Tales from the dark side

With illegally sourced funds pumped into the production business by chit fund companies, a murky side to the glamorous Bengali film industry is exposed

The screen shows a hero romancing his lady love in exotic foreign locales, as the star studded movie premiere is held in one of Kolkata's plush hotels. The cast and crew are already planning high-profile post-release celebrations. The Bengali film industry, which was considered low-budget at one time, is now donning a glamorous avatar thanks to the rich producers lining up outside doors of the studio para or the Bengali film studio in Tollygunge. However, unlike the upbeat film scripts, there is a darker side to the glitz of the Bengali film industry.

The Saradha finance scam that rocked Bengal recently has brought the skeletons out of the closet, not even sparing Tollywood. With several chit fund companies, as they are loosely called, pumping crores of rupees into Tollywood, the film industry seems to be divided over the entire row.
 
"Around 30 per cent of the movies are being funded by the chit fund companies that are illegally sourcing money through fraudulent schemes," says Srikant Mohta, director at the production company, Shree Venkatesh Films. According to Mohta, a large number of chit fund companies have entered the film and television business as it gives them more visibility than any other medium. "About Rs 100 crore of illegal chit fund money is riding on movies and another 400 crores have been invested in television channels," he adds. Now 150 films get released every year compared to a mere 50 a few years back. Besides films, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Bengali news and entertainment channels that are run by such companies, but that's another story.

Rose Valley Films, which has produced several films such as Gautam Ghose's Moner Manush and Kaushik Ganguly's national award-winning Shabdo, has come under Sebi scanner for illegal debentures (not issued by the film company). Goutam Kundu, chairman, Rose valley group, refutes the allegation about sourcing illegal money for their ventures, which include the film production firm Rose Valley Films. "We have been in the film-making business for the past 12 years, and have produced several critically acclaimed movies like Moner Manush, Shobdo and Laptop," he says. Kundu believes that that he is being victimised by other rival production houses such as Venkatesh Films. "Venkatesh is serving its professional vendetta against my firm as they owe Rs 25 crore to Rose Valley films," he adds.

Kaushik Ganguly, director, Shabdo, believes that there is a witchhunt against the chit fund companies after the Saradha scam. "All chit fund companies may not be fraudulent," he says. He adds that earlier, movie production used to be an additional business for producers who had other prime businesses such as real estate and fisheries. "One must wait till the authorities finish with the probe and come out with the real picture."

The sudden inflow of money has, however, created a temporary bubble for the industry, feels noted film director Suman Mukhapadhay. "It's a difficult proposition for independent directors to know about the source of the money that their producers are investing," he says. In the recent past, he has observed an overall increase in film budgets as new production houses are turning to Tollywood. In his opinion, most producers don't even bother with the content of the film, and yet continue to pump in money. Thus, the overall movie budget is today almost double the original amount. "Because of the easy inflow of money, an average budget of a movie goes up to Rs 2 crore," informs Mukhapadhay.

Most of the films that are produced by the money-pooling companies are used to enhance their credibility in the eyes of public. However, the Saradha scam has made people alert, with great discretion being exercised while choosing the banner for future projects.

Prayag, which is also in the money market, for instance, has set up Prayag Film City. Several films were on the verge of completion like Arindam Chakraborty's Ashare Golpo, but got stalled after their chit fund producers suspended the project.