Bad Boy Billionaires: India (2020) s01e01 Episode Script
The King of Good Times
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN #1: Welcome aboard.
I mean, there's so many firsts on board
this Kingfisher "Funliner" as I call her,
stuff that's never seen before
in Indian skies -
fabulous flight attendants,
they are all models,
in-flight entertainment,
the widest seat in the sky.
So, I think we have a winner on our hands.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
MAN #2: Vijay Mallya
was a kind of urban legend.
There was no one else
who appeared to be living the dream
the way Vijay Mallya was.
Every time you pointed
to this wasteful personal expenditure,
he would say, "I am the brand."
MAN #3: Everybody is with you
when you're on the top.
When you start crashing,
everyone runs for their lives.
That's what happened with Vijay.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[INAUDIBLE]
REPORTER #1: London's Westminster Magistrates Court
is all set to hear the extradition case
against the former liquor baron.
MAN #4: We have presented
the evidence against Mr. Mallya
on charges that he's been
an economic offender.
Mr. Mallya, last question
about the witnesses, sir.
Please, stop bothering me.
The only difference
between a petty criminal and Vijay Mallya
is he wears suits
and throws lavish parties.
You're not going to get an answer.
The answer will be given to the judge.
He needs to pay for what he did.
Listen for yourself
and make up your own mind.
- REPORTER #2: We want your thoughts.
- No, no.
- REPORTER #3: So far, so good--
- It's not-- It's not my job to comment.
REPORTER #4: Hiding your own personal assets,
hiding your company's assets, sir.
Laundering money
through your Formula One team.
I bet he goes to bed every night saying,
"Why didn't I pay the damn money?"
I'm not going to comment.
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS]
I will not allow you to make any sort
of judgements based on my comment.
a fugitive of the law, Mr. Mallya.
No comment.
They need a scapegoat,
they need a political pawn,
they need a man to make an example of.
- [OVERLAPPING VOICES]
- VIJAY: The allegations are baseless,
and, uh, you will see
our submissions in court.
MAN #3: But that one airline
just did him in.
If that hadn't gone wrong,
Vijay would be king today,
everybody would be bowing down
and touching his feet, even now.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC CRESCENDOS]
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
REPORTER: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya
lived up to his reputation
as the "King of Good Times"
with a birthday bash
that was celebrated with exuberance,
extravagance and flare.
We're all a part
of this wonderful celebration
of Vijay's 50th rocking birthday bash.
He is truly the King of Good Times.
[CHUCKLES]
I can't think of anybody else
who has the flamboyance
to throw a party like this.
Well, I think anything
that Vijay Mallya does is always stylish.
Fifty years is obviously a big birthday,
so the celebration matched it.
My father, he has always been
a flamboyant individual.
[GUESTS CHEERING]
SID: I don't know where it came from
or what started it,
but certainly, he's always had
that "King of Good Times" persona.
I don't think you can get any bigger -
I mean, lights, the party, Lionel Richie.
Happy birthday to you ♪
In 2005 everything was great,
and I just saw this meteoric rise
and I would go around with my dad.
The pride I had was immense.
Everyone viewed him
as this man with the Midas touch.
It's what he had worked hard for
and he was getting the recognition
that he deserved.
At that point,
no one would have foreseen
what ended up happening, right?
Vijay's father, Vittal Mallya,
was the chairman of United Breweries
this big empire of, uh, brewing.
Vijay was the only child of his parents.
He was spoilt as a kid
with all these expensive toys,
like electric trains
and a battery-operated Ferrari.
His father was a very wealthy man
a very astute and shrewd businessman.
The brewing business was very difficult
because alcohol was something
that was taboo.
For a long time in India,
the kind of moralism
and political pressure
that surrounds the liquor industry
has meant there's this impulse
to enforce prohibition.
Because of the way drinking
figured in colonial culture,
it received a lot of contempt
from the country more broadly.
In India, we have the legacy
of Mahatma Gandhi,
who was convinced that alcohol
was one of the world's great evils.
INTERVIEWER: Mr. Gandhi,
do you intend to have complete prohibition
in the new Indian State?
GANDHI: Oh, yes.
- INTERVIEWER: Absolute prohibition?
- Absolute.
The threat of prohibition has always meant
that the industry's had to keep
a pretty low profile.
SANGHVI: Vittal Mallya
was this rather secretive millionaire,
and it was almost as though he paid
to keep his name out of the papers.
It's fascinating that it was his son
who turned all of that on its head.
[CLOCK TICKING]
By the time Vijay Mallya
was in his early 20s,
he was already like a famous hellion
who loved fast cars.
Vijay was hugely interested
in motor racing,
which was an activity considered
to be unsafe by his father.
Well, his father didn't think
it was conducive for him
to becoming a serious businessman.
Then, finally, I think in '82, '83,
he won the Indian Grand Prix
so he was the national champion.
But he, kind of, got side-tracked by--
Like, life happens.
SHAW: Vittal Mallya
had this massive heart attack
and collapsed and died.
Vijay was devastated
because I don't think anyone expected
his father to have such an untimely death.
As a 28-year-old,
it suddenly was a huge shift
from being a very carefree, young man,
to suddenly holding
these huge responsibilities
of now having to run this business empire
that his father had created.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
He wanted to prove
to himself and the world
that he could do justice
to his father's empire.
He wanted to be perceived
as someone who made it even bigger.
Vijay Mallya arrives on the scene
and takes over UB in 1983,
just as the Indian economy
is about to transform.
India was a country
with a lot of young people,
there's a lot of aspiration,
and he's in charge of this company
as India turns into a consumer economy.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
And Vijay Mallya recognized
that this was a sort of perfect storm
of conditions in which to transform
the way India saw alcohol
and saw drinking culture.
[FIZZING]
When he inherited the business,
among all the brands that were there,
Kingfisher's the one
which excited him the most
and he had a vision for it.
[BASS GUITAR STRUMMING]
KARNAD: Vijay Mallya
was one of the first to recognize
that the social air of a British pub
was something
Bangalore was just waiting to host.
[FUNKY UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
In the mid-80s, Bangalore became,
sort of, this young, youthful city
where everything was happening
because of this young sort of image
and the IT crowd.
Macram
Get me one more.
The first pub started in Bangalore
called "The Pub".
Kingfisher saw this as a great,
sort of, market.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
They started serving draft beer
and Bangalore's one of the only places
which had this in the country,
and that sort of went, boom.
People wouldn't say, "Give me a beer."
It was, "Give me a Kingfisher."
The Pub was relaxed, it was positive,
it was affordable,
and it was safe for women.
So, from the initial success
of this one pub,
five years later,
Bangalore had forty pubs.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
KHOSLA: In the beginning,
there were political parties
that, sort of, freaked out and said,
"This is not Indian culture."
He didn't care.
He just wanted it
to become bigger and bigger.
And he made it huge.
Vijay really did want public recognition,
he did want to be known,
he did want people to acknowledge that,
"Oh, Vijay Mallya. Who is he?"
I'm a friend of Vijay Mallya's.
I've known him for 30, 40 years.
- for a minute. Hi.
- VIJAY: Hi.
- This is the BBC team.
- Hello.
I just told them
that you're known by various names,
"the Prince of India," "the Maharaja,"
"the richest man in India"
and that you have one of the most,
frankly, flamboyant styles
of any industrialist in this country.
- Really?
