Over the last few years, the Bombay film industry has been in the public eye, but for undesirable reasons. Reams of paper have carried stories about the glamour industry’s nexus with the underworld.

In fact, so much space in the print media and so much time in the electronic media have been consumed by the stories of the so-called marriage of filmmen and dons that many among the public have begun to believe that all film people are in some shady way or the other connected with the underworld. But this is far from the truth.

The underworld’s earlier brushes with the industry used to be hawala deals for foreign shootings, star presence at foreign parties thrown by dons, and extortion. Perhaps, the glamour of films is too alluring. But for the media to assume that all of Bollywood is linked with the underworld is too cynical as also too simplistic a view.

As in other industries, there are only a few black sheep in the film industry too. Of the 143 Hindi films (excluding dubbed ones) released in 2000, barely 5 or 7 were funded by the underworld. Of the 150 films of 2001 or 140 of 2002, not more than 8 or 10 in each of the two years could have been made with funds from questionable sources. How can 4 or 5 per cent be taken as representing the entire production sector?

In the match-fixing scandal, the media didn’t drag the entire Indian cricket team and the BCCI into it even though the percentage of the tainted names was higher! Still, the same media, which very rightly kept the names of cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar out of the scam, lost no time in generalising when it came to the film industry.

With the media spewing venom at the entire film industry for no explicable reason, the image of the Indian film industry has taken the severest beating in its 105-year history.

Black money in Bollywood is yet another blot on its face. Having said that, it requires neither the knowledge of a Chartered Accountant (which I happen to be by qualification) nor the insight of a film trade analyst (which I am by choice) to add that black money exists in every industry. As with the underworld nexus, so also with dealings in black money, only the transactions in the glamour industry get blown out of proportion for obvious reasons.

Here, it must be added that the percentage of black money dealings in Bollywood, too, has now gone down significantly because of the reduction in income-tax rates. You, therefore, have the corporate producers paying their stars and technicians completely in cheque. It is common knowledge that a producer like Zee paid everyone associated with its blockbuster film, Gadar Ek Prem Katha, right from Sunny Deol to the spot boy, in cheque.

More recently, Cinevistaas (another public limited company) chief Sunil Mehta has confirmed having made his Sssshhh… (released recently) with only white money. So both, black money transactions and underworld nexus, do exist in our film industry, but not to the extent it is being touted as!

While lowering the income-tax rates a little more (the human species is never content, right?) and income-tax raids would go a long way in further flushing out black money, the issue of breaking the underworld involvement in films is a different ball-game altogether. It would require concerted efforts by both, the film industry and the law and order machinery in the country.

Of the people who are linked, there may be some who join hands because they fear for their lives. The state needs to be sure that such gullible people are not penalised at any cost. It is people like these whose confidence the police needs to win. Then, the state would have to tackle only those who join forces with the dons for profit.

If the industry somewhere needs to shoulder part of the blame for succumbing to either pressure or profit motives and, in the process, falling prey to underworld advances, the police too cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for letting Bollywood land itself in the murky state of affairs. It has not been able to provide sufficient security to the high-profile in the industry. How the police now breaks the nexus is for it to decide.

On its part, the industry must also set its house in order. It has embarked upon corporatisation, which is a step in the right direction. This is enabling filmmakers to obtain institutional finance -- a sure way to free the industry from the stranglehold of the mafia, howsoever limited. Why, if the film industry were to be cleansed, it would also attract foreign and NRI finance.

Finally, I think, the task before the film industry and the government may be difficult but it isn’t impossible. Honest and sincere efforts to wipe out the underworld from the film world can never go in vain. Where there’s a will, there is a way.

Yes, there is a way for the film industry and the police to work in tandem. There now seems to be a will too. Only thing, the gap between getting the will and the way to meet has been a bit too much. Consequently, those who sell dreams are today seeing a nightmare.