Producer Ritesh Sidwani invited to speak at Harvard

 Bollywood producer Ritesh Sidwani has been invited to speak at the Harvard India Conference 2012 this March.

Ritesh,  who has produced hits like "Dil Chahta Hai", "Don" and "Don 2", has been invited to speak on the theme "The New Age of Entertainment" at the Business of Entertainment panel.

"In past, I have spoken to NDA students and acting school students and it is always fun. This is Harvard so I have to prepare more but am looking forward to it as a learning experience. There will be a Q&A post the panel discussion with film students, which should be interesting," Ritesh told PTI.

The 38-year-old producer believes that people are now more keen to understand the business side of the cinema where a producer's role is important.

"People now realise that a producer is not just someone who puts in his money in a project. There is much more involvement in the creative process and at Excel Entertainment we have been encouraging new talents. It is very important to pick up right and talented people."

The theme of Harvard India Conference 2012 is 'India – The Next Frontier' and it will be held at Harvard's campus in Boston, Massachusetts from March 24-25. It is jointly organized by the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

It has been a busy year for the producer with the release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Don 2". Ritesh is now gearing up for the release of Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee starrer "Talaash". The film has been written and directed by Reema Katgi, who is working on another story for Excel.

"We are now looking forward to the release of 'Talaash', which will be out on June 1. We are not taking any new films this year but next year will be more busy. Joya is working on her next and then "Delhi Belly" director Abhinay Deo is also writing. So we will be a lot busy next year," Ritesh said.