- Yeah. This whole, uh
- A very, very glamorous lifestyle and--
- BBC REPORTER: Is that-- Is that true?
Not exactly.
I don't know what yardstick
you would like to measure it by.
Well, my first impression was really,
"What a flamboyant show-off."
DE: Your cars, for instance.
Um I drive a Mercedes, I have a BMW,
I fool around with a Porsche
and a Maserati occasionally.
And I liked that about him
so much because,
in a society
where everybody is playing coy
or playing themselves down
and discretion was everything,
and he came along and, uh,
kind of, shook up everybody.
REPORTER: Now, you've been compared
to Donald Trump,
so how do you feel about that?
Well, I don't know Mr. Trump personally.
I've read a lot about him.
- He obviously likes to live his life.
- REPORTER: Yes.
- As I do.
- REPORTER: As you do.
But, um
I'm not yet anywhere near bankruptcy.
REPORTER: Right.
Being one of the richest and, perhaps,
a very powerful man in India
VIJAY: Mm-hmm.
- REPORTER: do you have enemies?
- Many.
- REPORTER: Many?
- Mm-hmm, plenty.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
MAN: Mallya had this golden goose
in his empire,
but it was also one that, politically,
was becoming increasingly unacceptable.
[INAUDIBLE]
In some parts of India,
there were complete bans on alcohol sales.
For instance, the state of Gujarat
in the north of the country,
where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would
eventually emerge as a political force,
you couldn't sell alcohol at all.
[IN HINDI] People have very much accepted
and appreciated prohibition
and they want more of it.
And at the same time,
India's government dealt a real blow
to Mallya's empire
by banning advertisement
of alcohol on television
just at the time when Mallya
was really trying to expand his business.
VIJAY: I am in the beverage-alcohol business -
advertising is banned.
So, we created an aspirational lifestyle
branding image around Kingfisher.
Now, how do I communicate that?
I don't have advertising,
I don't have radio, no TV, no nothing.
So, you've got to think outside the box.
CRABTREE: And so, he became a pioneer
in different kinds of advertising.
The most famous
was known as "surrogate advertising".
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
CRABTREE: He had, basically,
the same adverts, but they were for soda.
Kingfisher as a brand
was still very high-profile,
even if you weren't meant
to advertise the beer.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
I was 13 in 1996, when the World Cup
was being hosted in India,
and Kingfisher launched this campaign
with this jingle that goes
MAN: Ooh, la, la, la, la, ooh, la, oh ♪
Ooh la, la, la, la, ooh, la, oh ♪
For anyone my age, uh,
this has more recall value,
[CHUCKLES] than practically anything else
from the 1990s.
Ooh la, la, la, la, ooh, la, oh ♪
Vijay Mallya made this decision
that he wanted to sell
the culture of enjoying drinking
to Indians
in a way that never had been done before.
REPORTER: Do you drink your own alcohol?
- Yes, I do
- REPORTER: You do?
- Of course, I do.
- REPORTER: That's wonderful.
Vijay Mallya's special genius
was that he was willing to make
his own life and his own lifestyle
the centerpiece of UB's brand blitz.
KHOSLA: With his whole image, you know,
he became the "King of Good Times".
They made the whole tagline,
"The King of Good Times, Kingfisher,"
and he was then the "King of Good Times,"
because he was just, you know,
the king of good times. [LAUGHING]
We, sort of, had some of the best times
that anybody will have ever had.
I mean, we really had a lot of fun.
DE: He was obsessed
with that particular persona.
It worked very well for him
because he understood image-building.
[UPBEAT INDIAN MUSIC PLAYING]
And he lived his life king-sized, right?
He lived his life.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
SID: Kingfisher then became
more than just a beer,
it became a lifestyle,
it became a way of life,
it became aspirational
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
because the youth saw this man
and aspired to be like that.
You know, he was one
of the very first people in India
that wasn't afraid to spend his money,
that wasn't afraid to be flamboyant,
who was unapologetic.
[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
I was on a helicopter with Vijay in 2003.
It was a short ride,
supposed to be 45 minutes or so.
My first time on a helicopter.
At one point, I sort of realized
that we started kind of going down
and then, we kind of started
going into a circle.
I couldn't believe it -
my first helicopter ride
and here I was, going to die.
- [BEEPING]
- [DRAMATIC MUSIC INTENSIFYING]
VIJAY: So, I'm happy to be here myself.
Miracles do happen.
Well, there's obviously
a message from above, you know?
I mean, I have a second life.
Uh, obviously, I'm doing something right
and God needs me.
PATEL: He was always
referred to as "the liquor baron,"
which by itself is, like, derogatory.
It's not like saying "the telecom baron"
or, you know, "the mango king."
The alcohol industry
is looked down upon in India
and Vijay was not very happy about it.
[IN HINDI] Vijay Mallya,
known as "the liquor baron,"
the uncrowned "King of Alcohol".
Vijay Mallya, welcome to the studio.
Article 47 of the Indian Constitution says
that "the State shall endeavor
to promote prohibition."
Endeavour is not mandatory my friend.
- It is mandatory.
- No, it is not.
[IN HINDI]
I'm not forcing anyone to drink.
SANGHVI: He built a phenomenal empire.
He was one of the world's
largest liquor producers.
I mean, that should have been enough,
shouldn't it?
But he wanted to be recognized
all over the world
as something much more.
I will not go down in history
as "King of Good Times,"
I want to be a catalyst for change.
There's a mission, a purpose -
we'll go for it.
Vijay developed into one of these blokes
who wants to be the biggest,
the shiniest, the brightest,
the man, the kid on the block.
He needed to be that.
Vijay Mallya has to be number one
and anything that needed to feed that
had to be done.
MAN: A friend of mine from Sausalito
called and said
that there was a man named Vijay Mallya
who wanted to meet me.
And then Vijay called me and he said,
"Alex, my name is Vijay Mallya,
and I would like to meet you tonight."
So, I flew up on Southwest Airlines,
drove over to Sausalito,
and for the first time,
I met the "King of Good Times."
He was covered in jewelry,
he had diamond stud earrings
he had gold necklaces,
he had rings on every finger nearly.
He seemed to be larger than life.
This guys like a James Bond figure.
You know, he survived a helicopter crash.
And I was kinda surprised
I'd never heard of him before.
You know, this was definitely a person
that was not going to be shy
or retiring in any way.
And then, uh, we sat down
and he showed me the video.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Welcome aboard Kingfisher -
a unique, exciting experience in flying.
MAN: Kingfisher Airlines have ordered
a total of 12 brand new
A320 aircraft from Airbus.
This was a highly produced video
with a very big, dramatic soundtrack,
that, at first, I was wondering
if he was putting me on
and was this thing for real?
Kingfisher doesn't hire flight attendants
like other airlines.
We choose only models.
WILCOX: He had a vision
and it was one that was gonna
bring aviation to India
in a way that hadn't been done before.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES]
I'll never forget, he told me that India
had a middle class, a rising middle class,
that was larger than the entire
US population.
They were already his customers,
so it was a massive, massive opportunity.
I told Vijay that I'd be happy
to help him start Kingfisher Airlines.
Vijay Mallya of the UB Group
has signed a huge deal
with the Airbus Industries
to buy about twelve planes
and with an option of eight new planes -
the deal anywhere
in the range of $240 million.
WILCOX: The low-cost carrier
was the model of the time.
We weren't gonna serve meals,
we weren't gonna have a first class.
