Punjabi is only now going international,” Jeffrey Bahar, chief operating officer at Singapore-based Spire Research and Consulting told Moneycontrol recently. The filmmaker, his father Dhamoo and uncle Raam, are collectively referred to as ‘Indonesia’s Hollywood’ by the local media.
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