Bad Boy Billionnaires: India
Episode 2: Diamonds aren’t forever – Nirav Modi

Documentary making is an art par excellence. It uses everything that people already know and yet dishes it out with a whole new make. 

Netflix’s latest series titled ‘Bad Boy Billionnaires’ does precisely that and with class. It doesn’t bore you with details, yet irrespective of the loud and clear voice over to the contrary – does glorify these ‘Bad Boys.’ Men, rather, and financial goons of a sort – if one may say so.

 They have led lives one can only dream of. The documentary maker could have taken some more scoop on Nirav Modi, his childhood, upbringing, etc. In one of the interview excerpts, Nirav tells the audience that he belongs to a family of wealthy jewellers from Gujarat. 

The film then shows his glory, how he meteorically rose to fame and into fortune. After having showcased the who’s who of Bollywood and Hollywood rubbing shoulders with Nirav Modi at some noteworthy events. The filmmaker reveals from where Nirav made his money. Punjab National Bank’s infamous Brady House Branch, in the heart of South Mumbai and the assistance of one branch manager Gokulnath Shetty, (after whose retirement, the fraud came to light) and a nondescript bank clerk -- Manish Kharat. It is said Modi bribed PNB officials for over six years. In a fleeting glance the film also shows the various locations across the world where Modi setup his shell companies (fake companies) to inflate prices of his diamonds.

In one of the interview excerpts Modi attributes his success to his uncle Mehul Choksi, ‘from whom I learnt everything.’ Menial factory workers, are shown to praise Modi – ‘Nirav Sir is like God to us, we hope that he comes out of these cases and reopens his diamond unit. We would work for him. He had no ego, and spoke politely to all of us.’ Mehul Choksi does not get much footage, he is barely shown explaining the value of small diamonds to a TV anchor. 

The mashup of their lives interspersed with comments from noted journalists, columnists, fashionistas, and brand experts – makes one valid point – that this Bad Boy made his fortune living off the hard-earned money of Indian tax payers and the irresponsible manner in which Indian nationalized and scheduled banks, with years of reputation function.

What is also worth noting is that Vishesh Verma, his advertising director, who was commissioned to do Modi’s advertising campaigns is still in awe of him. It is here that the contemporary world seamlessly allows the so-called good to blend in with the bad so much so that there is no way to tell the two most primordial dichotomies apart. 

The aim of this series, while highlighting the glamour quotient of the lives of these infamous celebrities also sneaks in a desire in the mind of the viewer of maybe someday he too can be a part of this glamour. 

In conclusion, what needs to be done is that one has to treat these films, like one would view works of fiction and leave it at that.