It was going to be high-frequency,
low-cost, short-haul flying,
and, uh, that's what he hired me to do
and what I thought I was signing up for.
[INAUDIBLE]
VIJAY: It's my son's 18th birthday.
I mean, obviously,
it's an occasion to celebrate.
It's the launch of my dream project,
Kingfisher Airlines,
another reason to celebrate.
My dad said,
"I want to launch it early May,
my son's 18th birthday
is on the first Saturday of May."
That's why it was launched on that day.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
WILCOX: When we launched the airline,
it was a very, very highly produced event.
We had smoke, laser lights,
and there was a cast
of thousands there, literally.
The lights came on, everyone could see
the airplane at the same time.
[CROWD CHEERING]
I came out, waved from the passenger door.
Uh, that was my entire role,
to basically wave.
[CROWD CONTINUES CHEERING]
[IN HINDI] Advertising is banned,
and so you started Kingfisher Airlines--
- [LAUGHS]
- to advertise in a surrogate way.
Because "Kingfisher"
is the name of your beer, isn't it?
Are you telling me
that I spent 2,000 crores on an airline
just to advertise my beer brand?
This way,
you could promote your brand, right?
Because Kingfisher has brand recognition--
- No, as a lifestyle.
SID: It wasn't launched
just to promote the beer.
That would have been a pretty expensive
advertising hoarding, to get a plane.
But, I think, it was just another means
of expanding this brand,
this lifestyle, which was already there.
WOMAN: It started with a bang.
It looked like a very promising airline
and it seemed like a fabulous opportunity
because I would get to travel,
I would get to fly,
I'd get to do the things
that I love to do.
I worked in Kingfisher Airlines.
I was their first inflight director.
We had dieticians
who came in and advised us,
we had people who came and taught us
how to exercise and be in shape,
and to do yoga and things.
So, it was a very,
very comprehensive training.
WILCOX: When we first started hiring,
there would be lines around the block.
This is where the cool kids were
and where you wanted to be.
Vijay told me, he said,
"You know, you can choose any color
as long as it's red." [LAUGHING]
I remember, when we did that uniform,
Vijay first said,
"Bring me some new designs
and come tomorrow morning."
I said, "Vijay, it's six o'clock
in the evening, you know,
give me a day at least.
I need to work on the designs,
you know, I need to figure this out."
PATEL: It was Mallya's dream project.
He would approve the menus,
hire the air hostesses.
He was involved in everything.
It was his baby if you like -
he incubated it, he nurtured it,
and then, finally, launched it.
So, there was definitely a big,
big, big vested interest in him in it.
I know how to address that consumer
better than anybody else does,
that's why our products are number one.
OK, so, you're saying
you're not a low-cost airline,
but when you look at your planes,
for instance, it's a narrow-body aircraft,
you don't have any business class seating,
you just have one class.
These are all what I see as trademarks
of a low-cost airline.
Well, no, this-- this is Kingfisher class.
You know, appreciate it right.
OK, you call it "Kingfisher class"?
Yeah, this is neither business,
nor is it economy, it's one class.
INTERVIEWER: But the airline is not--
wouldn't be the world's most expensive way
to advertise beer in a surrogate manner?
Well, I guess the beer has become
the airline surrogate now. [LAUGHS]
When we first started rolling it out
all the details that Vijay obsessed upon,
you know, were now on public display.
It's the entire combination
of everything brand spanking new
airport staff smiling at you
instead of scowling at you.
The message was,
"everyone is welcome here."
[INDIAN INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
WILCOX: And so, here we were, fresh faced,
flight attendants wearing short skirts
instead of saris.
It was important to Vijay
that it perceived
to be shiny and new and somewhat Western.
He knew exactly what he was doing
and how to do it
and I think he did it very well.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
People were really impressed,
and, you know, it became the best airline,
most talked-about airline.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
KHOSLA: Well, it was brilliant when it launched.
People just, sort of, saw aviation
in a completely new light -
something that people
had never experienced in India before.
If there's anything that you find
that I should do better,
please don't hesitate to mail me.
Finally, you know,
our flights are on time,
finally, the planes are clean,
finally, the service is great.
The feedback from our customers
was tremendously, tremendously good.
I was skeptical about him
getting into the airlines business,
but he surprised me.
Kingfisher Airlines
was a resounding success.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
SID: Without a doubt, Kingfisher
revolutionized air travel in India.
It changed the game.
I think he was very proud,
and quite rightly so,
because it was what he achieved.
PATEL: His image shed some
of the old "liquor baron" label.
He's not this guy who just makes booze.
I think some of that,
kind of, got washed away.
Given the market share
that Kingfisher took
within its, like, first year or something,
was astronomical,
so it's only fair for you to think
of expansion and what could be next,
what's the next opportunity,
when you've seen something do so well.
WILCOX: We went to Toulouse, France,
which is where they build the airbuses.
We were there to firm up some training
arrangements for some of our pilots.
We were walking around
with a couple of the airbus salespeople.
They kept taking Vijay
into these other rooms
and, basically, showing him their wares.
And, um, it turned into a shopping spree.
We had ordered A319s,
we had ordered A321s,
we had ordered A330s.
By the time we left Toulouse,
we had ordered
billions of dollars' worth of airplanes.
[INAUDIBLE]
One of the keys of low-cost carriers
is keeping things as simple as possible.
When you add even a new row of seats
in a certain number of airplanes,
you're adding a level of complexity.
Every single time
you make a change like that,
you're entering a different business
and you are no longer focused
on providing low costs,
which is, frankly, what the market wanted.
We're going to raise $200 million
for Kingfisher Airlines,
as I said, in one form or another,
and this is primarily
to fund our aircraft acquisition.
In India, if you need to get
serious money,
you need to go
to the big public sector banks
and that's what Mallya did.
Many people don't realize,
in 1969, Indira Gandhi nationalized
India's biggest banks.
REPORTER: Mrs. Gandhi's latest socialist measure
meant that peasants and small farmers
could get loans more easily.
The traditional big banks
are all owned by the government of India
and, therefore, by the taxpayer.
These banks are not particularly well run.
REPORTER: It has led to favoritism
and petty corruption among bank officials.
Vijay Mallya charmed the pants
off these bankers.
These were rather dowdy,
poorly paid public servants
and Mallya came across
as being exactly what your image
of a billionaire tycoon would look like.
And so, he wrapped the bankers
round his fingers.
So, Vijay Mallya
expanded Kingfisher Airlines
by borrowing more and more money
from state banks.
He always wanted to add new features,
he wanted to make this
a luxurious experience
and he didn't care very much about costs.
REPORTER: Staying on the topic
of cheap airlines, late last night,
Vijay Mallya has signed a huge deal
with Airbus Industries.
Vijay Mallya now joins us
on the phone line from London.
VIJAY: Well, first of all,
I'd like to say that there's nothing cheap
about Kingfisher
and my business model certainly
isn't to run a flying bus service.
It's time to fly the good times.
Initially, he was going
to undercut the big boys,
and then he decided
that it had to be an extension
of his own personality.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
SANGHVI: And that's when he started doing
a first class and an economy.
Welcome aboard Kingfisher Airlines.
From the day we've started flying,
I've tried to create
the finest experience for you
and bring back the element of style.
First class is not something
I was familiar with,
certainly not something
that any low-cost carrier will have.
One of the beauties of low-cost carriers
is that everyone is the same.
When you put in a first class,
you're also actually
putting in a second class.
