| Bollywood and its not-so-goodfellas The legend, it turns out, is true. The legend about Bollywood, the dream factory that entices millions with its glamour and glitz. About the moon far away, and its proverbial dark side. By now, all of you know about Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ damning disclosure on Dax Shepard’s podcast about being “pushed into a corner” in Bollywood, forcing her to move to the US for work. The globally renowned actor and Bollywood star’s words resonated with the painful experiences of others, including those who have fallen victim to the ruthless ‘gangs’ and ‘camps’ that hold sway in the industry. Having known Priyanka personally as an extremely courageous, fierce and compassionate woman who is also immensely strong-willed, her revelation about being "forced out" of an industry, despite giving two of the biggest hits in the said year (2012) — Barfi and Agneepath — explains the hegemony of the powers that be, that ultimately saw our very own Desi Girl look to the West for pastures new. Priyanka’s candid revelations shed light on the harsh reality of Bollywood, where rubbing the high and mighty the wrong way can switch off the lights on so many promising careers. The unwritten rule of toeing an invisible line — set by the influential few — is enforced with vindictiveness, leaving no room for dissent or individuality. If you thought this was a rare instance and that this cold-shouldering and cornering is reserved mostly for emerging artistes and those without clout and large fandoms, rewind to 2020 when AR Rahman, the acclaimed music composer and Academy Award winner, spoke out about the pervasive nature of lobbying and cliques in Bollywood. In an old interview, Rahman revealed how he faced a "gang spreading false rumours" that resulted in him losing out on projects. It got so bad that the maestro rued: "People are expecting me to do stuff, but there is another gang of people preventing that from happening." It's a heartbreaking truth that even a virtuoso of Rahman's calibre who has fans across demographics — fans who love his music but probably don’t even know his name — has to face such obstacles due to the manipulative games played by the powerful insiders. Many have written off actor Kangana Ranaut — a vocal advocate for outsider rights — as a manic rabble-rouser. Ranaut’s relentless pursuit of groupism and nepotism hasn’t stopped despite the constant questioning of her credibility. She refuses to bow down, stating, "I will not be part of this mafia... I will not support these people." But she certainly has had to pay the price. In the cauldron of creativity and talent that we wish to see Bollywood as, it’s disheartening to see toxicity refusing to budge. What should have been a level-playing field for all artistes has strangely transmogrified into a battlefield where only those in the good graces of the influential few can thrive. Lobbying, bullying, nepotism, groupism, favouritism — all of these routinely fuse together into an ugly colossus that perennially rears its head to stifle talent. In a recent interview with us, actor Vivek Oberoi, who had a highly publicised fallout with a big Bollywood star years ago (which even saw him organise a press conference to explain his stance) opened up about his experiences — how he was bullied and ostracised in the industry. "There is lobbying, bullying, and harassment that happens in the film industry... It is a very mafia-like scenario,” he revealed. And yet, this is not all. Not even the tip of the iceberg. Chilling and appalling accounts of celebs who were systemically shunned by Bollywood at the whims of a few — cannot be ignored anymore. It's high time that the underbelly of Bollywood was talked about, the spotlight was thrown on the dark side of the moon. It’s time the industry is reformed to become a fair and inclusive space that truly values talent and merit, irrespective of one's connections or last names. Tarot | 
