Grazing Goat Pictures
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Grazing Goat Pictures is an Indian film and TV production house launched in 2011 by Hindi film actor
Akshay Kumar Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...
and Ashvini Yardi. Its first film was '' OMG – Oh My God!'' which won the National Film Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The next film in their banner '' Fugly'' opened to mixed reviews. The company has also produced regional languages films like ''
72 Miles ''72 Miles - Ek Pravas'' is a Marathi film directed by Rajiv Patil produced by Twinkle Khanna and Ashwini Yardi. The film, set in the 50's and 60's, is about journey of a 13-year-old boy who ran away from his hostel and how he matures with time ...
'' (Marathi) and '' Bhaji in Problem'' (Punjabi). Both of these opened to positive reviews from critics. The former one was screened at the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Pune International Film Festival The Pune International Film Festival (also known as PIFF) is an annual film festival held in Pune, a city in Maharashtra, India. Open to general public, the films are screened at National Film Archive of India, NFAI, INOX Leisure Limited, Inox ...
s and won 3 awards at the 2014
Maharashtra State Film Awards Maharashtra State Film Awards, one of the prestigious awards of Marathi cinema, are awarded by the Government of Maharashtra to Marathi language films and artists. They were first awarded in 1963. The Maharashtra State Film Awards are adjudicat ...
ceremony. The company has also produced the Hindi soap opera '' Jamai Raja'' which airs on
Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...
. Kumar had appearances in all of his films except ''72 Miles''. A
YouTube channel YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...
FOMO Fashion On My Own was launched in 2013. It has been credited as India's first Hindi fashion channel.


History

Akshay Kumar had launched production house Cape Of Good Films in 2008. Ashvini Yardi had previously worked with Colors and
Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...
as Head of Programming. When she read the script of '' OMG – Oh My God!'', she decided to produce it and launched a company in association with Kumar. The company is based in Juhu, Mumbai and the head office's interior is designed by Kumar's wife
Twinkle Khanna Twinkle Khanna (born 29 December 1973) is an Indian author and former actress. A daughter of actors Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna, she made her acting debut with a leading role in the film '' Barsaat'' (1995). After playing the leading lady ...
.


Hindi films

The company's first film was the Umesh Shukla-directed
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
''OMG – Oh My God!'', produced in association with
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Viacom18 Studios is an Indian film distribution and production company. It is a subsidiary of JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries, Viacom18 and Disney India. Based in Mumbai, It is one of the first studio model based motion pic ...
, Spice Studio and
Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has Paresh Rawal filmography, appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient of various L ...
's Playtime Creation company. A song was added against the director's wishes. Built on a small budget and based on a Gujarati stage-play titled ''Kanji Virudh Kanji'', it was a remake of the 2001 Australian film '' The Man Who Sued God''. The story depicted the struggles of an atheist Hindu man who sued God after his shop is destroyed by an earthquake. Kumar appeared as
Lord Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is wi ...
in the film. Sukanya Verma of
Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
appreciated the film for bringing "attention to the misuse and commercialisation of religion".
Anupama Chopra Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-de ...
praised Rawal's acting but felt that the rest character's were flimsy and film's "intentions
ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...
good, but the preaching asboring". The film received poor initial collection at the box office but because of
word of mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...
it picked up and proved to be a commercial success. The film was banned in Malaysia and the
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and faced protests in Punjab where several shows had to be cancelled. A police case was lodged against film's writer, director, Kumar and Rawal for hurting religious sentiments. Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla won the National Film Award for Best Adapted Screenplay while Kumar received a nomination for
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the awards starte ...
. ''OMG – Oh My God!'' has inspired a
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
remake titled '' Gopala Gopala'' which featured
Daggubati Venkatesh Daggubati Venkatesh (born 13 December 1960) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work predominantly in Telugu cinema. Venkatesh has a prolific career spanning over 37 years and is known for portraying a variety of characters. He ...
and
Pawan Kalyan Konidela Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar; 2 September 1971) is an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and martial artist serving as the List of deputy chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 11th Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Prade ...
in important roles. It was directed by Kishore Kumar Pardasany. Reportedly, the producers of '' PK'' offered to Shukla to stop shooting. He is planning a sequel. Kumar said that he wanted to make "socially relevant" films. The company had signed
Nargis Fakhri Nargis Fakhri is an American actress who primarily works in Hindi-language films of India. After working as a model in America, Fakhri came to prominence in India with the 2011 romantic drama film ''Rockstar (2011 film), Rockstar''. She subseque ...
for a 3-film deal. In May 2012 it was announced that she would be part of '' Khiladi 786''. However, in the same month she was removed from the cast. The film was produced by Hari Om Entertainment and
Asin Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of List of awards and nominations ...
was cast for the lead role opposite Kumar. The company's second film was the
Kabir Sadanand Kabir Sadanand is an Indian actor and film director. Early life Kabir hails from an Air Force family. His father was a Pilot in the Indian Air Force. He is an alumnus of The Air Force School The Air Force School (TAFS), formerly known a ...
-directed drama thriller '' Fugly'', featuring debutantes Mohit Marwah, Olympic medallist boxer
Vijender Singh Vijender Singh Beniwal (born 29 October 1985) is an Indian professional boxer and politician of Bharatiya Janata Party. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. ...
, Arfi Lamba and
Kiara Advani Alia Advani (born 31 July 1991), known professionally as Kiara Advani (), is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu films. Advani is a recipient of several accolades including an IIFA Award and two Zee Cine Awards, alongside nominati ...
in lead roles. Kumar and
Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...
did cameo appearances in the film.
Jimmy Shergill Jimmy Sheirgill (born Jasjit Singh Gill; 3 December 1970), also known as Jimmy Shergill, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Hindi and Punjabi films. Sheirgill began his film career with the 1996 thriller '' Maachis''. His ...
played a corrupt police officer who frames 4 friends for a murder he has committed and asks for a large sum of money in return for closing the case. The film failed to generate positive response from critics. Shubhra Gupta of '' The Financial Express'' said that it "isn’t exactly palatable". Vinayak Chakravorty of ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
'' said that the film had mixed the elements of ''
Rang De Basanti ''Rang De Basanti'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language epic coming-of-age socio-political drama film written, produced, and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The film stars an ensemble cast including Aamir Khan, Siddharth (in his Hindi d ...
'' and ''
Dil Chahta Hai ''Dil Chahta Hai'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar in his directorial debut, and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani under the newly formed Excel Entertainment banner. The fil ...
'' but missed out on their magic. He called the narrative "half-baked" and said that the film " ostits plot". It was produced under a budget of . Kumar was paired opposite
Amy Jackson Amy Louise Jackson Westwick (née Jackson; born 31 January 1992) is a British actress and model known for her work in Indian films. She predominantly works in Tamil films but has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and English films. Jackson's ...
in
Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu language films also appeared in few Kannada and Malayal ...
's comedy-drama '' Singh Is Bliing'' (2015). The film's worldwide gross was estimated to be around .


