I am a master in India

Chapter 230 New Trouble
"What kind of business?" Ron asked.

"The Imperial Palace!"

"What?" Ron thought he had misheard.

“Brother, I know you just started a war. That palace did Anand so badly, you did the right thing.”

But this is Mumbai; people need palaces, they need a place like that to conduct transactions. This is a good opportunity!

“This business isn’t as easy as you think,” Ron cautioned.

“I know, I need reliable connections,” Luca said, looking at him.

"Wait, what are you up to now?"

“I want to buy that land,” Luca said firmly.

"Royal Palace?"

"Yes, it's all in ruins now. Nobody cares, and it's a huge hassle just to demolish it."

"So you want to take this opportunity to seize it and then build another palace?" Ron asked with a strange look.

“It’s very feasible, isn’t it? We need to get this done quickly.”

“I went to see Thackeray, the leader of Shiva’s army. He said he hated the palace and that even if I didn’t do anything, Shiva’s army would destroy it.”

“Oh! That sounds terrifying, but my palace is different.” Luca was very confident.

"How to say?"

"Lady Elizabeth went too far. Some people liked those astonishing things, while others loathed them."

I bet all the girls there hate her, which is bad. I won't make it that obvious; I'll give both sides more options.

"You want to do a business that's mutually agreeable?"

"That's right, I want to build a luxurious nightclub. The girls are all talented; they can sing and dance, and the guests can choose their own entertainment."

I'll make the place incredibly hot, so the men can't resist tipping me. The place is clean, and we don't offer those kinds of services, but customers can take girls out, and nobody cares.

“Sounds a bit like a bar,” Ron said, stroking his chin.

"It's more upscale, with entry requirements, and the girls are still mostly foreign."

"Are you really interested in doing this business?"

"Merck's approach is not reliable; I need to be more prepared."

Although its headquarters in Brazil was destroyed, Luca International Bank still had a considerable amount of money in its accounts.

He couldn't just live off his savings; with a normal business mindset, he wanted to revitalize his money.

“If you’re sure you want to do that, I can ask around for you,” Ron said, no longer trying to dissuade him.

"That's it, man! People will love it to death; Mumbai can't live without sex."

Luca decided to stay in Mumbai for the time being, at least to avoid the limelight for a while. He was unfamiliar with South Africa, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't be double-crossed if he took money there.

We need to wait, at least until we've established a foothold in Mumbai, before heading back to South Africa or Brazil.

Now he needs to find a new path, one that can make money and build connections.

Businesses like bars and nightclubs are a good fit for his investment. They don't require much expertise, but they have a large potential customer base.

The only problem was his network, so he went to Ron.

"By the way, is this your future house? It's fucking cool!"

"We just settled on this place; the old place was too small."

Wow! Very good, excellent.

Luca was very envious; he lived in an apartment in Mumbai. After deciding to stay, he also became interested in villas.

He'll probably be staying here for a long time, so he should start thinking about real estate and such.

But you have to make money first; you can't do anything without money.

Ron agreed to help him apply for the land, the site of the royal palace, from the Mumbai government.

Lady Elizabeth is now history, and with no heir, the land has returned to the Mumbai government.

They would be happy to resell it because just demolishing the building would require a large sum of money.

If someone takes over, not only will you get rid of the trouble, but you'll also get a kickback. Why not?

Destroying a palace and then rebuilding it sounds ironic.

But nobody cares; Mumbai is a city of money, and money is God.

The highest state of being human is selflessness, but unfortunately most people cannot achieve it.

Ron couldn't do it, Luca couldn't do it, and the mob certainly couldn't.

Well, after settling on the villa, Ron needed to deal with another problem.

Chopra, the director of "Before the Storm," is in trouble, and the problem comes from the mob.

One day, after finishing his filming work, he got out of the car and was walking towards his office when he suddenly heard a "click" sound not far behind him.

He turned his head and was terrified. The assassin had shot at him, but the gun had jammed.

A shaken Chopra rushed into his office, his intuition telling him this was a warning.

Sure enough, a phone call came in soon after: "This is just a preview; the full movie is about to start."

Chopra roughly guessed what was going on and wanted to call the police for help. But that wasn't enough to guarantee his safety; the police couldn't be with him 24/7.

Upon hearing the news, Mary immediately suggested that Chopra call Ron, as gangsters shouldn't rely entirely on the police.

When Ron arrived at Bollywood Studios, they were filming interior scenes for "Love Before the Storm".

Even from a distance, Chopra's voice, louder and clearer due to the megaphone, could be heard: "Quiet!"

The huge film set was blasting air conditioning, and everyone was wearing sweaters, yet people still sneezed from time to time.

