The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of the number of films produced per year and, without a doubt, one of the most glamorous, although less known to the Russian audience, than Hollywood. Most films are produced in local languages for the domestic market.
About the dark side of the Mumbai "dream factory" - links with organized crime and global terrorism - will tell the author of the Telegram channel "India Today".
When Art Requires... Money
Outstanding Indian Film Director Mahesh Bhatt once noticed, that "there is hardly anyone in the film industry, who was not associated with the mafia".
From 1950s Mumbai (at that time still called Bombay) became one of the centers of the Indian film industry. Hindi films, Marathi and other local languages were produced at the film studios of Film City, a special suburb of Bombay, created by the government in 1957 year. In the 70s, the name "Bollywood" was coined..
However, the industry has created a bad reputation for itself among public and private investors - the lack of federal laws on copyright and film distribution discouraged banks, and the state stopped giving money to producers. Government regulation has made the film industry unsuitable for legitimate forms of funding. Investors have come to Bollywood, capable of taking care of the return of their funds even in the absence of a legislative framework - the criminal authorities of Mumbai.
Famous gangsters of those years, such as David Ibrahim Kaskar and Abu Salem, directly involved in the film industry, using violence and threats on the one hand and massive funding on the other to influence directors and directors. Bollywood has become the scene of crime wars.
Bombay organized crime has made a significant contribution to the development of the local film industry, supplying local producers with millions of rupees.
One of the biggest crime dons in Bombay, Hadji Mastan, not only invested in Bollywood, but also helped build a career in cinema to his wife, an actress named Sona. Mastan's friends were considered the most famous actors of those years - Dilip Kumar, popular in the Soviet Union Raj Kapoor and Sanjiv Kumar.
although 2000 year the government changed the laws and the film industry could again qualify for bank loans, the influence of the underworld in Indian cinema is too deeply rooted.
AT 2011 WikiLeaks telegram, published by the State Department, reiterated the close links between India's multi-billion dollar film industry and the underworld.
“The industry willingly accepted money from politicians and criminal elements, looking for ways to launder their illegally obtained proceeds, called in India “black money”, — noted in the message. — After the government legitimized the film industry, the corporatization of Bollywood and the entire entertainment sector as a whole began ".
AT 2020 Indian politician Jay Panda publicly accused Bollywood stars of links with the criminal world and even terrorist organizations in Pakistan.
Bollywood had connections with mafia operating with Pakistan, their funding also used to come from there. It looks like these connections still exist. Friends of many celebs have pictures with Pak Generals & ISI. They should renounce such links: BJP National VP Baijayant Panda pic.twitter.com/zEKfpaMrkZ
- YEARS (@YEARS) July 23, 2020
The allegations were not supported by evidence., however, logic dictates that the presence of such connections is inevitable. One of the key criminal financiers of Bollywood - Daoud Ibrahim - Lived in Karachi for many years, from where he manages his criminal empire. AT 2003 year he was declared an "international terrorist" in the United States and India. Known for his close ties to ISIS (terrorist organization, banned on the territory of the Russian Federation).
The other side of glamor
Statistics show, that half of the films produced with the money of the mafia were never shown, but only 5% of which were profitable. However, the flow of investment has not dried up..
The vibrant film industry has served and continues to serve as a beautiful cover for others., not so attractive operations: laundering "black money", gold smuggling, diamonds and weapons, creating a romantic image of the "Indian mafia". Over time, these traditional ways of generating income, others have been added, when high profits appeared with the growth of the industry, yesterday's shadow "patrons of art" engaged in extortion, kidnappings of celebrities and their families for ransom, distributing pirated copies of audio and video cassettes. Just like any other business, Demand creates supply, and quite quickly, filming received another criminal underside - an illegal immigration channel.
Sanjay Dutt and weapon possession
In March 1993 Bombay rocked by a series of thirteen bomb explosions, laid out in different parts of the city. killing 257 man and 1400 wounded.
reported, that this attack was organized by Daoud Ibrahim, leader of the international criminal syndicate "D-Company".
The bombing in Bombay completely destroyed the life and career of the actor Sanjay Dutta. He was convicted of possession of a weapon, which, according to the court's decision, was given to him by Daoud Ibrahim's gang to be shipped to a terrorist group in Bombay. The bandits armed themselves in anticipation of communal riots, which were expected to follow the terrorist act. When Sanjay Dutt was arrested in 1994 at Bombay airport, he was at the peak of his acting career.
