I have been busy with my new one month subscription of Netflix and was engrossed binging on digital films and docudrama’s . One that caught my eyes was Bad Boy Billionaires . It traces the journey of three fallen Billionaires Vijay Mallya , Nirav Modi , and Subroto Sahara , The Sahara Sri . The documentary is detailed with a mix of old footage , media clip’s , interviews with real people and opinion makers it sticks to the need to get to the truth . It traces the private and business lives of three of Indian’s greatest Biggest Billionaires. Why they finally failed and from shining business stars became will full defaulters and finally looking at a life in jail. In Mallya’s case it was the collapse of his baby Kingfisher Airlines , Nirav Modi with his international brand of Dimond jewelry and Sahara Sri with the collapse of his chit fund company Sahara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0I_uL0mw0c
In all cases the stories point directly on the corruption in government sector banks and the loop holes in the financial markets , where loans where given with out collateral , Letter of Credit given by state banks without keeping any money or collateral from the borrowers .Mallya borrowed from state banks , and Nirav Modi bribed official’s to get free public money .In both cases the businesses took of initially and did well both Mallya and Modi were hailed as visionaries and rule breakers who would break business rules to expand their business empires and both went global . Both absconded to London which has become a safe haven for fallen billionaires , with easy access to the financial markets and expensive lawyers.
In Sahara’s case he began on a scooter and then by collecting Rs 10 and Rs 20 from migrant and farm workers he created Sahara Group initially paying good interest , by making them invest in his many schemes . He kept making his vision larger and larger till he had ten’s of millions of depositors . Again his down fall was dramatic , his battle with SEBI ended up being his doom as he spent two years in jail .His investment’s in real state did not let to his doom as he was unable to pay depositors their money.
From a creative execution point of view the visuals and the pace of the film was good and kept you engaged , it also gave a sort of message that extravagance doesn’t always win in the end in it is fostered corruption and finally the fall due to greed of it’s owners .The interviews look real and the background sound is amazing , you feel you are a part of their journey . Entertaining and Informative I would give it my recommendation a must watch for people who like fast paced realistic docudrama’s.