Aside from the regular cast and crew, the scene was packed with extras, temporary replacements, and just there for the spectacle, even on the rooftops and runways. Unless they were blocking the camera's view, no one bothered to chase them away or pay them any attention.

Ron quietly asked Mary if they really needed so many people; when they were shooting, they only had thirty or forty.

Mary shrugged. "There won't be another production team like the one that's so close to Mother Teresa, and this is a big-budget film."

In Bollywood, it takes three people to manage a single light, and film crews practically want to equip every prop with its own studio.

In addition, government officials frequently visited the film set. The Secretary of Education even brought his family along, incidentally resolving Chopra's child's school enrollment issue.

There are many relationships that you can't refuse, nor should you refuse them.

In India, officials have privileges that allow them free access to important locations.

Ron didn't disturb Chopra; he was multitasking, doing three things at the same time: making phone calls, reading about the film, and answering his assistant's questions.

Manisa, on the other hand, kept glancing at him with her watery eyes.

She hadn't received the sun god's gifts for a long time, and she desperately needed the nourishment of faith.

"That bitch's hungry eyes could be read even by a male cockroach in the corner," Lena couldn't help but say sarcastically.

"This is a photography city, keep your voice down," Ron reminded her helplessly.

As they were talking, Chopra put down what he was doing and came over.

“You should have stopped me right away, Ron.”

"You seem very busy; you should hire a couple more assistants."

“I’m not reassured,” Chopra sighed. “Others will probably just get by.”

He had met Ron twice and they were fairly familiar with each other.

Mary said you're in trouble.

"Sigh, you know, about movie music cassette tapes."

"I heard it's related to a record company?"

"Is someone interfering? Does the Nadim-Seravan duo know about this?"

“That duo, I heard their cassettes are selling pretty well.” Ron raised an eyebrow.

Nadim Seravan is incredibly popular right now; their music cassettes released a couple of years ago sold over 20 million copies, which is astounding.

“I asked them to record a song, and that was the end of it. Their record company, T-Series Records, was also willing to talk to us about copyright issues.”

Then band member Nadim suddenly told me I couldn't go through with the deal; he had another recommendation. It was a small record company, and they were offering a very low price.

“I suspect that small company is something special?” Ron asked.

"Yes, just like you think, a gang. Another company behind it even invested in this movie."

"What?" Ron's mind was a little confused.

“This is the norm in Bollywood,” Chopra shrugged. “The mob gets involved in film investments. I just didn’t expect Nadim to be connected to them too; he betrayed us.”

As mentioned before, most Bollywood films of this era cannot obtain bank loans and must rely on private investment.

Because banks neither understand nor trust Bollywood, the amount of money required to make a film is enormous, not to mention that a film company may be making several films at the same time.

It often takes several years from investment to break even, and if the movie doesn't do well at the box office, the situation will inevitably be worse.

Who would have so much spare cash? Only gangsters.

They were also happy to see black money laundered through the circulation of color film reels, and a box office hit could bring in four times the investment within a month of its release.

Therefore, for gangsters, film investment is the quickest way to convert illegal income into legal profits.

It is no exaggeration to say that without the funding of gangs, India's film industry would collapse instantly.

Filmmakers will have to rely on the patronage of banks and stockbrokers, whose taste in films will naturally be quite different from that of gangster bosses.

Without the funding of gangsters, Indian filmmakers' dreams of stardom could not have been so grand, violent, and passionately unrestrained.

Chopra's reputation allowed him to raise enough funds without the need for gangsters.

However, to avoid trouble from the gang, he still accepted some of their investment.

This is the norm in Bollywood: everyone sits in a row, shares fruit, and everyone gets to eat.

Gangs rarely get involved in the production of films that are not under their control, so this demand for music cassette tape copyrights is quite unusual.

“There are rumors that the Nadeem-Seravan group has close ties with the Daoud group. You know, they are all herders,” Chopra explained.

Why would they do that?

"It is said that the two had a copyright fee dispute with T-Series Records, and they simply encouraged a leader of the Daoud gang to take over the music copyright this time. The two sides must have reached a private agreement."

"You're a traitor!" Ron clicked his tongue.

"Humans are greedy; they always want more."

"So, without Nadim's involvement, we would have reached a cooperation agreement with T-Series Records?"

“T-Series is India’s largest music publisher, and they are willing to pay 3 million rupees for our music copyrights.”

"How much?" Ron gasped.

“3 million rupees, we were almost at the point of an agreement.” Chopp stretched out his hand and gestured.

"So, you're saying our movie started making a profit before it was even finished filming or released?"

"The premise is that the deal goes through and the Daoud gang doesn't interfere," Chopra sighed.

He almost lost his life a couple of days ago because he rejected an offer from a small record company.

“I’ll talk!” Ron declared.

He's a common man, especially fond of money.

(End of this chapter)