The board meeting had ended on February 01,1993,Tuesday. By Thursday morning, Adil's office looked nothing like it had forty-eight hours earlier.
Arjun Tiwari had converted the large side table against the wall into a working surface covered with six separate folders, each labelled in clean block letters: Studio Expansion, Distribution Network, Zenith Music, Zenith Media, Zenith Marketing, Zenith Cinema. Beneath each folder sat a growing stack of documents, contacts, and preliminary notes that had accumulated since the moment the boardroom applause had stopped.
Adil had not wasted a single day.
He had called Arjun on Tuesday evening, while still in the car returning from the office, and given him a precise instruction. Individual meetings with every department head by Friday, February 04,1993.
Friday, On the meeting day, Priya Kapoor arrived first, with a single printed sheet and a rolled architectural drawing tucked under her arm. She set the drawing on the side table and unrolled it carefully, smoothing the edges before stepping back.
It showed the existing studio lot with the proposed expansion overlaid in blue ink. Additional indoor sound stages on the northern end of the property. A post-production block running along the eastern boundary. A dedicated music recording wing connecting to the existing facility through an enclosed corridor. Visual effects rooms, editing suites, and a Dolby-compatible mixing theatre clustered together in a new two-storey structure at the rear.
Adil studied it without speaking for nearly a minute. "The architectural firm," he said finally.
"I have spoken to two, sir. Both have done major production facility work. One built the expanded studio for Filmistan in 1988. The other handled a large private facility in Chennai two years ago. I would like to shortlist one by Friday and have a formal contract signed before the end of February."
"Which one." Adil asked.
"The Filmistan firm. Their project manager has built around live operations before. He understands that a production facility cannot go dark for fourteen months while construction happens."
Adil looked at the drawing again. "Sequencing?."
Priya pointed to the northern section. "Sound stages first. They are structurally independent of the existing building and can be built without disrupting current operations at all. Two new stages functional by September. The post-production block and recording wing require partial tie-in to the existing electrical and acoustic infrastructure, so that work begins only after the sound stages are roofed and enclosed. Target for that section is November. The visual effects and editing facility completes last. Full expansion finished and operational by January 1994."
"Budget tracking."
"Suresh's team will maintain a weekly expenditure report against the twenty-five crore allocation. Every contractor payment goes through his approval before release."
"Good." Adil turned from the drawing. "One addition. The expanded studio is not being built for Zenith's internal use alone. Once the facility is complete, it rents stages and post-production suites to outside productions when we are not using them. That income offsets the construction investment. Build it into the architectural brief before the contract is signed."
Priya wrote it down immediately. "Separate entry points for outside clients. Independent production office spaces leased per project. A dedicated facility manager for bookings and scheduling."
"Exactly. Have the revised brief ready before you approach the firm."
"Yes, sir." She said as she rolled up the drawing, gathered her sheet, and left.
Rajiv Shenoy came next with a single page, two columns of names. He placed it on the desk and stood back.
Adil picked it up and read it without sitting down.
"The label head," he said.
"Karan Nair, sir. Eleven years at HMV India. He knows the cassette manufacturing business from raw material to retail shelf. Artist contracts, royalty structures, distribution margins. I believe he is currently unhappy where he is."
"Have you spoken to him."
"Not formally. I did not want to approach him without your direction."
"Meet him and finalize everything." Adil placed the page back on the desk. "The composers and lyricists on this list. Begin preliminary conversations immediately. No formal offers until the legal entity exists, but I want relationships confirmed before February is out."
"Understood, sir." Rajiv said.
"For The playback singers, it's also same." Adil's tone did not change but the room seemed to tighten slightly. "For this initial phase, there are two. Priya and myself. No other artist would be signed under Zenith Music until the second film's soundtrack is in production and the label is properly established.That is not a discussion. That is the decision."
"Yes, sir." Rajiv nodded.
"The first release under this label is the second film's soundtrack. Not a standalone album. Not a single. The full soundtrack, released exclusively under Zenith Music. That is the label's introduction to the industry." He paused. "Karan Nair must be in place before we finalize the second film's music direction. He sits in those creative meetings from the beginning."
"I will make sure of it."
"One more thing. Every conversation this label has with anyone in the industry carries the same message from the first day. Zenith Music is not a label that purchases a song and discards the person who made it. Long-term relationships. Royalty structures that continue paying artists as long as the music earns. That is not a selling point. That is the policy. Make sure Karan Nair understands it before he walks through the door."
Rajiv nodded and left without being dismissed, understanding from Adil's tone that the meeting was finished.
After Rajiv left, Meera Desai arrived with a folder that was considerably thicker than anyone else's. She sat down, placed it on the desk, and opened it to the first tabbed section before looking up.
"The corporate structure first," she said. "Everything else depends on it being correct."
