The Ramoji Group

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On September 9, 1997, The Ramoji Group inaugurated its most innovative creation - The Ramoji Film City based on the maxion - 'Walk in with your script and walk out with your print.' Spread over 1000 acres, the Film City had gardens, temples, a sprawling countryside, a fort, hotels, city streets, railway stations, a palace, an airport, a mobile kitchen etc. It had all the technical support to make a film - 40 studio floors, a fully-equipped prop shop, a set design and construction division, state-of-the-art equipment, experienced production staff, and hi-tech digital editing, dubbing and sound-recording facility. Said Ramoji Rao, "The idea is to save time, energy and resources and focus on creative excellence, executional quality, economical schedules and meticulous planning." The USP of the Film City was claimed to be its ability to rebuild any place for a shoot. Producers had choice of flexible locations. For instance, a song could be choreographed in any or all of the locations. Later changes could be made to the fountain's appearance, the layout of the street or the facades of the buildings in the streets or the shape of the multi-dimensional pond, to create a totally different locale. In the late 1990s, the Group started an Internet edition of its newspaper - Eenadu.

The Internet version was designed to give the same look as the original newspaper. Content was designed to provide local news about Andhra Pradesh. The group claimed that the website received a phenomenal response from the Telugu populace abroad. Within three months of its launch, the site achieved the landmark figure of a million hits a day. In April 2000, ETV launched ETV Bangla. The channel telecast a combination of entertainment and news programs in Bengali. In July 2000, ETV Marathi was started followed by ETV Kannada in December 2000. In mid-2001, the Group entered the world of fashion with Margadarsi Apparels. The company planned to introduce garments for both men and women. The garments were segmented as formal wear, work wear, and casual wear for all the age groups. The company expected to manufacture 30,000 garments per day (Refer Box).

Product Range of Margadarsi Apparels

- Suits: Formal suits in latest Italian designs. - Jackets. - Shirts: Shirts with form and function going hand in hand. The high quality fabrics used are cut and assembled with high precision. - Trousers: Trousers of quality and comfort, they offer unsurpassed wear ability and style. - Coats: Coats in a wide range of colors, length & style. - Ties. - T-shirts, boxer shorts, pyjamas & robes, accessories.

Ramoji Rao - Spotting new Opportunities

Ramoji Rao's vision was to achieve excellence in his every venture he undertook. His biggest coup in the print industry was the introduction of a color, tabloid sized 'mini-edition' of Eenadu for each of the districts in Andhra Pradesh and the mini-detailed paper for Hyderabad. In 1998, he bagged the B D Goenka Award, a prestigious award for excellence in journalism. Some analysts however felt that Ramoji Rao followed 'campaign journalism.' He was actively involved in promoting the Telugu Desam Party⁴ (TDP) founded and headed by N.T. Rama Rao⁵, in Andhra Pradesh through his Eenadu. However Ramoji Rao defended saying, "The role of the press is not purposeless. If I believe that it is good for the people, I will do it." He further said, "The media has to perform without vested interests, I have never sought any favor from the government ever."

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4] A regional political party founded in 1980-81.
5] A popular film-star turned politician of Andhra Pradesh.

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