Indian industrial giant Tata Group has entered the Bollywood film production sector, signing up Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan to star in its first film, Aitbaar.

Tata is the latest in line of new entrants into the Indian film industry: in July 20th Century Fox announced plans to produce its first Bollywood film, which is expected to be ready for release in January 2003.

Aitbaar will be produced under the banner of Cutting Edge Entertainment, a new division set up by Tata subsidiary, Tata Infomedia, specifically for filmmaking activity.

Aitbaar is directed by Vikram Bhatt (Raaz and Aawara Paagal Deewana) and produced by Jatin Kumar and is slated for a mid-2003 release. "We were impressed with the script and its storyline and when the opportunity to make the project arose, we quickly opted to produce it with Jatin Kumar," Tata Infomedia vice chairman and managing director H.S. Billimoria told Screendaily.com.

Cutting Edge Entertainment, headed by Mandeep Singh, is also developing other scripts for future Tata projects and expects to have three to four films ready to shoot within a short period.

Tata Group's interests span engineering, chemicals and consumer products. Its Tata Infomedia division specialises in publishing and printing.

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