money player

Mumbai.

Du Mingli, the vice president of Friendship Publishing, was holding a copy of the "Film Mirror" newspaper and reading an article titled "Nagis and Raz Kapoor: A Secret Romance on the Set of 'The Vagabond'!"

Cinema Mirror is a movie gossip magazine that focuses on Bollywood star scandals and behind-the-scenes stories. It also reprints Hollywood news. Primarily written in English, it targets the elite and readers left over from colonial times. To attract general readers, it inserts Hindi headlines or short reviews.

Therefore, Du Mingli can read it easily.

He came to India with two missions: first, to bring Najis back to Hong Kong, and second, to investigate the market and find a starting point for the friendship film.

It seems that completing the first task is not difficult now. Everyone knows about Nagish's extramarital affair with Raz. It is a good choice for Nagish to go to Hong Kong to film and avoid the limelight.

However, the boss's personal ideas may fall through. I don't know why, but the boss is very interested in Najis. He has included her in the Indian distribution plan and has also clearly expressed his feelings for her. Since he is already treating Raz as his lover, the boss will probably give up his personal ideas.

He conducted a preliminary market survey and found that the Indian film market was quite booming and had great potential. However, most films here are 180 minutes long, with 140 minutes of plot and 40 minutes of song and dance. Not only does this consume a lot of film stock, but it also involves a large number of actors. Not counting extras, a film can attract at least fifty people, which is all money.

Of course, as long as the copies sell well, these are minor issues. The major issue is that Indians seem to dislike Hong Kong films. In Singapore, very few people of Indian descent go to the cinema to watch movies. After arriving in Mumbai, he learned that no Hong Kong film has ever been shown in India. Only some copies have ended up in the hands of wealthy people for private viewing.

Upon further inquiry, it turned out that the so-called "rich people" were not truly wealthy; they spent the best years of their lives either in Shanghai or Hong Kong, making them completely irrelevant to our understanding.

If this is the behavior of intellectuals, then it goes without saying that ordinary people are even worse. The potential audience has no impression of China and simply cannot judge which type of film would have a market in India.

As for the fact that the Indian film market is restricted to foreign imports, with only 50 films allowed to be imported each year (30 from Hollywood, 10 from the UK, and 10 from other countries), Du Mingli doesn't care at all. Friendship Distribution's main strategy is localization. Since Hong Kong films can't enter the market, Friendship films can be approved in India, filmed in Hong Kong, and released in India under the name of Friendship Indian Films.

When it comes to localization, India has not implemented a closed-door policy. Foreign investment is allowed in India, including in the film industry. However, India is not particularly friendly to foreign investment. After the Industrial Policy Resolution 1948 was promulgated, foreign ownership in Indian film companies was limited to 30%, the board of directors had to be predominantly Indian, and key positions such as producers and directors had to be held by local people.

There is another crucial regulation that foreign-invested enterprises can only remit a maximum of 8% of their profits each year. Du Mingli has been worried about this issue and has been pondering how to take the profits with him in the future.

His worries were unnecessary. Even if Sin Yiu-man hadn't considered taking the profits with him, he certainly had ways to do so.

Fortunately, he didn't spend too much time thinking about this issue. His boss had already made the strategic decision on the Indian market, leaving him no room for objection. The matter was settled, and the option of giving up had been abandoned. So, he could just get started and consider the issue of profit transfer later.

He held a newspaper in his hand and read it carefully, selecting suitable actors for signing with "Old Black Cat" from between the lines.

The boss personally decided on the name of the Mumbai branch: "Black Auld Cat." Breaking with the usual practice of combining shareholder names or place names, Auld was no longer a transliteration but a translation that incorporated the meaning of the name into the company name, "Black Old Cat."

All black is a typical characteristic of Bombay cats, and their English scientific name is Bombay, which is the same as the English name of Bombay. Strictly speaking, the name of the Bombay branch has not deviated from the naming conventions, but it is unclear why the boss came up with such a unique idea this time.

Never mind, it's just an old black cat, it doesn't matter. In official documents, only "BAC" will appear.

Of the four currently popular Bollywood actresses—Nagis, Sulaya, Mina Kumari, and Madhubala—Du Mingli circled Madhubala's name, indicating his intention to focus his public relations efforts on this actress.

Madubala is young, only eighteen years old (by Chinese reckoning), and extremely beautiful. Her features are not very distinctly Aryan, leaning slightly towards European white features, yet she also possesses the charm of an Eastern woman, which fits the Chinese aesthetic. She has a naturally international face.

