Bollywood Shades Of Black And Grey

Bollywood is not a bed of roses. Nor are the men and women in them gods to be worshipped. They have feet of clay and are both good and bad, just as anybody else. There is a lot of tension in Bollywood simmering under the surface, behind all the glitter and glamour. In fact, it is more a bed of thorns than roses, as recent events have shown

There is an old adage that says all that glitters is not gold. This is particularly true in the case of our film industry, especially Bollywood. Bollywood entertains us by producing films. Bollywood transforms actors into stars, in whom we see the ultimate virtues of a human being. We worship them as our heroes and heroines. We presume that stars are the happiest lot and that they virtually live in heaven. We fantasize being in their company and the same gives us temporary happiness. But is it all good with them? Are they really virtuous souls to be emulated? The answer is a big no.

Feet of clay

This answer was given to me by a top heroine when I was on official duty of conducting an income tax raid against her. She confessed that stars, like the public, are ordinary people and not different from others. She admitted tax evasion when the search detected her hidden wealth. I found that they are not virtuous enough to be worshipped.

One producer, in the course of an income tax raid, admitted that he does many wrong things to get finance for his films, which to a large extent is black money. He said that being in the film industry is a painful exercise but he still enjoys it as it keeps him in the glamour world and unlike other professions, there is always an opportunity to hit the jackpot. A single super-duper hit film can change the lives of actors, directors, producers and financiers.

No happiness in Bollywood

These days there are media headlines about Bollywood due to the tragic death of a very talented young hero, Sushant Singh Rajput. Before coming to films, he had won the Physics Olympiad and he had come out of a reputed engineering college. He came from a non-filmy family of Bihar and attained success in films after starting from TV serials. The cause of his death was allegedly a suicide, assuming that he was mentally disturbed for some reason, which is being investigated. The reason for his alleged suicide could be anything, but it confirms that there is no happiness in Bollywood.

The Mumbai Police is investigating the case examining the plea of nepotism prevailing in the film industry where outsiders are given the cold shoulder. The Bihar Police investigation is based on the FIR filed by his father, looking into the conduct of an actress friend with whom he was in a live-in relationship for one year. The point to be noted is that our stars are normal human beings and Bollywood and its big operators are not free from faults. Bollywood is as good or bad as any other industry.

Our stars are normal human beings and Bollywood and its big operators are not free from faults. Bollywood is as good or bad as any other industry

Stars and the Pak connect

Another Bollywood news doing the rounds in some channels is regarding the stage shows of our actors and singers abroad, and their Pakistani and alleged ISI connection. It has surfaced that some US and Dubai organisers of foreign stage shows are Pakistani or Pakistan-born citizens, and they work as ISI agents. It is said that these anti-national agents purposely mingle with our stars for ulterior purposes. It is learnt that the love for money makes our stars blind and that they fail to see the actual motive of the organisers. It is possible that our stars are unaware about the background of these organisers. But even after their identities have been revealed by embassies abroad and even after being forewarned they continue their association with these shady organisations.

Make black white

There have been instances of artists indulging in money laundering through foreign stage shows. Under section 80RR of the Income Tax Act, a part of the income earned abroad is exempted from tax. The exemption until 2001 was as high as 60%, though now it has fallen down to 15%. I found that by round-tripping or through hawala channels black money from India would be added to the actual foreign income from the stage performances. This meant that this inflated foreign income used to be disclosed in the income tax return and then 60% of such inflated income would get exemption. To explain with an example, let’s say the actual remuneration from the stage show was Rs.100. To this, another Rs.100 would be added, which would be black stake money. The actor got 60% exemption on Rs.200 which was Rs.120 instead of 60% of Rs.100, which worked out to be Rs.60. I presume that this sort of money laundering may have reduced now, since the exempt proportion is only 15% under section 80RR. The point to be noted is that a section of our film fraternity tries every trick in the trade to evade tax, just like other sections of our business fraternity.

I discovered that people would also go to very low levels to offer roles, and to succeed in this business. The old established actors, directors, and producers are in one class, while aspiring newcomers are in another, and have to suffer torture

India is one of the biggest hubs of film-making in the world. Hindi as well as regional films are produced on a large scale. Mumbai and Bollywood are the largest producers of films but there are other regional centres as well, in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Punjab. A disappointing feature of the Indian film industry is that it is unregulated. The Censor Board has a limited say on the films produced as it restricts itself to a few cuts in the films and grades them either for adult or universal viewing. Court decisions on the freedom of creative expression have also restricted its power.

Unregulated industry

The core activity of the process of film producing has no regulator. The main objective of commercial films is to earn more money and hence they are spiced with popular masala. Films are successful at the box office only if they are able to get repeat viewers and accordingly they are generally not made for the elite audience who can appreciate the art in them but are made for the commoners, who do not have any other source of entertainment except for films.

It is believed that the film industry is mainly operated by individual producers who depend on private financers. This has caused the use of black money to a large extent and sometimes even underworld dons join in as financers. Of late, some corporate producers have entered the industry, thereby, ushering in some improvement. The biggest proportion of expenditure of filmmaking is the remuneration of the stars, thus less emphasis is paid to the quality of films. Since the seed of finance is mainly black money, a part of the remuneration of the stars also comes from unaccounted funds.

It is believed that the film industry is mainly operated by individual producers who depend on private financers. This has caused the use of black money to a large extent and sometimes even underworld dons join in as financers. There is distinct inequality and that causes tension in the industry. Even the established class is not without tension, as they fear the success of their films

Simmering disquiet

I observed during my official interactions with the film industry that there is a simmering disquiet beneath its glamorous surface. People here are always in fear of their unknown future. They get attracted to astrologers and tantriks. There is always a rivalry prevailing amongst the stake holders and there is definitely no healthy competition. On the contrary dirty power games are played. I discovered that people would also go to very low levels to offer roles, and to succeed in this business. The old established actors, directors, and producers are in one class, while aspiring newcomers are in another, and have to suffer torture. There is distinct inequality and that causes tension in the industry. Even the established class is not without tension, as they fear the success of their films at the box office. In the history of the film industry many successful players and actors of yesteryears died as paupers.

Things are changing now, as players and actors of today are smart enough to become good investors in properties and businesses not connected to the film industry, so as to ensure their financial future. Barring a few rare exceptions, stars have a limited shelf-life, and this gives tremendous tension when they grow older. Hence, stars act in many films at a time till the going is good and this has a serious impact on their quality of life as there is hardly any leisure.

I remember the case of a well-known heroine, who had passed her prime, in one of my search operations. Outwardly, she had maintained the façade of richness, in spite of her poor financial condition. She told me with tears in her eyes that she had to spend beyond her means to give a false image of herself. She virtually had to borrow to look rich. All that glitters is not gold in the film industry! On the other hand, I also discovered that some big actors had huge properties in India and abroad, which was beyond their known source of income. Going abroad for holidays and shopping by stars is very normal, but again the same is not declared by them. At the same time, there are some stars who are honestly paying huge taxes and these stars deserve to be emulated but otherwise, there is no need for blind hero worshipping.