The life of a Bollywood hustler is a case study in alternate reality. Their lives are stuck between auditions and their dreams are hanging by the tiny rope of hope, ready to be shattered in the next minute. This fact will resonate only with someone who has either lived this life or observed it very closely. Mr. S.N.M.D.Sarkar, owner of the newly-launched ground-breaking venture “Sarkar Company” belongs to the latter category. His production company has had a long history of financing Bollywood projects. He has seen, from close quarters, what it means to be a struggler in Bollywood - To hope against hope every day and to eventually fall prey to the big, bad world of usurpers.


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With the Sarkar Company, this noted entrepreneur is going to provide a unique platform to the struggling aspirants to Bollywood and help them make it big in the world of cinema. Speaking about this new endeavour, Mr. Sarkar says, “Usually, newcomers face a lot of problems while creating a place for themselves, in the movies. More often than not, these talented youngsters face rejection, heartbreak, but most of all, a lot of deserving people don’t even get a chance to showcase their talent properly. Sarkar Company is keen to provide that platform to them, without any hang-ups attached.”


The platform is meant to explore as well as promote new talent, with a back-up of sorts to help it take its first steps towards their future. The idea to launch Sarkar Company emerged sometime in November-December 2019, when Mr. Sarkar was thinking of reshaping his production company into an innovative form. With words like nepotism, sexual exploitation, casting couch, etc being thrown around with regards to strugglers in Bollywood, it is Mr. Sarkar’s ardent desire to help newcomers to the world of cinema with an honest approach to the business.


Mr. Sarkar, who is immensely hopeful about bringing a change in the society’s attitude towards these upcoming artistes, says, “There are numerous talented young men and women, who have it in them to achieve stardom, but for want of financial resources, they are unable to do so. As a result, some of these don’t even try to take that first step from their surroundings to Mumbai! Their inability to reach out and showcase their immense talent to the world is a severe loss for the field of entertainment & also for the future of movie business.”


The company will provide complete statistics to the newcomers to use while appearing for auditions and it includes personality grooming, transport facility, portfolio building, etc. There are 7 major categories of professionals who form the backbone of the Bollywood film industry. These categories are – direction, male actor, female actor, singer, scriptwriter, music director, cinematographer, and choreographer. And, of course, the producer, a role which Mr. Sarkar is quite familiar with himself. Speaking about the process, he explains, “We are going to select talented artists and measure them against the required norms of a project. Usually, strugglers are often asked to go for coffee, lunch or dinner but nothing materializes for them. Nothing happens as far as work is concerned. We are going to remove this wastage of time from the equation and give them work in the multiple projects that our group of companies are already involved in. Be it advertisements, short films, corporate videos, etc, we will start by giving the struggler a chance with our own business first.”


To be honest, there is no dearth of people looking for talented professionals for their projects, be it in acting, singing, writing, direction or choreography. Sarkar Company will act as a bridge between these project owners and the strugglers. Such aspiring youngsters who come to Mumbai with a thousand dreams to fulfil, may have talent, skills and the zest to succeed, but they may not


have enough money to sustain themselves till they get that first golden chance. Sarkar Company will be an investor in these strugglers, who need the monetary back-up to go from one day to another.


Elaborating on this, Mr. Sarkar says, “Usually transportation is an issue for the strugglers, who can hardly afford it. So, we send them to auditions in the company car, with their own bodyguards in tow.” Basically, the Sarkar Company will feed the need of the aspirant to enjoy a completely luxurious life and make them feel like a celebrity to boost their confidence. That is not all. If an aspiring artist needs grooming of any sorts, the company will finance that too. As a newcomer, you need a well-designed portfolio to present to the producer. Sarkar Company will take care of it.


Theirs is an honest arrangement, which doesn’t take advantage of the strugglers, who usually face calls for compromise, casting couch, and what not in their struggling days! Mr. Sarkar insists, “We want to do clear, transparent, honest, end-to-end business and keep everything professional.” All they need in return is that the artiste must sign an agreement with the Sarkar Company that they will take up a job only through the company negotiations. Sarkar Company means business in the most professional sense and that is what it also expects from the struggling aspirants to Bollywood. In this regard, he doesn’t hesitate to clarify that if any artiste, who has signed up with them, is found flouting the company rules or agreement, will face termination of the agreement as well as legal action.


The Sarkar Company’s helping hand isn’t restricted to just Bollywood or its strugglers, it is ready to help artists belonging to any nationality, religion or region in India and the world, who want help with financing their dream journey into tinseltown. In fact, Mr. Sarkar has announced that they will help even Hollywood actors and actresses in other Asian countries who want to make it big in Indian cinema.


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