Hubris has never looked this glamorous as Netflix’s latest, controversial docu-series, Bad Boy Billionaires: India, studying the rise and fall of notable Indian tycoons, finally gets permission to air after much lawyer-rubber-stamped delay. P. Ramakrishnan writes.
Every major Indian businessman in Hong Kong is familiar with every bold-faced name in the docuseries Bad Boy Billionaires; India. Some know them personally, others have near, if not collateral links with businesses that crashed along with the fall of these famous former captains of industry. All are watching with breath that is baited, hoping they aren’t seen or photographed beside the ignominy of it all.
The key figures in the series are Kingfisher liquor baron and airline honcho Vijay Mallya, Subrata Roy of the Sahara group, IT executive Ramalinga Raju and jeweller Nirav Modi. You can watch all the mighty men meteorically rise... and fall.
When the trailer first aired few months ago, Netflix was slapped with stay orders by a coterie of lawyers and the original air date, as advertised, was pushed again and again; two of the key subject matters had a phalanx of lawyers set to hound Netflix, stating that airing the shows would affect the jury pool with prejudice against their respective clients - and the show was inherently defamatory.
Free speech and Netflix won all but one round, as three of the episodes are available for viewing - the episode on Ramalinga Raju, caught on a US$1 billion accounting fraud more than a decade ago, is on hold as his lawyers obtained a separate injunction from a court in south India. The case is still pending but public opinion favours Netflix as millions defrauded by these men seek illusive justice, if not the money that is owed them.
Like a blockbuster Bollywood movie, the multi-part documentary is loaded with obvious villains and their misdeeds, unexpected heroes, cameos by superstars of Bollywood, heart-breaking revelations from victims and comic relief from unexpected quarters to the soundtrack of the musical chant “Jeene do”; which literally translates to Let me Live.
Live they must, with the infamy the show has shed a spotlight to, of corruption at such n’th degree, the numbers on screen will appear staggering. It's a cautionary tale of such epic corruption and abuse of power.
Caption: Vijay Mallya with his eldest son Siddharth Mallya
The first hour-long special is dedicated to the “king of good times” Vijay Mallya, a race-car enthusiast from the 1970s and 80s who inherited a fortune from his liquor baron father. The prodigal son amplified the business and expanded the Kingfisher empire greatly and with alarming alacrity and.... fiscal irresponsibility.
The white-collar crimes, questionably procured loans, lack of payments are all limned in the series. The show is studded with Bollywood babes – Mallya's love and proclivity for gorgeous women and showmanship is all so familiar - when he’s compared to President Donald Trump, its bound to make the viewer smirk.
The defense put on by Mallya’s eldest son, Siddharth (aka ‘Sid’) Mallya, in his plum British accent, is so tragically tone-deaf and with complete lack of culpability, it borders on the blindingly comic. The young man, an aspiring actor and model, faces the mental anguish of daily trolling for the sins of his father; his defense of his dad is understandable but the lack of acknowledgement of the white collar crimes is glaring. Particularly as the Mallyas are living a lavish life beyond borders in Britain (and LA), seemingly immune to the plights of many they defrauded.
Above: Nirav Modi at a gala dinner hosted by his company
Jeweller Nirav Modi’s hoardings were once studded around Central, his stores in ifc and Elements mall have hosted glamorous cocktails and by-invitation only dinners that featured local and international superstars such as Rosie Huntington, Rain, and Priyanka Chopra; once the face of the brand. You can see them all glittering and glowing... until the buck stops; loans of over a billion dollars procured by Modi are brought into question and corruption charges so big – the numbers don’t fit into one column on the screen.
Above: Subrata Roy heading to court - ink bombed by the Indian mob
The pyramid scheme led by Subrata Roy was brought into light after a journalist investigated the man and reported on him for a staggering 30 years – the longest and penultimate episode in the series.
Apart from the lurid fascination and schadenfreude of watching the mega rich and the megalomaniacs brought to their knees, there’s a reason why the show is doing well not only in India, but globally; it’s a Greek tragedy with Indian characters.
The tropes and principles of Aristotle state, a (seemingly) righteous individual, elevated in rank and ability, makes a colossal mistake, spirals to ruin. Each of the titans started off meaning to do good for commune and community. There are repeated patterns in the narrative as you witness excess pride and critical hubris.
From flying in Lionel Ritchie to sing Happy Birthday to rat infested prisons in the Hindi heartland, it’s a sordid tale of riches to rags. Like any decent Aristotelian tale, there’s an emotional purification and catharsis in the end as it evokes a mixture of pity, disgust and.. relief that it happened to someone else.
All images from Instagram