It creates a whole other dynamic
of people wanting upgrades,
and which slows things down
at the airports.
This required even more flight attendants.
Now we had six flight attendants on board.
Our flight attendant costs went up by 20%.
It was a lot of extravagant services
that were done on board the aircraft.
It was way more
than what any other luxury carrier
at that time was doing.
I remember the first time
I went on his plane.
Lobster thermidor for lunch
never heard of it.
He bought the best.
At that point,
I realized that the vision I'd been sold,
which was to create
a low-cost domestic carrier,
um, had been completely forgone.
It was very, very clear to me
that, you know, this was not a place
that I had the relevant experience
or that I could help make succeed.
Yeah, it was a very difficult
decision to make.
Ultimately, we parted ways
because our vision
for the long-term business was different
and I didn't think I was in a position
to help him realize his vision any longer.
When you're an entrepreneur,
you have to be a little crazy,
and you have to be a little optimistic.
That's true
if you're starting anything new.
Vijay, perhaps,
was just more optimistic than most.
MAN: What's the future for Kingfisher Airways?
In the first 18 months, up to September,
you've lost 347 crores,
you've already announced to PTI you've got
18 new aircrafts joining your fleet.
Are you confident that Kingfisher
won't go belly-up?
Kingfisher Airlines
will never go belly-up.
I am extremely confident
that it's going to be one of the most
successful, uh, ventures of the UB Group.
King of Good Times, Vijay Mallya,
is all set to take Deccan
into Kingfisher's folds.
Arachin Banerjee brings you more.
BANERJEE: The two airlines
are going to merge -
Kingfisher into Deccan aviation.
So, Vijay Mallya bought
another airline company called Air Deccan,
at what many people thought
was a vastly inflated price,
so that he could get hold
of their international slots.
He wanted an international carrier
where he was flying to Singapore
and London and New York.
He wanted to join the big leagues.
[PEOPLE APPLAUDING]
REPORTER: India's biggest airline,
after merging with Air Deccan,
has started daily non-stop flights
between London and Bangalore.
Guests can expect high-end pampering
at 30,000 feet.
VIJAY: Bangalore to London service
is the first by an Indian carrier.
I think we have a vastly superior product,
um, at a great price,
and we know our market.
KHOSLA: It had become the best airline,
there was no doubt about it.
He became the biggest airline
in the country.
I think, bigger than Air India.
SHAW: I think he overpaid for that airline.
He needed to borrow more and more
just to keep
that whole airline's business afloat.
I think that's when his problems started.
The "King of Good Times", Vijay Mallya,
bagged another plum deal
as he bought a Formula One team.
REPORTER: The Formula One team
acquisition came in at the right time.
It's turning out to be
a well-thought-out business strategy.
KHOSLA: He brought Indian sporting
to an international level.
I mean, who in India
had ever even thought of owning,
you know, a Formula One team?
We got a Formula One team,
we've bought a cricket team,
and these are his own
personal hobbies and interests
which became huge businesses.
KHOSLA: But then, it all went wrong.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
REPORTER: Official word of a US recession
and a dismal start to the week
on Wall Street
are prompting a worldwide sell-off.
Global economic downturn
has hit the aviation sector very hard,
prompting companies
and individuals to forgo air travel,
worsening the existing slump.
How tight are you on cash
given that you have cash in business
which is liquor?
Uh, we will raise capital
uh, to the extent that is required.
I think the focus fully is on profit.
We are working very, very hard
to make sure
that we are actually profitable.
On a trip to India in 2009,
I had the chance
to fly Kingfisher Airlines a few times,
and I felt that this airline
seemed to have a really high
customer service.
It was charging prices that were similar
to competitors in the marketplace.
There were empty seats on the aircraft,
so how could they survive
at such a cost structure?
And that's what piqued
my interest in the airline.
And when I came back to Canada,
I just wanted to go through the financial
statements and see what was going on.
I slid through the financial statements
of the airline and I said,
"Well, this airline
is not in a good situation."
The business was not generating
as much cash it needed to survive
on a day-to-day basis.
Their costs were higher
than their revenue.
There seemed to be no hope
for the airline to come out of it,
and that's why they had to keep on
going back to the banks to fund more cash.
CRABTREE: And so, in October 2009,
Mallya got a loan from IDBI Bank,
which was a public sector bank.
This loan was for about $200 million.
Kingfisher gave the bank
financial projections about how much money
they were going to be making in revenue
and how profitable they were going to be.
I am really surprised that the lender,
which is IDBI,
actually depended only on projections
that were provided by the company
and did not look at the audited numbers
that were being disclosed
in the marketplace.
The second thing was that
Mr. Mallya used the brand value
of Kingfisher Airlines
in order to get additional loans
from the bank.
Now, that is very irresponsible banking
in my view.
CRABTREE: How do you put a valuation
on the brand, on the logo?
It's an intangible asset,
and so, typically,
these are not accepted
as part of loan agreements,
but in this occasion, it was.
MONGA: How can bankers in IDBI
ignore all these red flags?
There may be political pressure,
there may be incompetence
on the part of the bankers,
there may be corruption in the system.
All three are possible,
all three are likely.
VIJAY: My strategy is,
if I have to leverage, I go for leverage.
Banks are going to lend me more money
because the banks know the fundamentals
having done their due diligence
on my businesses.
But then, my track record is flawless.
I pay back my debt.
He knew, I think, at the back of his mind
that this debt mountain was growing
and he also probably knew,
there was no way of recovering from it.
I assume he realized
that things were going wrong
even when he put up this public front
and said, "things are fine".
REPORTER: Now, Veritas has reported.
The report claimed, in fact,
that Kingfisher Airlines and UB Holdings
were on the verge of bankruptcy.
MONGA: So, our reports were published.
"A Pie In The Sky" seemed very apt to me
because it was so far out there
that it seemed
it was not going to survive,
and it was just flying on hope.
I'm rather surprised actually
that the so-called Veritas report
is being so extensively quoted.
Frankly, I've never heard Veritas.
Mr. Mallya was dismissive of it
and he did, uh, make a couple
of statements in the public media,
disparaging our work as well as our firm.
It's a shame
that there's been so much attention
paid to the Veritas report,
which contains
a lot of glaring factual inaccuracies.
We highlighted issues
that Indian people needed to be aware of.
Our report was the tipping point
in terms of changing the discussion
surrounding Kingfisher Airlines.
After our report was published,
scrutiny really heightened on the company.
If you borrow 5,000 rupees
and you default, as a farmer, you're dead.
If you borrow 5,000 crores,
then you can get away with it.
That's the problem.
That's the problem we need to address.
REPORTER: Vijay Mallya,
Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines,
today said
that with the price of crude oil rising,
flying is definitely
going to get costlier.
PATEL: By 2011,
money became a huge problem.
Fuel went from $48 to $130.
I remember the day when Indian Oil,
the fuel company, called our CFO and said,
"We are not going to extend
the credit line anymore,
and you have to pay cash to buy fuel."
That was probably
the worst day for the airline,
that we have come to this stage,
it's such a great airline and, you know,
we have come to cash-and-carry.
SHUKLA: When things got bad,
they got really ugly.
So, he had not paid catering
over a period of time
so there wasn't enough food
on board the aircraft,
So, we started giving our own food.
We'd take out our crew meals
and eat, serve.
Then when we'd land
at a particular airport,
we tried to find food at the airport.