Madhubala has extensive experience in the industry. She entered the industry at the age of eight in 1941 and worked her way up from child supporting roles, supporting roles, leading roles, villainous roles, and finally leading roles. Her entire growth process was quite solid.

Because she debuted as a child star, her contracts were all signed by her father. Last year, she signed a 10-year contract with Stan Films, with a penalty of 50 rupees for breach of contract. Her salary fluctuates around 4 rupees.

In 1951, India was still enacting the inheritance law of 1925, which stipulated that women had no right to inherit family land, and widows could only receive one-quarter of their husbands' property, with the remainder going to male relatives.

Child marriage was legal, yet in 1951, 30% of women were still married before the age of 15.

The right to divorce is unequal; men can unilaterally divorce their wives, while women need to file a lawsuit in court. In cases that have already occurred, the shortest litigation time was 11 years, 11 months, and 29 days.

Women do not have the right to sue for rape unless the victim can provide two or more male witnesses; otherwise, the case will be dismissed.

There is no such thing as marital rape. Wives have an obligation to protect their husbands' rights, such as the right to own property, the right to verbally abuse, and the right to physically assault.

In Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and other states, the tradition of female infanticide is still widely preserved. Some families drown or abandon female infants to die in the wilderness after birth.

This practice stems from both patriarchal bias and practical difficulties. Every year in India, many women of marriageable age commit suicide or are murdered because their families cannot provide sufficient dowries—a phenomenon known as Dowry Death.

Few women have the right to choose their own partners, and 90% of women's marriages are arranged by their parents. For actresses, if they rebel against patriarchal authority, such as refusing to marry, their films may be banned.

Madubala had eleven siblings, and she was the fifth child. Four of them died in infancy, leaving her with six brothers and four sisters. This meant that her father needed to prepare four dowries. As a result, ninety percent of Madubala's income was taken by her father under the guise of preparing dowries.

Earlier this year, Madhubala collapsed on set and was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a common congenital heart defect, ventricular septal defect. There is no treatment available in India, so she had to go to London. However, Article 3 of Stan Films' contract states that actors must complete all filming, regardless of illness or accident, or else pay three times their salary in compensation.

Stan Films, knowing Madhubala's condition, still forced her to film rain scenes and added a separate contract to their new film—the production company would not be liable for any health risks caused by filming, including but not limited to heart failure and mental damage.

This is outrageous; no one can tolerate it. Madubala is a big star, and she has a few friends. Someone suggested that she file a lawsuit to terminate the contract on the grounds of "being forced to sign the contract when she was a minor," but the judge rejected the case on the grounds of industry practice.

With no hope of terminating her contract, Madubala was frustrated. She thought that she still had a long life ahead of her and that getting medical treatment was the most important thing. So she asked her father for help, but he refused and urged her to go to the film set to start work. Her two-year-old sister was also at the point where it was time to prepare her dowry.

She was on the verge of tears, utterly despondent. She was the family's cash cow, supporting more than a dozen people. Yet, no one showed any fatherly affection. Anyone would know that a broken machine needs to be repaired.

Since her father was unjust, she had no choice but to be unjust as well. She filed another lawsuit in an attempt to regain control of the property, but before the summons even reached her father, her extended family members pleaded for her and put pressure on her, forcing her to withdraw the lawsuit.

Madubala is now caught in the middle. She has already broken off relations with Stan Films, but the contract still has to be fulfilled. It's easy to imagine that her life won't be easy. Even if she maintains a superficial intimacy with her family, she must be feeling terrible inside. And her health is just dragging on, relying solely on morphine for pain relief and bearing the risk of addiction.

She desperately needs a benefactor to come to her rescue. If that benefactor happens to need a fortune to buy horse bones, then that would be a perfect match.

Old Black Cat's move to start in India by spending a fortune on horse bones is a good choice, but a penalty of 50 rupees and a medical budget of about 10 rupees are required. 60 rupees is approximately equivalent to 72 Hong Kong dollars. With such a large budget, how should his report be written? Does the company have the ability to allocate this money?
Du Mingli was very conflicted. He felt that absorbing Madubara was a good idea, but there were still many uncertainties:
First, the old black cat must sign a long-term contract with Madubala without offending her, and the contract must be no less than 10 years.

Second, it is necessary to determine the level of treatment for congenital heart disease in British hospitals. The difference between curing the disease and merely keeping the patient alive will affect subsequent plans. He hopes it will be a matter of keeping the patient alive. Maintaining Madubala's sickly state will facilitate hype, allowing the company to extract unlimited value from her within a limited time.

Third, if it's a matter of hanging herself, can Madhubala's death date align with the company's interests? Ideally, she should die when the hype has reached its limit and her box office appeal begins to decline. In this way, the company can work with her family to extract the last bit of value.