Regional cinema

Kumar and Yardi produced their first
Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
venture '' 72 Miles Ek Pravas''. Inspired from Ashok Vhatkar's novel of the same name, the film showed the problems faced by a teenager boy (Chinmay Sant) who ran away from his boarding school to reach his house which was at a distance of 72 miles from the school. It won three awards at the 2013–2014
Maharashtra State Film Awards Maharashtra State Film Awards, one of the prestigious awards of Marathi cinema, are awarded by the Government of Maharashtra to Marathi language films and artists. They were first awarded in 1963. The Maharashtra State Film Awards are adjudicat ...
—Best Grameen Film. Shakti Shetty wrote in ''
Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper. Editions in various languages including Gujarati and English have been published out of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune so far. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore ...
'' that "the emotions won’t lude the viewers. He praised Tambe's performance by calling it "one of the strongest female performances in recent times". ''
Afternoon Despatch & Courier ''The Afternoon Despatch & Courier'' was an evening tabloid in Mumbai, India. The newspaper was launched by Behram Contractor, better known as "Busybee", on 25 March 1985. This newspaper served as a launch pad for several well-known journalis ...
'' reviewer Sandeep Hattangadi called it "quite touching" and "the first of its kind in Marathi". The film was shortlisted for screening at the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Pune International Film Festival The Pune International Film Festival (also known as PIFF) is an annual film festival held in Pune, a city in Maharashtra, India. Open to general public, the films are screened at National Film Archive of India, NFAI, INOX Leisure Limited, Inox ...
s. Their second Marathi film was Gauri Sarwate-directed ''Anntar''. It was shot in London. The company's next regional film was the
Punjabi language Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native sp ...
comedy '' Bhaji in Problem'' (2013). It was produced in association with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and distributed globally by Krian Media. The film was directed by
Smeep Kang Smeep Kang (born 30 January 1973) is an Indian film director, film producer, actor who works in the Punjabi cinema, Punjabi films. He graduated from Panjab University, Punjab University with a degree in chemical engineering. He is well known ...
. Built on a small budget of , it collected at the box office. Distributors in the state of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
paid record prices for the film after film viewers expressed their eagerness to watch it. Kumar made a guest starring in the film. Sameer Valecha of Punjabimania.com noted that the film "has its own merits and will stand tall on them" and appreciated the actors for their performance. Indian spinner
Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980), also known by his nickname Bhajji, is a former Indian cricketer. He later became a politics, politician, serving as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha. He is also a fil ...
also appeared in the film. After the films' success Kumar said that he will produce more regional language films. In an interview given to ''
The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...
'', Ashvini Yardi said that "We want to make Grazing Goat Pictures a global player." She is also planning to produce Bengali films.


Hindi television

Grazing Goat Pictures produced their first Hindi soap opera '' Jamai Raja'' starring
Ravi Dubey Ravi Dubey (born 23 December 1983) is an Indian actor, model, television presenter and producer. He began his acting career in 2006 with the show ''Stree Teri Kahani'' and followed it with roles in shows like ''Doli Saja Ke'' (2007) and ''Yaha ...
Nia Sharma Nia Sharma (born Neha Sharma, 17 September 1990) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Hindi television. She is known for her roles as Manvi Chaudhary in ''Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai'', Zee TV's ''Jamai Raja (2014 TV series), Jama ...
,
Achint Kaur Achint Kaur is an actress in Indian television and cinema, particularly recognized for her roles as and in Ekta Kapoor's soap operas, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, respectively, both of which were broadcast on Sta ...
and Delnaz Paul. It airs on Zee TV and completed 100 episodes in December 2014. The company plans to produce more fictional shows. An adaptation of Kanika Dhillon's novel ''Bombay Duck Is A Fish'' has also been planned.


FOMO Fashion On My Own

In 2013 Grazing Goat Pictures launched its Internet division Grazing Goats Digital, whose second product was India's first Hindi fashion channel called FOMO Fashion On My Own. Aimed at trend-conscious women, this YouTube channel provides online tutorials on various fashion subjects.


Filmography


Films


Television

* '' Jamai Raja''


Notes


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Company, Film, India Television production companies of India Film production companies based in Mumbai 2011 establishments in Maharashtra Entertainment companies established in 2011 Akshay Kumar