By Vinod Mirani
Investment / funding is the watchword in the film industry, especially when it comes to stars. And, more so when it comes to the female actors. Film industry is one place where your luck more than the talent helps you make it big. If you are a reasonably good actor with a style of your own, better for you. Say, like Rajesh Khanna or Amitabh Bachchan, you have the ingredients for super stardom. Now, none of the present lot looks like making it to super stardom. But, ironically, the money they make per film surpasses by far what Khanna and Bachchan made in their heyday. So much so that they have little idea about what to do with the money even after leading luxurious lives.
To this new lot, the Covid 19 pandemic may have given enough time to ponder about what to do with the wealth. After all, how much can you invest in property and gold. The stock market now seems to attract more short-term investors, for which the actors don’t have time or the study. This is unlike earlier when one invested and remained invested just happy when the dividends cheques came.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Make In India and his bend towards digital technology has led to a raft of startups. In fact, India has become a hub for startups and now boasts of as many as 60 Unicorns (ones valued at $ one billion or more).
While the corporate houses were around and bankrolled filmmaking in India, money was falling like confetti. The stars and some filmmakers who could put together a presentable star cast, made the most of this opportunity. The corporates backed projects, not necessarily creativity.
This business model defied logic considering these very business houses raised the ante and ended up jacking film budgets from a few millions to a couple of hundreds of millions! Whether film made it or flopped, there were a lot of actors as well as producers who ended up making crores.
The old-timers too made enough money in their time. They bought bungalows and lived a lavish life. They never thought about a day when this dream run would or could end! They were convinced the popularity and the money flow was forever. That is why, from time to time, you hear stories about old artistes and technicians living and dying in penury.
So, back to the present generation which believed in investing for the future.
The latest trend for the film stars is to invest in digital space. While crypto currency is one for those who get the hang of it, investing in startups is very popular, especially, among female stars. Their choice is Indian startups. Some believe in the startup whose business model they identify with, like fashion and cosmetics, while some others just invest in one or more startups. These are mostly startups who are in the process of creating valuation to attract foreign or angel finance. For them, any Rs 50 lakh (sounds more impressive when called 5 million) that comes their way is welcome. If the valuation grows, the investor gains. A risk worth taking.
So, we have this lot of top heroines like Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Dia Mirza and, of course, Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai, who took the lead. The amount of investment is not disclosed by any of them and one assumes it to be very modest. But then, they are just testing the waters.
The good thing that has happened to the film world is the transparent economy. Now the stars can put to productive use what they earn. Earlier, thanks to high income tax slabs, and a parallel economy of cash money, popularly known as black money, the stars would be rather wary of investing or invest through benami deals or just end up hoarding the money. Raiding film stars and producers for hidden cash was a popular sport with the income tax department.