Nobody said, "Look, this is a really bad
situation which is going out of control
and maybe we need to correct it."
Uh that did not happen.
I was trying to tell him to cut his losses
and get out of the airlines business,
but he kept telling me, he said,
"No, no, I can rescue this airline.
I can turn it around.
I can definitely make it work again."
He literally bet everything he had
on trying to rescue that airline.
SID: It was a dark time.
VIJAY: The industry needs
Whatever you put your heart and soul into,
there's going to be an element
of personal pride.
I think he genuinely
wanted to save the airline.
VIJAY: To write the epitaph
of Kingfisher Airlines is not fair.
A lot has been said about the banks.
We are in compliance
with their payment terms.
This is a huge growing market,
and so, the future is bright.
SHUKLA: It progressed to a point
where he stopped paying us our salaries.
Employees wrote letters to Mallya
and said,
"We need our payments, we need our money.
Why aren't you paying us?"
He assured us that things would get better
and he would pay us.
He kept telling us he's going to banks,
he's doing, um, a lot of things,
but the money never came.
[EMPLOYEES CHANTING]
KHOSLA: A lot of people were not paid.
We did a lot of work for the airline,
supplied uniforms, we weren't paid.
- MAN: You asked him to pay your arrears?
- Of course, of course.
I spoke to him about it and, you know,
he said, "I'm trying, I'm trying."
He was trying to do a million things,
but he was seeing his airline sinking.
[EMPLOYEES CONTINUE CHANTING]
I was owed a lot of money and it hurt.
It did, it really, seriously hurt.
But what do you do?
You can say,
"I'll never talk to you again."
Are you achieving anything by that?
Nothing.
MAN: He's not paying his employees,
and nobody is raising a voice.
If this happens in this country,
then, uh, how-- what type of example
is it going to set?
We protested and we demanded his arrest.
I had to manage and organize protests
and manage media.
We were leading from the front.
Vijay Mallya sent us numerous mails
and he said,
"Please don't talk to media.
Give me ten days.
I swear in the name of God,
stand by me,
you will be suitably rewarded,"
and all that.
"I am trying to revive this airline,
and within ten days,
I will clear all your dues."
[DEVESHWAR SPEAKING IN HINDI]
BOY: Mm.
DEVESHWAR: Mm, very good. Very good.
That was the time
when my wife became pregnant,
our-- our savings were gone,
I slipped into depression,
so it was like a nightmare for us.
All his promises were empty,
empty promises.
For him, $100 is a peanut.
But for us, it was our life.
I don't know how he could possibly
be this callous.
It's the only word I can find.
WILCOX: Employees not getting paid
for a period of time is illegal in the US
and you go to jail
if you don't pay your employees.
It was shocking news, frankly.
It was practically unimaginable to me.
I think
that was a bad move.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
REPORTER #1: The wife of an employee
of the troubled airline
committed suicide on Thursday.
The suicide note found
in her southwest Delhi home
said that her husband had not been paid
for the last six months.
REPORTER #2: This is a symptom of the financial crisis
that the airlines are also seeing
and amongst its employees also.
We have seen that they have been
protesting over the past few days,
and now, one among them
has faced a personal tragedy -
his wife, in fact,
killed herself this afternoon.
DEVESHWAR: One of our colleague's wives
committed suicide and in her suicide note,
she clearly wrote,
"I am committing suicide
because Vijay Mallya
has not paid my husband
for the last six months."
We thought, at that time,
"He will pacify us,
he will pay our salary."
He's still, uh--
he's, uh, a stone-hearted person,
nothing,
there was no change in his attitude.
SHUKLA: And around the same time,
what we learnt
was that all the employees
of all the countries were paid,
it was only the employees of India
that were not paid,
which made you realize
that it wasn't lack of funds,
it was lack of repercussions.
He thought that this was one of the things
which he could get away with not doing.
At that point of time,
when he said he didn't have any money,
he's running his cricket team
and his Formula One racing team.
To rub your wealth in people's faces,
I think that showed
the character of the man
and that revealed
the character of the man.
SANGHVI: Perhaps the company
didn't have money, but Vijay did.
Sell a house for God's sake. Do something.
Announce that you're going to pay this
out of your own pocket.
It's the most obvious thing to do.
Even for PR reasons, damnit, do it!
He didn't do that.
By that point, he was trying
to keep various plates spinning,
but a number of his various businesses
were in financial trouble.
He had a yacht
where his staff were not being paid,
he had a Formula One team
which was losing stacks of money,
uh, just in the same way the airline was.
SHAW: Vijay was in denial.
You know, he kept thinking
that he could build this business,
he kept thinking that things will change,
and things will turn around.
Uh, but, eventually, you know,
he had to call it quits.
MAN: All good things must come to an end.
That's the lesson
the "King of Good Times," Vijay Mallya,
and his company Kingfisher Airlines
are learning the hard way.
A mountain load of debt
and insufficient revenues
have brought the carrier
down on its knees.
PATEL: Finally, the company's money
did run out.
The airline just closed
that's what happened.
DE: It was a very grand party
and he did spend
huge amounts of money on it.
[CHUCKLES] Vijay wouldn't be Vijay
if he had backed off.
It was his 60th and he wanted
to have a terrific time and he did.
KHOSLA: He had a great 50th with Lionel Richie
and blah, blah, blah in the same place.
Now, it was time for 60
and Enrique was coming.
So, it wasn't just a quiet sort of dinner
saying, "I'm 60 years old."
It was, you know, Enrique.
We attended the party,
and a lot of our friends
advised us not to go,
and they said,
"It'll be seen in a very bad light."
[CHEERING AND WHISTLING]
In his mind, he said, "I'm 60 years old,
I've done nothing wrong,
I've earned this money,
and I should be able
to celebrate my birthday like I want."
I do personally agree that
we probably could have done without it,
from an optical point of view.
[CHEERING CONTINUES]
PINTO: He had to celebrate it,
and if he had to celebrate it,
it had to be the biggest party
in the world.
And Enrique Iglesias arrived,
and it never occurred to him
that people would hold it against him.
I don't know how many crores or rupees
he's spent on a massive
birthday party celebration.
This is theft!
This is loot!
[SHOUTING]
Can you answer, as of November 2015,
there are 900-odd KFA employees
yet to receive their payroll?
When we saw this birthday thing,
we realized that he's
he's actually enjoying our misery.
It felt like he was
he was glorifying our misery
by showing us the disparity
between himself and us.
And that, sort of, just broke all of us.
DEVESHWAR: While we were starving,
he was celebrating his birthday.
Mallya didn't show any consideration
towards anyone.
For me, he's not a celebrity.
For me, he's like a thief,
he's like any other criminal.
That was not a very, sort of,
smart decision to have had that party
because that was really
rubbing salt into the wounds.
The shit really hit the ceiling
after that.
We have breaking news
that is coming in the bulletin -
the CBI has questioned
UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya
in the Kingfisher Airlines'
loan default case.
There is evidence of criminal conspiracy
in this particular transaction
between Mallya and the IDBI Bank.
In October 2009,
Mallya got a loan from IDBI Bank
and it became particularly controversial
because there was evidence
of different types of wrongdoing.
Mallya is thought to have known that,
by that point,
the airline was losing money.
Prosecutors allege that he disguised
the true state of the finances
in order to secure this loan.