If he remains sickly and unable to film, but also unable to die, the company will be in an awkward position. They've already put on a good show and can't give up halfway. This guy will keep taking a huge cut, and then how will he handle it?

He grabbed a Gol Gappa with his left hand and put it in his mouth, while tapping the table lightly with his pen in his right hand, chewing and pondering how to word his report to his boss.

The company has already released an internal share distribution plan, which is divided into two main parts: management shares and rights issues. Senior executives and box office stars can participate in an annual evaluation, and the company will provide certain share dividends based on their contributions.

Three years later, the company will conduct an exercise assessment. A certain percentage of the shares that were originally only entitled to dividends will become actual holdings, that is, shareholders, and will begin to enjoy rights issues. They will have the right to purchase a certain amount of company shares every year, and whether or not to purchase them is up to them.

He, who was fighting on the front line of distribution, knew all too well what the future held for Friendship Films. Other companies only knew how to make films for local release and sell them to Southeast Asia, but he was running around following the strategy set by his boss. He knew all too well how much energy could be unleashed once each point he tackled was connected into a network.

Furthermore, since he joined the company, the boss has never violated the company's motto of "skewed balance"—that is, unequal exchange: "What the company gives you will always be higher than the value of your contributions."

He was willing to risk everything to work for such a company and boss, even if his plans were rejected by the boss.

With a flick of his left hand, he skimmed off the green broth from the paper, while his right hand made a scratching sound with the pen.

Ford District, Elfenstone Building.

Zhong Jieling, heavily pregnant, sat in Victor's Mumbai office, discussing business with Jamshid Jehangir Baba and Dingsho Manekji Petit.

“Gillian, in India, buyers need to provide proof of overseas income to be eligible to purchase Swiss watches. In the past ten days, we have completed twenty such transactions.”

Zhong Jieling flipped through the documents in her hand and asked, "What's the price of the most expensive Swiss watch imported from India?"

5000 rupees.

“We charge a commission of 1200 rupees per order, which is not profitable. Why don’t buyers just buy smuggled goods directly?”

"Because of their scarcity, the government has only allowed the import of 200 Swiss watches this year."

“I see.” Zhong Jieling continued to flip through the documents. “A batch of Chinese silk worth £30 from the group will arrive at Mumbai Port the day after tomorrow. It needs to be converted into Indian silk and then shipped to the UK.”

Jamshid asked, "Is it just one batch, or is it frequent?"

"If all goes well, there will be a batch every month. What are some solutions?"

"To establish a silk business in Bangalore, Karnataka, a certain amount of genuine Indian silk needs to be sold abroad."

“This problem is easy to solve.” As she spoke, Zhong Jieling took out a contract from her briefcase. “Juliet Brand Management Company of the United States needs to purchase Benalus silk, Canchipuram silk, Assam silk and Patora silk. The purchase contract can be split, with one part going to the silk companies and the other part sold to those who need it.”

Jamshid took the contract and flipped through it. "How much commission can we keep?"

"Turn to the last page. Juliet Brand Management has set a guideline purchase price. As long as we do not exceed the guideline purchase price and guarantee quality, how much commission we can keep depends on our business performance."

Upon hearing this, Jamshid was very pleased, as he could earn a substantial commission from this deal.

Since independence, India has faced a shortage of foreign exchange, so it has had to implement strict government controls. If companies need to import goods or make international payments, they must go through the Reserve Bank of India for approval, which is a complicated process with limited quotas.

Furthermore, excessive concentration of power naturally breeds corruption. Even ants in the cracks of the Reserve Bank of India have a relatively high standard of living. Indian companies have legal channels to obtain foreign exchange, but lack the legal means to do so. Without improving the food standards of these ants, expecting to obtain foreign exchange is simply wishful thinking.

An export order is a channel for obtaining foreign exchange. Companies can buy the order at a premium, and the rest is handled by law firms.

Zhong Jieling then took out several more purchase contracts and placed them on the table. “Zhongfeng Company needs to purchase pink rock salt, Cassimandi black rice, musk deer meat, and golden rice. The same operating model applies, but long-term purchases are required.”

Jamshid picked at his fingernail. "Musk deer meat and golden rice are both in the Himalayas, and it's very difficult to transport them to Mumbai. Is it possible to export them from Nepal?"

"Does Nepal have a port?" As soon as Zhong Jieling asked the question, she turned her chair to look at the map on the wall behind her.

Jamshid nodded and said, "It borders India on three sides and China (XZ) to the north."

