Three recent big-budget Kannada films, including one set for release, are the targets of Thursday’s income tax search and seizure operations on eight eminent names in the industry.
Sources said that I-T sleuths had been surveying the production and collections of these films for the past several months and decided to conduct search operations after registering a case and availing search warrants from a court on Wednesday.
The I-T department was looking at two possibilities: inflation of claims of revenue from the films to convert black money into white, and suppression of income.
Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was expected to clean up the finances of the film industry, has had little impact on bringing a formal structure to the sector, and black money is still rampant, industry sources said.
Actors playing the lead roles in these films have also been targets as most of them had taken a revenue-share of the films they starred in, in addition to the professional fee.
Also, the I-T Department has found discrepancies in the declarations of producers and film actors with regard to their remuneration, sources said.
KGF , said to be the costliest Kannada film and released in four languages and drew national attention, was one of the films under the scanner of the department.
The film’s producer Vijay Kiragandur and the lead actor Yash’s premises are being searched.
Media reports claimed the film was the first Kannada film to enter the ₹100-crore club.
Mr. Kiragandur, a cousin of Malleswaram BJP MLA C.N. Ashwathnarayan, was also accused by the ruling coalition of financing the poaching of legislators from the ruling party. He is also the producer of the 2017 big-budget hit film Raajakumara , starring Puneeth Rajkumar. The Villain , released in October 2018, starred Sudeep and Shivarajkumar. I-T sleuths searched the premises of the film’s producer C.R. Manohar, a JD(S) MLC, and both lead actors.
Sleuths also targeted an yet-to-be-released film, Nata Sarvabhouma , produced by leading producer Rockline Venkatesh and starring Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar.
Mr. Venkatesh had co-produced the 2015 Salman Khan-starrer Bhajarangi Bhaijaan and the 2014 Rajinikanth-starrer Lingaa .
Sources said the sleuths are also auditing the production part of the film, and hence, Nata Sarvabhouma, was targeted though the film is yet to be released.
The premises of Jayanna, a prominent distributor and producer, was being searched by sleuths on Thursday.
