Chit fund companies, as loosely called, are entrenched in the Odia film industry, popularly known as Ollywood. At present, about 30 per cent of all Ollywood movies are produced by chit fund firms and this pie is likely to grow.
In the past three to four years, many such money market companies have forayed into film production on a partial or fuller basis. However, making profit is not their aim. They are producing films mostly with popular stars as it would build their brands among their target audiences and reap more trust among depositors.
Such an incident came to light when former AT Group director Jagabandhu Panda, arrested in connection with the multi-core money circulation scam, had allegedly invested nearly Rs 30 lakh in two Odia song albums. The shooting of the songs was to be held in Manali, police sources said. Panda, after being director of controversial Swastik India, had a penchant for glitz and glamour and developed close proximity with several Ollywood and Bollywood stars. He was seen rubbing shoulders with several Ollywood actors and producers at the Mahurat of an upcoming Odia film Daha Balunga, in which Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff has a role. Even in the film’s publicity poster with producer Pupinder Singh, the name of Jagabandhu Panda is written as Bapi Panda.
Pupinder Singh, also a popular actor, said, "Panda approached me to finance the movie during the Mahurat a couple of months ago and had attended the photo session. But we had already arranged a financier from elsewhere. He is in no way associated with the movie."
Diversion of chit fund deposits into movies is nothing new. The police had earlier suspected that actor-cum-director Naseer Khan, who is accused of embezzling nearly Rs 500 crore of public deposits through his chit fund company in Baleswar in 2009, allegedly invested huge money in his film Shadow.
Bhubaneswar-based producer Triveni Mohanty was arrested in 2011 for allegedly making Odia movie Tu tha mu jauchi rusi out of the hard-earned deposits of people. This film also got one or two Odisha State Film Awards. Mohanty had floated a money circulation company and collected lakhs of rupees with a promise of doubling the investments overnight.
Yet another chit fund company, Sai Pragati Assets and Properties limited, now under the Crime Branch glare for allegedly duping investors of crores of rupees, was also accused of diverting public money into an Odia movie.
Recently, another builder Narayan Chandra Nayak, arrested by the Crime Branch in connection with fraudulent land deals to the tune of Rs 50 crore, was taken on two-day remand by the police. Nayak, a former employee of the Hi-Tech group, had started Umamani Home Creation in Bhubaneswar’s Nayapalli area in 2008 and mopped up huge sums from investors running up to Rs 75 crore, the police said. Investors had lodged complaints in this regard with Crime Branch on May 2. He diverted public money to filmmaking and produced two Odia movies Prem Rogi and Prema Adhei Akshara. Nayak’s films also got Stae Film Awards in six categories in 2010 Another producer Anurag Sahu was also called by the Bhubaneswar police for taking money from the AT Group to produce film.