Zhong Jieling looked at the map and said, "This order is temporarily put on hold. I will communicate with the client. Jinji Trading Company has a batch of British and German machinery that Indian companies urgently need. The price is very affordable. The catalog will be delivered tomorrow. There is no commission for this order. You can use it to expand your network."

Jamshid shook his head, while Ding Xiao nodded.

Zhong Jieling then took out several more contracts and explained them one by one.

Each contract represents Victor's headquarters' support for the Mumbai office. With the contracts secured, the Mumbai office's income for the year is guaranteed, allowing Jamshid and Ding Xiao to expand their business at their leisure, even taking on low-paying jobs that don't require buying watches.

After discussing business, Zhong Jieling, heavily pregnant, went downstairs to head to the airport to fly to Delhi.

Gurugram in South Delhi is home to the CRPF (Criminal and Police College), a police college that inherited the faculty and functions of the former British-established Shimla Imperial Police College, such as continuing exchanges between British colonies.

Auxiliary police officers are also police officers, and Sin Yiu-wu could not take a long leave without a legitimate reason. Coincidentally, the Hong Kong labor unions were organizing various activities more and more frequently, and the police senior management felt it was necessary to strengthen the police force's anti-riot capabilities. Personnel were drawn from various departments to go to India to learn the anti-riot tactics "rattan shield formation", and Sin Yiu-wu secured a spot.

On the way to the airport, Zhong Jieling flipped through a stack of newspapers. Someone had delivered the newspapers to her, but she didn't know who it was; she only knew that it was someone her uncle had arranged.

Some articles in the newspaper were circled in red. The articles were about droughts or floods in various Indian states. Bihar and Odisha were experiencing severe droughts, with rainfall during the rainy season reduced by 40%. This year's Kharif (monsoon crop) may face a 30% reduction in yield.

Rice prices are soaring in Assam and West Bengal due to flooding of the Brahmaputra River, which has destroyed rice paddies.

An older newspaper carried a story that said 5 Pakistani refugees had flooded into India, proving the superiority of the Indian system.

However, there is a Chinese annotation next to the red circle:

The number of refugees entering Pakistan has surged, with over a million already gathered at the India-Pakistan border, and the number continues to rise.

After India gained independence, it lost Punjab, Pakistan's main grain-producing region, leading to a reduction in wheat and rice supplies. During British rule, India relied on rice imports from Myanmar and Thailand, but this supply chain was disrupted after independence.

Nehru implemented a socialist economy and began enacting a food control policy this year, forcibly requisitioning grain, but the efficiency of the Indian government's distribution is worrying.

After reading it, seven words popped into Zhong Jieling's mind: "Great Famine, Hoarding and Speculation," followed by a question mark: "What does Uncle want to do with this information?"

……

"Good morning."

Jia Na entered the living room, leaned against the wall, and watched Xian Yaowen doing handstand push-ups.

"Good morning." Sin Yiu-man's exercise continued.

Jia Na exhaled white mist, her eyes glued to Xian Yaowen's groin, exuding a seductive charm, "I had a great time last night."

"Me too."

"tonight?"

"I'm very busy. I need to discuss the contract with Haihuasi. I don't know when I'll be able to finish."

"Talking about staying up all night?"

"Business negotiations."

"I can come later."

As soon as the set was finished, Xian Yaowen stood up from the ground, took a sip of water, held it in his mouth for a moment, spat it out, picked up the towel next to him to wipe his sweat, took a step and walked to Jia Na, kissed her on the cheek, "Don't give me the illusion that I owe you anything or that you're in a hurry to go back. I don't want to see you tonight."

Jia Na chuckled, "You've given me a delicious meal, I can't wait for the next one."

“You should go and deal with Frank’s problem today. Wait a moment.” With that, Xian Yaowen went to his briefcase, took out two stacks of money, and returned to Jia Na’s side. “This is all I have on hand.”

“I have a little more, that should be enough.” Jia Na took the money, tossed it on the floor, and put her hands on Xian Yaowen’s shoulders. “Want to have breakfast with me?”

"uh-huh."

London.

It's afternoon tea time at the Government Communications Headquarters, in the office of Griffith London, Griffith Jr.'s father, and a subordinate is reporting to him.

“Last night in Los Angeles, Farooq attended a party at Jorge Guineau’s estate, along with Yaowen Sin. They held a ‘horse race’ where Farooq lost $120 million, Jorge Guineau $100 million, and Yaowen Sin $20.”

Why are the amounts different?

"It seems that Yaowen Xian lowered the stakes by claiming that he couldn't come up with $100 million."

"What do you think?"

"Yaowen Xian has the ability to come up with $100 million, but he is very restrained and doesn't like participating in gambling." (End of Chapter)