Questionable links: Film industry and smuggling

Perhaps the only time “actress” Neetu Agarwal had her name appear in headlines, was when police revealed suspicions that she was linked to red sanders smuggling. Mastan Vali, the red sanders smuggler who was arrested recently, produced a Tollywood film Prema Prayanam, starring Neetu Agarwal. The film sank without a trace and rumour is Mastan Vali and Neetu were in a relationship. Cops are certain that her bank account served as a highway for cash transfers in smuggling.

The very, very few who even know her, are surprised the “upcoming starlet” who has starred in a movie that never released, is now alleged to be one of the pillars in an illegal industry that’s costing the country thousands of crores each year. Much about Agarwal is simply not known.
But it’s not the first time the film industry here has found itself linked with mafia.

Recently, another small-time director-producer, Sushanth Reddy, was arrested for alleged drug links. The question being asked now is, how much of film funding in Tollywood is dubious? Besides drugs and wood, another sector from where money comes into Tollywood is the booming real estate sector — currently valued at at least a few thousand crores of rupees. Many, who profited from land deals, in cash-only transactions have managed to move money into the film sector.
Other source of benami funding, is from politicians, faction leaders and the liquor lobby.

There was the infamous case of Singanamala Ramesh, who had simultaneously produced Puli and Khaleja with two big stars, Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu respectively. The industry was later shocked when the producer was arrested for his alleged links with Bhanu Kiran, a prime suspect in Rayalaseema factionist Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri’s murder case.

There’s the very interesting tale of producer R. Venkat of RR Movie Makers. Venkat, who has never been seen in public, had pumped in hundreds of crores into the film industry. He had offices in all the districts of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and had produced films with top stars like Mahesh Babu and Nagarjuna and had also distributed some big films. Currently, virtually no one knows Venkat’s whereabouts. His offices remain shut and till date one doesn’t know where he had got the money to invest in the industry. Individuals who had even worked in his projects, don’t know what Venkat looks like.

When Bhanu Kiran, the prime suspect in Suri’s murder, was arrested a few years back, his Tollywood links had become the talk of the town. The Rayalaseema factionist had pumped in a lot of money in films through benami accounts. The police had even suspected that Bhanu had links with many top actresses at the time. “This is a glamorous world and people are attracted to this industry. Many want to be part of it. They get the publicity and can also turn their black money into white here,” says Thammareddy Bharadwaj.

There’s the perfect guise — behind the veneer of glamour, cameras and a very public profile. Often the best place to hide interests, is in the open and when asked about the inflow of ill-gotten wealth and if there’s a drive to curb it, those in the film business maintain, “we are not the police. And others’ business is none of ours”. Filmmaker D. Suresh Babu, argues, “We can’t stop anybody from entering the industry — it’s a free trade system after all.”