The Mysterious Financial lives of Indian Entertainment
Bollywood is a craze in India with people from all sections of the society flocking together to watch their favorite stars. The love of the public has enabled the actors and actresses to reach unprecedented levels in their lives leading to a luxurious life and a safety net for the future. Rarely will you see an actor/actress toiling to make ends meet. The monetary privileges in the entertainment profession are perceived to be huge and one can easily retire happily with all the money they make during their careers. Bollywood and the entertainment industry seems to be a happy hunting ground if you want to settle down in life and make monetary gains along with fame.
The inside truth is quite opposite of how the public perceives the entertainment industry to be. People in the entertainment industry are struggling to make ends meet and there are renowned actors/actresses who have had to resort to being a watchman or settling down in old age homes as they cross the age of 60. To quote a few examples, superstar of 1950s, Bharat Bhushan was forced to play as a minor artist to make his ends meet. This was all because of the transient nature of jobs in the entertainment industry. Famous ‘Pakeeszah’ actress Geeta Kapoor was abandoned by her son in her old age with no monetary support because of all financials being managed by someone else in her family. This was a very bad fall from grace from the superstar who could have thought of a relaxing retirement as per the public perception of a rosy life in entertainment industry. In another example, veteran actor and Padma Bhushan awardee AK Hangal faced a similar financial crisis in old age despite capturing the screen during his hey days. All these examples indicate that there is no safety net in the entertainment industry and the picture is not as rosy as it seems from the outside. The mystery in the financial lives of Indian entertainment lies within the industry and its people itself.
1. Life is on EMIs: A lot of people in the entertainment business end up purchasing branded clothes, bags, and fancy cars to be able to show the king and queen size lives they lead. In that process, they end up taking loans to account for these worldly things. The loans pile up and end up causing a financial burden in future when there is not a lot of work for the people in the industry as new folks come onto the scene.
2. No retirement support in the industry: Unlike other professions, there is no retirement support for anyone in the entertainment industry. This can be attributed to the fact that there is no retirement age, so the question of retirement support is out of the question. This leads actors and actresses to splurge money without any eye on the future.
3. Financial planning is a misnomer: The actors and actresses must live in the present to ensure that they are stars of today. In this process, they fail to do any sound financial planning for the future. This comes to bite them in the future when their children cash in on their parent’s popularity to get what they want and neglect their parents who were stars in their time on their own.
4. The FOMO: The entertainment industry thrives on status and public perception. In the process of fear of missing out, the actors and actresses end up adapting themselves to a lifestyle that is extravagant and burns a hole in their pockets despite not having sufficient projects lined up. This makes it difficult for them to make ends meet once they fall out of favor leading to even more disgruntlement in their lives.
The financial lives will always be a mystery in the entertainment industry, but the aspect of financial planning is very critical in this industry, and it is important that there are some regulations that are built to ensure that the livelihood of the actors and actresses is protected in their old age.
Special Shoutout to Parab Mangesh J for sharing great secondary research data :)
