In the midst of a historic 1987–88 protest march in Bombay, Vinod Khanna addressed a massive crowd of Hindi film artistes, flanked by industry legends
Dev Anand, Asha Sachdev, and Mohan Choti. The demonstration spanned from Shivaji Park to Kala Ghoda, uniting the cinematic community in collective action.
The unprecedented mass mobilization was triggered by extreme financial strain imposed on the entertainment sector by the Maharashtra state government. The film fraternity marched to demand relief from two main economic burdens:
*The 177% Surcharge: The state government had levied a staggering 177 percent tax surcharge on cinema tickets, causing ticket prices to skyrocket and forcing nearly 1,350 theatres to shut down.
*The Production Sales Tax: Filmmakers fought against a newly introduced 4 percent special sales tax on film production, a move that stalled over 200 movie projects and threatened the livelihood of 150,000 workers.
*Unchecked Video Piracy:
The industry also demonstrated against the lack of government regulation regarding the rampant rise of illegal video piracy, which was rapidly depleting box office revenues. The March was from Shivaji Park to Kala Ghoda and the key speaker was and stars in attendance were Dev Anand, Asha Sachdev, Mohan Choti, Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar, and Rajesh Khanna
News Edit KV Raman
