For Navi Mumbai-based dry fruits trader Subodh Shetye (right), decades of wrestling with India’s labyrinthine tax system has finally found an outlet – not through protests or petitions, but through a full-length Hindi feature film.
Titled Tax Free India, the two-hour movie is Mr Shetye’s cinematic protest against the complexities and, as he sees it, the injustices of India’s taxation regime.
At 57, Mr Shetye has not only produced the film but also plays the lead role, drawing from his personal experiences spanning 40 years in business, reported The Times of India.
“This is the frustration of a lifetime,” says Mr Shetye. “Since my teenage years, I’ve seen how tax officials conduct raids and levy arbitrary fines despite having clean books. They always find some obscure clause to harass small business owners.”
The film challenges India’s income tax structure, GST, excise duties, customs levies, property and professional taxes – and questions why, despite so many revenue streams, the country still turns to the World Bank for loans.
“Shouldn’t a better, more transparent system reduce corruption and inflation?” he asks.
But Mr Shetye’s foray into filmmaking has hit a roadblock. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) refused to clear Tax Free India, citing the film’s screenplay as “too amateurish” and accusing it of “confusing tax policies and encouraging public revolt”.
Undeterred, Mr Shetye now plans to bypass theatrical release altogether. The film will be uploaded on YouTube, where the censor board holds no sway.
“By the first week of May, the film will be online for all to see,” he affirms.
Despite the CBFC’s objections, Mr Shetye has found support among members of the business community.
A Navi Mumbai developer, who previewed the film, told The Times of India: “Tax Free India highlights how the middle class and entrepreneurs are crushed under taxes while public money is misused for appeasement or unnecessary infrastructure projects. If the government isn’t afraid of scrutiny, why not allow this film to be shown?”
The film may not win awards for cinematic brilliance, but it offers a unique grassroots perspective on India’s fiscal ecosystem – one rooted in frustration, satire and a desperate desire for change.
