Offices of Gurukul Art and Media, producer of a couple of Bengali films including Prem Leela, in a posh south Kolkata locality all have their shutters down at rush hour amidst the hustle and bustle around it. The company, which had begun with a promise to pump life (and money) into the Bengali film industry in 2011, has ended its journey without so much of a whimper, among hushed whispers of a larger scandal.Gurukul is among tens of chit fund-backed production houses that have vanished like Leprechaun gold in Harry Potter books as skeletons continue to tumble out of the closet in chit fund scams such as Saradha and Rose Valley, cutting down investments into Bengali film industry.Close to 35 chit fund companies registered with East India Motion Pictures Association as producers are estimated to have contributed 30% of the total investment in the Bengali film industry until two years ago.These production houses — including Rose Valley Group CMD Gautam Kundu’s production firm Brand Value Communication, Rahul Group, Gurukul, and Tower Group that came up with films like Prem Leela and Tenida — have reportedly invested Rs 300-400 crore in the entertainment industry at the height of their prosperity.“As and when these companies came to the lime light for the wrong reasons they started backing out from filmmaking. Some even left with pending dues,” said Krishna Daga, vice present at East India Motion Pictures Association. “Funds started drying up from their end and their interest in film making also took a back seat,” he said.Most of these companies remained active between 2010 and 2014, making on an average two films with investments of close to Rs 2-3 crore.Now, only two of them remain in the business as the rest have not renewed their membership as producers in Tollywood even as their chit fund business has come under a cloud. According to industry experts, most film producers in the country consider it just an investment opportunity.“There are only 10% producers in the industry across the nation who are dedicated film makers. For the rest it is just another investment arena,” said C Kalyan, the president at Film Federation of India. “While chit fund companies are one of these players they have primarily restricted themselves to the Bengali film industry,” he said.Af ter Cent ral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recent ly arrested actor and Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal in connection with the multi-crore Rose Valley chit fund scandal there are some rumours of Tollywood-chit fund nexus.While chief minister Mamata Banerjee has accused Bharathiya Janata Party, which rules the Centre, of vendetta politics, BJP leaders allege that stepping into film production was just another way to convert black money into white for the chit fund companies.“There is no better place than the film industry to invest black money,” said Rahul Sinha, national secretary of BJP. “These fraudulent players were just using Tollywood as a platform to promote themselves. Alongside using the industry they were using the stars to earn people’s trust,” he alleged.Pal was director at Kundu’s Brand Value Communication. Not ruling out involvement of big names from the film industry in Bengal, CBI has brought three top actors under the scanner in the Rose Valley scam, but declined to name them.According to Sinha, blackmoneyed chit funds also harmed the Bengal film industry by raising the bar higher in terms of production cost. “The genuine producers in the industry got stiff competition because budgets went skyrocketing, and backed by political muscle power the companies only became stronger day by day,” he alleged. Daga of East India Motion Pictures Association agreed that some films were over-budgeted.“While some wanted to just rope in big names, some just did flamboyant spending. Where investments worth Rs 1 crore would have been enough, close to 50% more money went in,” he said.While actors like Rituparna Sengupta and Prosenjit Chatterjee refused to comment on the scenario, some other industry insiders said they would not miss these outfits.Arijit Dutta, managing director at single screen chain Priya Entertainment, said chit fund producers were anyway not serious about filmmaking. “The film industry always offers a little more branding and visibility than any other avenue, and that is exactly why these firms were out here making films,” he said.Dut ta, however, ag reed Rose Val ley’s Brand Value Communication looked a serious film producer. “We have another production company out of Tollywood with them gone,” he said.Brand Value produced close to 20 films, including some blockbusters and big-budget movies since 2006. They include Guru, Chayamoy, Shunyo Awnko: Act Zero, Moner Manush, Chander Bari and Rajkumar. Its Shabdo won the national award for best Bengali feature film and national film award for best audiography in 2012.Kundu’s company also distributes Bollywood movies across the state. His past employees say Kundu was passionate about films. “He often used to call us to his chamber and asked us to dial directors, and would say, ‘Let’s make a good film’,” a former Rose Valley employee said.Rights for films produced by Brand Value were sold only to Rose Valley group channel Rupashi Bangla, the person said. “We had no inkling of where the production money is coming from. He (Kundu) used to handle the money bit himself. For the buyback policy with the channel we never came to know the money the film’s rights made.”While chit funds are not involved in film production in most other states, Bhojpuri film industries of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, too, have their share of f ly-by-night producers, though funds f low from such players haven’t dried up in these hugely unorganised industries.“Every year close to 50 films are being produced by new producers who have nothing to do with films,” said Abhay Sinha, director at Yashi Films, a film production and distribution company in northern India with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Patna. “Close to Rs 100 crore comes from them and there is no data maintained on who these investors are,” he said. Yashi Films is a leading producer of Bhojpuri films.All India Association of Chit Funds has, meanwhile, said legitimate chit fund companies registered under the Chit Fund Act of 1982 are not entitled to invest in films or any other avenue.“Most of these chit fund companies as they cal led themselves even the ones from Bengal who are under the scanner are not registered under the Act,” said T S Sivaramakrishnan, genera l - se cr e ta ry of the association. “Had they been registered, they would fall under the gambit of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 and under no circumstance would be able to invest this money in making films,” he said.“Unregistered chit funds, which exceed 100 times in value (vis-à-vis the registered ones), are illegal in India, although it is well known that unregistered chit fund industry is very popular in India, mainly in the rural and semi-urban area where people have very little access to the banking services and where financial illiteracy is more,” said Sivaramakrishnan who is also director of Balussery Benefit Chit Funds.He said the chit fund industry is regulated by states with an advisory role to the Reserve Bank of India. The Act has been notified in all the states except Jammu and Kashmir.