Fading fortunes of India’s Bollywood in streaming era spark political debate

A fierce debate has erupted over the Indian government’s perceived lack of financial support for Bollywood, with the wife of legendary film actor Amitabh Bachchan accusing New Delhi of neglecting an industry that unites India but is struggling amid dwindling audiences in the streaming era.

Jaya Bachchan, an opposition politician from the Samajwadi Party and an actress, slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for not giving any tax breaks to the industry during a parliamentary debate to discuss the federal budget unveiled earlier this month.

“One industry has been totally ignored by you, and other governments too have been doing the same thing. But today you have taken it to the next level. You have totally ignored the film and entertainment industry because you only use them to serve your own purpose,” said Jaya Bachchan, a member of the upper house of parliament, according to a report by The Times of India.

“Today, leave aside GST [goods and services tax], all the single screens [theatres] are shutting down. People are not going to movie halls because everything has become so costly. Perhaps you want to kill the industry altogether. This is the only industry in India that connects the entire world to India,” she said during the debate on February 12.

Sitharaman fired back in parliament, saying that the federal government did not charge any entertainment tax, which was previously charged by state governments, but had been subsumed under the centralised GST.

She then drew attention to previous federal governments headed by the Indian National Congress, saying they had shabbily treated erstwhile Bollywood celebrities such as actor Dev Anand, lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri and singer Kishore Kumar.