During interrogation, he confessed, what in january 1993 year he was visited by the mafia don Abu Salem (he later recanted his testimony). Sanjay Dutt claimed, that Abu Salem and his assistants brought with them three AK-56s with cartridges, of which one remained with the actor. He assured, that he kept a gun with him, to protect his family during the riots in Bombay, that occurred after the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 year.
Sanjay Dutt held 23 of the year, periodically leaving prison and returning to jail again. He was acquitted under the Terrorist and Subversive Activities Prevention Act., but convicted under the Weapons Act. The actor was finally released 2016 year.
The case of Sanjay Dutt is revealing as an example of the relationship between the mafia and Bollywood.
Extortion and kidnappings
In the end of August 2020 film producer Mahesh Manjrekar received a message demanding a ransom in the amount of 5 million dollars from unknown. The perpetrator claimed, that he is a member of the Abu Salem gang. Manjrekar called the police.
The wealth of Bollywood stars and film producers is always in plain sight - it's impossible to hide it. Stars' exorbitant fees for acting in films and television programs make them an obvious target for kidnapping., threats and extortion. Also, celebrity violence cases, due to extensive media coverage, help to keep ordinary businessmen in fear.
black money
Much of Bollywood's money comes through hawala and, of course, completely avoid paying taxes. "Black money" is often used to produce films under the guise of loans on dubious terms.. The ratio of "black" and "white" money when shooting films is 60/40, and sometimes more. Some films are made entirely for cash..
The filmed picture is sold for display abroad - to the countries of the Middle East or Africa, and, by fraudulent accounts, large sums of money are legalized. In June 2020 film director of the year Abhinav Kashyap He stated, what a bollywood superstar charity foundation Salmana Hana "Being human" is just "show off" and "window dressing", the real purpose of which is money laundering and the restoration of the actor's reputation.
This is big hawala Money. This needs to be brought to Notice. He is BHAI of Bollywood n always Supported Pakistan. He supported Yakub Menon Terrorist. List of @BeingSalmanKhan Karma pic.twitter.com/D5qkyCdBGu
— Hemir Desai (@hemirdesai) August 15, 2020
Abhinav Kashyap called on the authorities to investigate the activities of the Foundation, claiming, that he personally knows of significant inconsistencies between the actual work of "Being Human" and reports on it.
Arbaz Khan, brother of Salman Han, reacted to the accusation in the following way:
"We went to court, and also filed a complaint with the filmmakers association. We would like to go this way and have no interest in fighting any other way.… We do that, what do we think is the best way to solve the problem?.
Creating the image of the "Indian mafia"
Unlike other countries with high mafia activity, Indian organized crime does not have deep social ties. Thanks to the film industry, crime syndicates were able to create their image and cultural framework, in which they became socially acceptable and even somewhat attractive characters.
Films such as "Company" (the plot is based on heavily embellished relationships between mafia bosses Daoud Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan), "Once Upon a Time in Mumbai" (the film sheds light on the era, when the Bombay underworld was run by Hadji Mastana), Nayakan (80s gangster movie, who was the Robin Hood of the South Indians, living in Bombay) and many others created the image of a determined, hard, but in the end, in his fair and somewhat attractive mafia hero. It's not worth talking about, how far the screen images are from reality.
Planet Bollywood
Hollywood produces on average 500 films per year and has a worldwide audience in 2,6 billion people, while Bollywood produces more 1000 films every year, its audience exceeds 3 billion people. India's film industry overtook the United States in terms of viewing numbers 2004 year and has been the undisputed leader ever since..
Coronavirus pandemic hits Bollywood hard – filming halted, delayed release of new films, cinemas are closed and even after they open, it will not be possible to see full halls soon - the fear of infection and a sharp drop in viewers' income will not contribute to the box office.
Filmmaking will again become extremely risky, inconvenient for banks and private investors industry. probably, that the mafia bosses will quickly win back that small share of influence, which they lost after, How Film Producers Gained Access to Legal Sources of Funding.
Mahesh Bhatt is right - to survive in this industry of Indian business, everyone needs to have connections with the mafia.
1 Organization banned in Russia.
Author: India today