"Zenith Entertainment Group," Adil said. "Private limited company. Holding entity. Zenith Film Productions moves into it as a wholly owned subsidiary from the moment registration is complete. Every new entity like; Zenith Music, Zenith distribution company, Zenith Advertising agency, Zenith Cinema, Zenith Media, gets incorporated directly inside ZEG(Zenith Entertainment Group). Nothing sits outside it."
"And ZEST." Meera asked.
"Entirely separate. No structural connection to Zenith Entertainment Group. Both are owned by me personally and they remain legally independent of each other in every respect for now. That line does not blur." Adil answered.
Meera made a precise noted it and said. "Sir, ZEG registration. Paperwork filed by Monday. Certificate of incorporation in hand within fifteen working days, which puts formal registration around the twenty-first or twenty-second of February."
"Make it Faster." Adil ordered.
She looked at him steadily. "I will apply every legitimate pressure available to me, sir. But I will not give you a date I cannot stand behind."
A brief silence. Adil accepted it with a slight nod. "Trademark filings," he said.
"Filing this week, not after registration. Zenith Entertainment Group. Zenith Media; which will include, Zenith TV serial Channel. Zenith News channel. Zenith Toons Channel. Zenith Movies Channel. Zenith Music Channel. After Zenith Media comes, Zenith Distribution. Zenith Cinema. Zenith Advertising agency. Every name, every logo variation, every sub-brand. Domestic and international filings simultaneously. Filing dates are independent of corporate registration and I see no reason to wait."
"Good. What else." Adil asked.
"Contracts." She turned to the next page. "As negotiations begin on distribution agreements and Cinema chain properties, every binding document must correctly identify the contracting entity. Preliminary conversations and site visits can proceed under any name. Letters of intent can reference entities as being in formation. But no binding contracts and no property purchases until ZEG and its subsidiaries are formally registered. Approximately three weeks."
"Then those three weeks are not spent waiting. Every negotiation advances as far as it can without a signature. The moment registration is confirmed, I want to be signing within the same week."
"That is precisely how I intend to run it, sir." She said.
Adil nodded and then he asked about other details from her. After the coversation ended.She closed the folder and left.
Prakash Verma arrived in the early afternoon with a territory map of India already unfolded. He spread it across the side table and positioned himself beside it, hands clasped behind his back, waiting.
Adil stood and looked at the map.
The country was divided into distribution circuits, colour-coded and annotated. Notes beside each region indicated the dominant players, the key theatres, and the existing relationship history Zenith Film Productions carried into each territory.
"Phase one," Prakash said. "Delhi and the Northern circuit. Chennai and the South. Our own offices in both cities, functional by April."
"Define functional."
"Regional head in place. Office secured. A minimum of two distribution executives per territory with existing local relationships. Warehouse space for marketing materials and promotional assets. And direct relationships with the key theatre owners in each circuit established before our first release under our own banner."
"April," Adil said, without making it a question.
"April for Delhi and Chennai, sir. Kolkata and the East, Hyderabad and the Deccan, Bangalore and Karnataka, Ahmedabad and the West,Guwahati and North East, those offices follow between May and August. By September, Zenith Distribution will be operational in every major territory in the country."
Adil moved his gaze across the map. "Effect on the next film."
"If the next release comes after September, every rupee of domestic box office flows through our own distribution like the previous movie, But this time we'll be able to release our movies on more screens. We would also control the release strategy entirely; print count, theatre selection, opening dates, which cities get the widest release and which get a limited run. During the release of previous movie we were nit able to make those decisions. But now, After September, they would be made by us."
Adil straightened and turned away from the map. "There is a second responsibility for this division. If the launch of Zenith Media's satellite channels is successful, I will also launch a cable television channel that must be carried by cable operators across the country. This division will be responsible for making that possible. For now, your focus should remain on understanding local markets, building relationships with key gatekeepers, and identifying who controls distribution in each territory. That work begins immediately, in parallel with the expansion of our film distribution network, so that when the time comes, we will already have the relationships, infrastructure, and knowledge needed to ensure a successful nationwide launch."
Prakash was quiet for a moment, recalibrating the scope of what he had walked into. "I will need one additional person in each regional office with broadcasting and satellite distribution experience specifically. Different contacts from the film side."
"Then hire them. Coordinate with Rajan Mehta so the two teams are aligned from the start. I do not want the cable operator relationships and the channel programming strategy operating in separate rooms."
"Understood, sir."
"That will be all."
Prakash folded his map and left.
Sameer Bose arrived for the advertising Agency conversation in a well-pressed suit. He sat down, placed nothing on the desk, and spoke before Adil had addressed him. "I want to be clear about how I understand this role, sir. This is not an independent agency that happens to share a building with a film company. It is a captive creative operation built first to serve Zenith's own brands and productions. Outside clients come later, once the internal work has demonstrated what this agency is capable of."
Adil looked at him. "That is correct."
"Then my first request is to begin with the launch campaign for the second Zenith film. Everything else the agency becomes grows from the quality of that work."
"You will have it." Adil studied him for a moment.
After a brief discussion, Sameer Bose stood up and left the office.