The gamble seems to have paid off at the box office. And, Menon is now going to share the secrets of his craft through two glossy books.
NEW YORK: Richard Menon scandalised the closely-knit Indian community in New Jersey by abandoning his buttoned-down job in Big Pharma to embark on the perils and pleasures of making porn movies with buxom blondes.
The gamble seems to have paid off at the box office. And, Menon is now going to share the secrets of his craft through two glossy books.
The 50-year old salesman-turned-porn-king’s books will be published here in the summer by Random House partner Xlibris. Menon, who has fans aplenty in India, will also distribute the books in his country of origin. “I get 10 e-mails a week from fans in India. They think I am a sex guru. I will sell my coffee table book The Art of Erotic Film-Making and The Indian Playboy in India. The second book is more autobiographical; it deals with my own experiences as an immigrant striking out into the US adult film industry,” Menon told DNA.
“My books can be inspirational for Indians with an American dream, but I will never sell my adult movies in India. I don’t want to be known as the guy who brought porn to India. It is also illegal. In the US this business is completely legit,” said Menon, who films all his movies in California’s San Fernando Valley which is the bustling US adult film-making hub. Menon started EcstasyVision Inc in 2006 by raising equity against his house.
Friends also pitched in with loans ranging between $5,000 and $15,000. “It is virtually impossible for a non-American to break into the industry. I was lucky,” says Menon.
His start-up has produced films at the rate of six a year in the last two years. “I don’t have a single copy of The Masturbation Tape left,” Menon, who is aka ‘The Indian Playboy,’ says of his debut two-disc DVD blockbuster which predictably spawned a sequel. It is estimated that Americans spend $10 billion a year on adult entertainment, which is as much as they spend attending professional sporting events.
Menon is also organising New York’s first International Erotic Film Festival later this year. “If I am going in I am going to swim in the deep end with the sharks,” said Menon.
“There are three things about an Indian guy,” says Menon with bubbling mischief. “Hurry, worry and curry. At the age of 50, you stop worrying. Maybe, I’ll get recognition in heaven. Maybe, God will say; ‘This guy cured a lot of stress. Give him a good spot here.”
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