Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn has certainly set a high standard in the world of cinema. Telugu movie star Ravi Teja will be seen on the big screens in the movie Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope. Ravi Teja portrays the character of an Income Tax Officer who goes on to conduct India's longest raid in history. It will be released in theaters on August 15, 2024. Sounds similar? Yes! Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope is the remake of Ajay Devgn's hit movie Raid which was released in 2018. Notably, Ajay Devgn's movie Raid has been renewed for part 2 as well. Therefore, it can be said that Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope is based on a true story of the Income Tax Department's longest raid in the history that took place in the 1980s in Kanpur. Ravi Teja plays the character of an IT Officer named Bachchan. Now, the question arises who is the real-life Bachchan shown in Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope? Below is all about Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope's True Story-
Who is the real-life Bachchan shown in the movie Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope?
Since Mr. Bachchan: The Only Hope is the remake of Raid, it can be said that the character of Mr. Bachchan is inspired by real-life Income Tax officer Sharda Prasad Pandey. For the unversed, Pandey & his team carried out an income tax raid on the then Congress MLA Sardar Inder Singh. Around Rs 420 crores worth of black money and gold were found in the mansion of the then MLA. He used to live in the mansion with his family in Kanpur.
Raid at Sardar Inder Singh's house in the 1980s
On the morning of July 16, 1981, Sardar Inder Singh a prominent businessman and a former Rajya Sabha MP woke up to see more than 90 officers outside his gate. The officers were there to conduct a tax raid at his house. The raid started at 8 am but even the IT officers were not aware of the hidden treasure they were going to discover. What was supposed to be a one-day operation, it stretched to three nights and two days, sending shockwaves across the country.
The IT raid was orchestrated by Alak Kumar Batbyal, Deputy Director (Intelligence), who had gathered not only 90 officers for the job but also 200 policemen and some upper division clerks for smooth operations. As per reports, after the counting was over, after 18 hours, the Income Tax Department of Kanpur discovered that it had collected a sum of Rs 1.6 crore in cash. Sharda Prasad Pandey, then Commissioner of Income Tax department said, ”There has never been another recovery like it."
Below are some archived photos of real-life raids-
Sardar Inder Singh's house
Alok Kumar Batbyal (Sitting), Sharda Prasad Pandey (Standing)