Originally posted by: Clochette
Every number mentioned - alleged budget or alleged actors' fees - is published for a purpose... I won't name those that are suspected to wash black money because there is no clear proof I could bring on the table ... the fact that a Western VFX compagny (DNEG already won 8 oscars) allowed the Indian branch (CEO Namrit Malhotra) to deal with Ramayana tells a lot about the possibilities...
It is so sad that the opposition is such a mess - with an (imo) incompetent leader...and no solution relative to corruption.
Oh it’s a money laundering scam, that’s obvious to anyone who’s thinking about this logically even if they don’t understand the inner workings of the system.
Regarding the corruption and opposition, I think it’s linked in this case and the opposition might intentionally not highlight anything related to this movie. You see the numbers, I see something else in the larger picture.
The second movie, undoubtedly touted to be the bigger deal as its budget will be also worth more than the first one, considering its gonna be the concluding chapter with battle sequences that require more money, is releasing in Diwali 2027.
Corporate bookings aren’t a secret anymore and it’s very likely that despite whatever reception the movie gets organically, there will be corporate bookings for the same to keep the movie in the theatres for as long as possible to show money being minted.
The movie will release close to the end of October in 2027, - on 28/29. They will try to make sure that the movie is in the theatres at least until the beginning of 2028, if not well into 2028.
India’s next General Elections are slated to be held in 2029, exactly the next year and if they stick to schedule then April/May we go to vote and depending on the dates and the number of rounds the voting happens in, by June the winners will be swearing in.
The government has cancelled FCRA licenses in the hundreds if not thousands, frozen bank accounts of suspicious individuals and organisations as well. FCRA is basically a special licensing system in India that allows any NGO, organisation, company, corporation or even individuals who have legally registered with the taxing authority of India to have foreign transactions in their accounts. As in, these people can legally have multiple foreign transactions from all over the world in their accounts wherein they don’t require to repeatedly request the bank to process any transactions in their accounts whether incoming or outgoing be it in any amount or any currency. They pay whatever taxes are owed to the government at the end of every financial year and since these are considered “legal entries” or white money, the various agencies and departments cannot come after them without a solid evidence trail that they need to present to the courts to even get a warrant to conduct any form of investigation let alone make arrests.
In India, previously these licenses were issued basically to any Tom, Dick and Harry who submitted a few basic documents, filed an application and paid the fees without any explanation being asked from them. You could register yourself as an NGO for blind children or street kids or are a startup that’s experimenting with a new variant of khakra and theplas that is getting money from Timbuktu and Toronto alike and no one would bat an eye or even verify if you genuinely exist as an NGO or a startup, if you’re a decades old business or a brand new company. This meant a lot of fraudulent activities and a lot of money being pumped into India with no accountability and no consequences whatsoever. The money could then be spent for anything and everything. You could show expenses ranging from one time large purchases like electronic equipments that you would need and furniture to renovations and repairs to regular transactions like you’re paying 10 employees, rent, utilities etc. for an office that doesn’t even exist; not to mention travel expenses and allowances for yourself and your employees that are fake. There was no real limit to what amount you could get or withdraw as well at any given point of time. You could get crores in the morning and empty your account by afternoon. Show a fake paper trail to account for your expenses and you’ll get away with anything.
Now, that’s not the case anymore. Your license will be cancelled if you’re found violating the terms of your agreement per which the license was issued to you. If you claim to be an NGO working for blind people or for special needs children, you need to show proof of your work in the area. You need to have a real registered license to operate your NGO, provide real documentation for your address, bills can’t be vague and your employees can’t have an unlimited travel budget without any concrete work to show for it. If you receive an amount beyond a reasonable limit then the bank is supposed to flag the same amount, transactions that are found fishy are subject to be held in lieu until they are deemed legit.
In short, a lot of transactions that were happening previously under the guise of foreign transactions for multiple smaller entities are now being redirected into movie business with these two movies being hyped up particularly as they think the scale can justify the amount…
The opposition is not the one who should be paying attention here - the relevant authorities in ED, IT and other agencies are. Because this large an amount of, almost one year prior to an important election is not coincidental. Given that the speculation and buzz is that this might even be the first election which can happen under ONOE scheme, if it’s implemented, the stakes are even higher and scarier.
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