Mahesh Ramanathan, the 5 time National Award winning producer, first employee and Chief Operating Officer of Reliance Entertainment has quit after an 8 year stint. Mahesh, a management graduate from IIM-Ahmedabad will partner iconic Oscar Award winning sound designer, Padmashri awardee and National Award winner, Dr Resul Pookutty in starting up a film production & production services venture with a wide blueprint covering International, Hindi & Regional films.

Mahesh produced/co-produced films for Reliance Entertainment that won 5 National awards in the Best Film category including the prestigious Swarna Kamal from the President of India for Malayalam home production 'Kutty Srank' (Best Film of 2009).

Mahesh was also instrumental in Reliance Entertainment producing the popular 'Singham' franchise in Hindi. The first edition was a remake of Reliance Entertainment`s Tamil co-production 'Singam' which Mahesh co-produced with Gnanavelraja.

Mahesh has co-produced, marketed & distributed all box office smashes in Reliance Entertainment`s history like '3 Idiots','Bodyguard','Don 2','Singham Returns' and 'Holiday' besides blockbusters 'Atharintiki Daredi' and 'Manam' in Telugu and 'Boss' in Bengali.

Speaking about the partnership Dr Resul Pookutty said "Mahesh is one of the most successful executives to emerge from the studio system. With an abiding passion for the movie business, his deep insights, reputation, film maker relationships and work ethic are an asset to our partnership. I look forward to an exciting and long lasting association. We will announce our plans shortly."

Mahesh Ramanathan added "It`s a singular honour to get to share my destiny with Dr Resul Pookutty who is a lodestar of our film industry. With inspiration in abundance our partnership will aim to win the respect of audiences & the industry".

National Awards (Best Film) won by Mahesh Ramanathan as producer for Reliance Entertainment

Name of Film Language Award Year Director

Kutty Srank Malayalam Best Film 2009 Shaji Karun

Paa Hindi Best Hindi Film 2009 R.Balki

Well Done Abba Hindi Best Film on
Social Issues 2009 Shyam Benegal

Abohomaan Bengali Best Bengali Film 2009 Rituparno Ghosh

Sob Charitro Kalponik Bengali Best Bengali Film 2008 Rituparno Ghosh