Tollywood a gold mine for taxmen

All eyes seem to be on Tollywood now, especially after the I-T raid on Baahubali filmmakers. Many believe that real estate businessmen, politicians and the likes who have unaccounted cash flow have been routing/pumping money into the industry. Suddenly, there’s a spurt of businessmen-turning-film producers. However, Tollywood is tight-lipped over this issue.

Raising his voice against the I-T raids, filmmaker Thamma Reddy Bharadwaj, says, “There are several big fish in the country, but targeting the film industry each time is not fair. When a film collects high revenues, the government hasn’t bothered to ask the producers how they collected so much money. And after a year or so, they raid their offices.”

Brag to end
Off the record, sources admit that the Baahubali team was caught in the tax storm after reports on the roaring business done by part 2 in terms of music rights, distribution rights etc. came out. It was already in the news that Baahubali part 1 had made a whopping Rs 650-crore-plus business!

So, will filmmakers stop bragging about their collections henceforth? Earlier, the biggest achievement of a movie was Rs 100 days’, then it became ‘silver jubilee’ and so on. These days, the day one reports itself are ‘Rs 30-crore opening day collection, Rs 45 crore weekend collection...’

Actors also allegedly accept a part of the payment in cash and the remaining in cheque, when they walk the ramp for designers. (Photo: Tamannaah at Lakme Fashion Week)

Unimaginable amounts are rumoured as top actors’ remuneration —as in Rs 9 crore for Pawan Kalyan and Rs 12 crore for Mahesh Babu. Every actor seems to be earning in crores.

Black and white
Apparently, only 30-40 per cent of the remuneration is in cheque or wire transfers that are accountable — an arrangement that suits both the actors and producers. “The rest is given as cash. Some actresses prefer gold bars,” said a source.

For a very long time, land has been the most popular payment to actors. “Big actors accept land as a major portion of their pay. Depending on the star and their bankability, the value of the land becomes higher. Several actors are known to own vast lands not just in the city but in the surrounding areas as well —  most of it are their remuneration. Houses, apartments and other properties are also common modes of payment,” reveals a source. It’s perhaps easy to register land than stashing money!”

Precious pay
Gold biscuits, silver bars and other expensive commodities like luxury vehicles are another form of remuneration. Gold and diamonds are generally a favourite with actresses. An actor’s sister has suddenly started a jewellery line; gold bars are perhaps used here!

Afterthought
In the current scenario, how will producers account for the remuneration paid to actors and how do the latter do it?  Film-makers hope that actors will opt for a pay cut, at least for the time being.

Bollywood not worried
I don’t think the film industry will be affected in the long run. The corporate structure of transactions in Bollywood has been in place for a decade now and transactions have been happening via cheques for a long time.- Bejoy Nambiar, director

Not every film earns Rs 100 cr and beyond. If a film earns Rs 100 cr, it is the net collection. It is just 50 per cent of the total cost earned by the producers and filmmakers. One should also evaluate the production cost of the film. It’s a silly, age-old notion that there is a lot of cash in the film industry. We get our money from studios, and whether that is abroad or home-grown, the transactions are done via cheques. The rest of our funds come from multiplexes and single screen theatres.- Kunal Kohli, director and producer

— With inputs from Suresh Kavirayani and Rohit Bhatnagar