The loan is the example that has been used
by the government of India,
that there was some kind of
fraudulent activity
and some kind of relationship
between the borrower,
which is Kingfisher Airlines,
and the lender, which is IDBI,
which resulted in fraud being committed.
CRABTREE: According to some allegations,
after having got the loans for Kingfisher,
he took some of this money and used it
to pay bills in other parts of his empire,
particularly the Formula One team.
Technically, uh,
that is counted as the diversion of funds
or money laundering.
[IN HINDI] Look at the types of people
that have taken money from the banks.
Now that I have started
to tighten the screw,
they are starting to sweat.
on an anti-corruption platform,
it also became clear
that there was going to be a much greater
spotlight placed on Mallya
and his fellow tycoons,
and Mallya was the most high profile
of all of them.
Today, when the controversial liquor baron
is meant to be facing a serious challenge
in the Supreme Court
REPORTER: The legal noose around
Vijay Mallya seems to be tightening.
Prosecutors alleged that the normal rules
that you would apply
when you were trying
to get money from banks,
didn't seem to apply to him
and it was that
that eventually caught up with him.
REPORTER #1: Troubled liquor baron Vijay Mallya
has left India
on the second of this month.
REPORTER #2: How was he allowed to leave the country?
Vijay Mallya, who owes 9,000 crores,
is gone.
The court had not taken away his passport
and said, "you cannot leave the country,"
so he left the country.
That he didn't plan to come back
is another story.
He's been raided, he's been questioned,
and now, he is sitting in London.
REPORTER #1: London's Westminster Magistrates Court
is all set to hear the extradition case
against the former liquor baron
with the Crown Prosecution Service
fighting the case on behalf of India.
REPORTER #2: Vijay, how do you feel about today?
- REPORTER #3: Mr. Mallya--
- [OVERLAPPING VOICES]
I want to repay the public sector banks
and other creditors -
employees very much included.
I want to disprove the narrative
that I stole money.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
And in just a few moment's time,
this huge question
is about to be answered.
[NEWSROOM MUSIC PLAYING]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
Conspiracy, cheating,
and money laundering -
the UK court
has held up these three charges
against willful defaulter Vijay Mallya.
It's one of the biggest
diplomatic victories
in the political history of India.
SID: They are saying
he didn't pay his employees,
he looted the banks,
he fled from the authorities,
he money-laundered,
he syphoned funds
REPORTER #1: When you say "small," how small?
SID: It's political
and they need a scapegoat.
They need a political pawn,
they need a man to make an example of.
REPORTER #2: Do you have a message
for the Indian government?
I don't think it would be very appropriate
for me to pass messages
to the Indian government via the media.
[OVERLAPPING VOICES]
CRABTREE: Kingfisher, in the end,
is said to have owed about $2 billion,
but Indian tycoons in general
owe about a $150 billion in bad loans.
So, there are many
business figures in India
who borrowed more and didn't repay
to a level that's much larger
than Vijay Mallya.
The problem that he faced
is he was much better known
than any of them,
and so when India was casting around
to find somebody
to blame for this problem,
Mallya was public enemy number one.
[CARS HONKING]
PINTO: It could have happened
to much worse guys, and it hasn't.
I could throw names at you. Why bother?
You know them already.
[CHUCKLING] Of people who owe
the State Bank of India money
all over the place.
It's systemic.
To say that Vijay Mallya
should not pay the price
because there are bigger cheats
and robbers than him,
to me, is the most ridiculous statement
I've ever heard,
because if we go by that logic,
a pick-pocket or somebody
who's a small-time criminal
should never go to jail.
Just because somebody is worse than you,
doesn't absolve you of your crimes.
The issue of bad loans
in the public sector banks in India
needs to be resolved,
it needs to be resolved quickly,
otherwise the Indian banking system
will collapse.
Eight hundred million people in India
who need food support.
That tells you
that India faces enormous challenges.
And all this capital
that is being frittered away
belongs to the people of India
and it is a fiduciary obligation
of these bankers
to not let that money rot,
which it has done
over the last 25, 30 years.
It's been a free-flowing tap
for corrupt people.
PINTO: He did take money, damnit.
He does owe the bank 9,000 crores.
It's a lot of money.
You can't say it's a witch hunt
and it's undeserved -
it's very much deserved.
He's a crook in that sense of the word.
He's not really a crook,
he's just an idiot.
KARNAD: India's largely
a socially conservative place.
He gave us this image
of wild extravagance.
His image has ended up
uh, being too toxic.
SID: Everyone wants scandal,
everyone wants a bit of spice,
everyone wants a bit of controversy.
You know, he was in a sexy business,
making alcohol.
It's not like he was, you know,
making steel somewhere or something,
it's a lifestyle brand,
therefore, it's much easier to target him.
Vijay is a bit of a kid,
I think he'll always remain that -
a kid with his toys, a kid with his ego,
a kid with his preoccupation
with himself, his image -
which
inhibits him from taking
the right decisions at the right time.
So, it's the kid in him
that gets him into a lot of trouble.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN #1: Welcome aboard.
I mean, there's so many firsts on board
this Kingfisher "Funliner" as I call her,
stuff that's never seen before
in Indian skies -
fabulous flight attendants,
they are all models,
in-flight entertainment,
the widest seat in the sky.
So, I think we have a winner on our hands.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
MAN #2: Vijay Mallya
was a kind of urban legend.
There was no one else
who appeared to be living the dream
the way Vijay Mallya was.
Every time you pointed
to this wasteful personal expenditure,
he would say, "I am the brand."
MAN #3: Everybody is with you
when you're on the top.
When you start crashing,
everyone runs for their lives.
That's what happened with Vijay.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[INAUDIBLE]
REPORTER #1: London's Westminster Magistrates Court
is all set to hear the extradition case
against the former liquor baron.
MAN #4: We have presented
the evidence against Mr. Mallya
on charges that he's been
an economic offender.
Mr. Mallya, last question
about the witnesses, sir.
Please, stop bothering me.
The only difference
between a petty criminal and Vijay Mallya
is he wears suits
and throws lavish parties.
You're not going to get an answer.
The answer will be given to the judge.
He needs to pay for what he did.
Listen for yourself
and make up your own mind.
- REPORTER #2: We want your thoughts.
- No, no.
- REPORTER #3: So far, so good--
- It's not-- It's not my job to comment.
REPORTER #4: Hiding your own personal assets,
hiding your company's assets, sir.
Laundering money
through your Formula One team.
I bet he goes to bed every night saying,
"Why didn't I pay the damn money?"
I'm not going to comment.
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS]
I will not allow you to make any sort
of judgements based on my comment.
a fugitive of the law, Mr. Mallya.
No comment.
They need a scapegoat,
they need a political pawn,
they need a man to make an example of.
- [OVERLAPPING VOICES]
- VIJAY: The allegations are baseless,
and, uh, you will see
our submissions in court.
MAN #3: But that one airline
just did him in.
If that hadn't gone wrong,
Vijay would be king today,
everybody would be bowing down
and touching his feet, even now.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC CRESCENDOS]
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
REPORTER: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya
lived up to his reputation
as the "King of Good Times"
with a birthday bash
that was celebrated with exuberance,
extravagance and flare.
We're all a part
of this wonderful celebration
of Vijay's 50th rocking birthday bash.
He is truly the King of Good Times.
[CHUCKLES]
I can't think of anybody else
who has the flamboyance
to throw a party like this.
Well, I think anything
that Vijay Mallya does is always stylish.
Fifty years is obviously a big birthday,
so the celebration matched it.
My father, he has always been
a flamboyant individual.
[GUESTS CHEERING]
SID: I don't know where it came from
or what started it,
but certainly, he's always had
that "King of Good Times" persona.
I don't think you can get any bigger -
I mean, lights, the party, Lionel Richie.
Happy birthday to you ♪
In 2005 everything was great,
and I just saw this meteoric rise
and I would go around with my dad.
The pride I had was immense.
Everyone viewed him
as this man with the Midas touch.
It's what he had worked hard for
and he was getting the recognition
that he deserved.
At that point,
no one would have foreseen
what ended up happening, right?
Vijay's father, Vittal Mallya,
was the chairman of United Breweries
this big empire of, uh, brewing.
Vijay was the only child of his parents.
He was spoilt as a kid
with all these expensive toys,
like electric trains
and a battery-operated Ferrari.
His father was a very wealthy man
a very astute and shrewd businessman.
The brewing business was very difficult
because alcohol was something
that was taboo.
For a long time in India,
the kind of moralism
and political pressure
that surrounds the liquor industry
has meant there's this impulse
to enforce prohibition.
Because of the way drinking
figured in colonial culture,
it received a lot of contempt
from the country more broadly.
In India, we have the legacy
of Mahatma Gandhi,
who was convinced that alcohol
was one of the world's great evils.
INTERVIEWER: Mr. Gandhi,
do you intend to have complete prohibition
in the new Indian State?
GANDHI: Oh, yes.
- INTERVIEWER: Absolute prohibition?
- Absolute.
The threat of prohibition has always meant
that the industry's had to keep
a pretty low profile.
SANGHVI: Vittal Mallya
was this rather secretive millionaire,
and it was almost as though he paid
to keep his name out of the papers.
It's fascinating that it was his son
who turned all of that on its head.
[CLOCK TICKING]
By the time Vijay Mallya
was in his early 20s,
he was already like a famous hellion
who loved fast cars.
Vijay was hugely interested
in motor racing,
which was an activity considered
to be unsafe by his father.
Well, his father didn't think
it was conducive for him
to becoming a serious businessman.
Then, finally, I think in '82, '83,
he won the Indian Grand Prix
so he was the national champion.
But he, kind of, got side-tracked by--
Like, life happens.
SHAW: Vittal Mallya
had this massive heart attack
and collapsed and died.
Vijay was devastated
because I don't think anyone expected
his father to have such an untimely death.
As a 28-year-old,
it suddenly was a huge shift
from being a very carefree, young man,
to suddenly holding
these huge responsibilities
of now having to run this business empire
that his father had created.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
He wanted to prove
to himself and the world
that he could do justice
to his father's empire.
He wanted to be perceived
as someone who made it even bigger.
Vijay Mallya arrives on the scene
and takes over UB in 1983,
just as the Indian economy
is about to transform.
India was a country
with a lot of young people,
there's a lot of aspiration,
and he's in charge of this company
as India turns into a consumer economy.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
And Vijay Mallya recognized
that this was a sort of perfect storm
of conditions in which to transform
the way India saw alcohol
and saw drinking culture.
[FIZZING]
When he inherited the business,
among all the brands that were there,
Kingfisher's the one
which excited him the most
and he had a vision for it.
[BASS GUITAR STRUMMING]
KARNAD: Vijay Mallya
was one of the first to recognize
that the social air of a British pub
was something
Bangalore was just waiting to host.
[FUNKY UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
In the mid-80s, Bangalore became,
sort of, this young, youthful city
where everything was happening
because of this young sort of image
and the IT crowd.
Macram
Get me one more.
The first pub started in Bangalore
called "The Pub".
Kingfisher saw this as a great,
sort of, market.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
They started serving draft beer
and Bangalore's one of the only places
which had this in the country,
and that sort of went, boom.
People wouldn't say, "Give me a beer."
It was, "Give me a Kingfisher."
The Pub was relaxed, it was positive,
it was affordable,
and it was safe for women.
So, from the initial success
of this one pub,
five years later,
Bangalore had forty pubs.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
KHOSLA: In the beginning,
there were political parties
that, sort of, freaked out and said,
"This is not Indian culture."
He didn't care.
He just wanted it
to become bigger and bigger.
And he made it huge.
Vijay really did want public recognition,
he did want to be known,
he did want people to acknowledge that,
"Oh, Vijay Mallya. Who is he?"
I'm a friend of Vijay Mallya's.
I've known him for 30, 40 years.
- for a minute. Hi.
- VIJAY: Hi.
- This is the BBC team.
- Hello.
I just told them
that you're known by various names,
"the Prince of India," "the Maharaja,"
"the richest man in India"
and that you have one of the most,
frankly, flamboyant styles
of any industrialist in this country.
- Really?
- Yeah. This whole, uh
- A very, very glamorous lifestyle and--
- BBC REPORTER: Is that-- Is that true?
Not exactly.
I don't know what yardstick
you would like to measure it by.
Well, my first impression was really,
"What a flamboyant show-off."
DE: Your cars, for instance.
Um I drive a Mercedes, I have a BMW,
I fool around with a Porsche
and a Maserati occasionally.
And I liked that about him
so much because,
in a society
where everybody is playing coy
or playing themselves down
and discretion was everything,
and he came along and, uh,
kind of, shook up everybody.
REPORTER: Now, you've been compared
to Donald Trump,
so how do you feel about that?
Well, I don't know Mr. Trump personally.
I've read a lot about him.
- He obviously likes to live his life.
- REPORTER: Yes.
- As I do.
- REPORTER: As you do.
But, um
I'm not yet anywhere near bankruptcy.
REPORTER: Right.
Being one of the richest and, perhaps,
a very powerful man in India
VIJAY: Mm-hmm.
- REPORTER: do you have enemies?
- Many.
- REPORTER: Many?
- Mm-hmm, plenty.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
MAN: Mallya had this golden goose
in his empire,
but it was also one that, politically,
was becoming increasingly unacceptable.
[INAUDIBLE]
In some parts of India,
there were complete bans on alcohol sales.
For instance, the state of Gujarat
in the north of the country,
where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would
eventually emerge as a political force,
you couldn't sell alcohol at all.
[IN HINDI] People have very much accepted
and appreciated prohibition
and they want more of it.
And at the same time,
India's government dealt a real blow
to Mallya's empire
by banning advertisement
of alcohol on television
just at the time when Mallya
was really trying to expand his business.
VIJAY: I am in the beverage-alcohol business -
advertising is banned.
So, we created an aspirational lifestyle
branding image around Kingfisher.
Now, how do I communicate that?
I don't have advertising,
I don't have radio, no TV, no nothing.
So, you've got to think outside the box.
CRABTREE: And so, he became a pioneer
in different kinds of advertising.
The most famous
was known as "surrogate advertising".
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
CRABTREE: He had, basically,
the same adverts, but they were for soda.
Kingfisher as a brand
was still very high-profile,
even if you weren't meant
to advertise the beer.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
I was 13 in 1996, when the World Cup
was being hosted in India,
and Kingfisher launched this campaign
with this jingle that goes
MAN: Ooh, la, la, la, la, ooh, la, oh ♪
Ooh la, la, la, la, ooh, la, oh ♪
For anyone my age, uh,
this has more recall value,
[CHUCKLES] than practically anything else
from the 1990s.
Ooh la, la, la, la, ooh, la, oh ♪
Vijay Mallya made this decision
that he wanted to sell
the culture of enjoying drinking
to Indians
in a way that never had been done before.
REPORTER: Do you drink your own alcohol?
- Yes, I do
- REPORTER: You do?
- Of course, I do.
- REPORTER: That's wonderful.
Vijay Mallya's special genius
was that he was willing to make
his own life and his own lifestyle
the centerpiece of UB's brand blitz.
KHOSLA: With his whole image, you know,
he became the "King of Good Times".
They made the whole tagline,
"The King of Good Times, Kingfisher,"
and he was then the "King of Good Times,"
because he was just, you know,
the king of good times. [LAUGHING]
We, sort of, had some of the best times
that anybody will have ever had.
I mean, we really had a lot of fun.
DE: He was obsessed
with that particular persona.
It worked very well for him
because he understood image-building.
[UPBEAT INDIAN MUSIC PLAYING]
And he lived his life king-sized, right?
He lived his life.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
SID: Kingfisher then became
more than just a beer,
it became a lifestyle,
it became a way of life,
it became aspirational
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
because the youth saw this man
and aspired to be like that.
You know, he was one
of the very first people in India
that wasn't afraid to spend his money,
that wasn't afraid to be flamboyant,
who was unapologetic.
[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
I was on a helicopter with Vijay in 2003.
It was a short ride,
supposed to be 45 minutes or so.
My first time on a helicopter.
At one point, I sort of realized
that we started kind of going down
and then, we kind of started
going into a circle.
I couldn't believe it -
my first helicopter ride
and here I was, going to die.
- [BEEPING]
- [DRAMATIC MUSIC INTENSIFYING]
VIJAY: So, I'm happy to be here myself.
Miracles do happen.
Well, there's obviously
a message from above, you know?
I mean, I have a second life.
Uh, obviously, I'm doing something right
and God needs me.
PATEL: He was always
referred to as "the liquor baron,"
which by itself is, like, derogatory.
It's not like saying "the telecom baron"
or, you know, "the mango king."
The alcohol industry
is looked down upon in India
and Vijay was not very happy about it.
[IN HINDI] Vijay Mallya,
known as "the liquor baron,"
the uncrowned "King of Alcohol".
Vijay Mallya, welcome to the studio.
Article 47 of the Indian Constitution says
that "the State shall endeavor
to promote prohibition."
Endeavour is not mandatory my friend.
- It is mandatory.
- No, it is not.
[IN HINDI]
I'm not forcing anyone to drink.
SANGHVI: He built a phenomenal empire.
He was one of the world's
largest liquor producers.
I mean, that should have been enough,
shouldn't it?
But he wanted to be recognized
all over the world
as something much more.
I will not go down in history
as "King of Good Times,"
I want to be a catalyst for change.
There's a mission, a purpose -
we'll go for it.
Vijay developed into one of these blokes
who wants to be the biggest,
the shiniest, the brightest,
the man, the kid on the block.
He needed to be that.
Vijay Mallya has to be number one
and anything that needed to feed that
had to be done.
MAN: A friend of mine from Sausalito
called and said
that there was a man named Vijay Mallya
who wanted to meet me.
And then Vijay called me and he said,
"Alex, my name is Vijay Mallya,
and I would like to meet you tonight."
So, I flew up on Southwest Airlines,
drove over to Sausalito,
and for the first time,
I met the "King of Good Times."
He was covered in jewelry,
he had diamond stud earrings
he had gold necklaces,
he had rings on every finger nearly.
He seemed to be larger than life.
This guys like a James Bond figure.
You know, he survived a helicopter crash.
And I was kinda surprised
I'd never heard of him before.
You know, this was definitely a person
that was not going to be shy
or retiring in any way.
And then, uh, we sat down
and he showed me the video.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Welcome aboard Kingfisher -
a unique, exciting experience in flying.
MAN: Kingfisher Airlines have ordered
a total of 12 brand new
A320 aircraft from Airbus.
This was a highly produced video
with a very big, dramatic soundtrack,
that, at first, I was wondering
if he was putting me on
and was this thing for real?
Kingfisher doesn't hire flight attendants
like other airlines.
We choose only models.
WILCOX: He had a vision
and it was one that was gonna
bring aviation to India
in a way that hadn't been done before.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES]
I'll never forget, he told me that India
had a middle class, a rising middle class,
that was larger than the entire
US population.
They were already his customers,
so it was a massive, massive opportunity.
I told Vijay that I'd be happy
to help him start Kingfisher Airlines.
Vijay Mallya of the UB Group
has signed a huge deal
with the Airbus Industries
to buy about twelve planes
and with an option of eight new planes -
the deal anywhere
in the range of $240 million.
WILCOX: The low-cost carrier
was the model of the time.
We weren't gonna serve meals,
we weren't gonna have a first class.
It was going to be high-frequency,
low-cost, short-haul flying,
and, uh, that's what he hired me to do
and what I thought I was signing up for.
[INAUDIBLE]
VIJAY: It's my son's 18th birthday.
I mean, obviously,
it's an occasion to celebrate.
It's the launch of my dream project,
Kingfisher Airlines,
another reason to celebrate.
My dad said,
"I want to launch it early May,
my son's 18th birthday
is on the first Saturday of May."
That's why it was launched on that day.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
WILCOX: When we launched the airline,
it was a very, very highly produced event.
We had smoke, laser lights,
and there was a cast
of thousands there, literally.
The lights came on, everyone could see
the airplane at the same time.
[CROWD CHEERING]
I came out, waved from the passenger door.
Uh, that was my entire role,
to basically wave.
[CROWD CONTINUES CHEERING]
[IN HINDI] Advertising is banned,
and so you started Kingfisher Airlines--
- [LAUGHS]
- to advertise in a surrogate way.
Because "Kingfisher"
is the name of your beer, isn't it?
Are you telling me
that I spent 2,000 crores on an airline
just to advertise my beer brand?
This way,
you could promote your brand, right?
Because Kingfisher has brand recognition--
- No, as a lifestyle.
SID: It wasn't launched
just to promote the beer.
That would have been a pretty expensive
advertising hoarding, to get a plane.
But, I think, it was just another means
of expanding this brand,
this lifestyle, which was already there.
WOMAN: It started with a bang.
It looked like a very promising airline
and it seemed like a fabulous opportunity
because I would get to travel,
I would get to fly,
I'd get to do the things
that I love to do.
I worked in Kingfisher Airlines.
I was their first inflight director.
We had dieticians
who came in and advised us,
we had people who came and taught us
how to exercise and be in shape,
and to do yoga and things.
So, it was a very,
very comprehensive training.
WILCOX: When we first started hiring,
there would be lines around the block.
This is where the cool kids were
and where you wanted to be.
Vijay told me, he said,
"You know, you can choose any color
as long as it's red." [LAUGHING]
I remember, when we did that uniform,
Vijay first said,
"Bring me some new designs
and come tomorrow morning."
I said, "Vijay, it's six o'clock
in the evening, you know,
give me a day at least.
I need to work on the designs,
you know, I need to figure this out."
PATEL: It was Mallya's dream project.
He would approve the menus,
hire the air hostesses.
He was involved in everything.
It was his baby if you like -
he incubated it, he nurtured it,
and then, finally, launched it.
So, there was definitely a big,
big, big vested interest in him in it.
I know how to address that consumer
better than anybody else does,
that's why our products are number one.
OK, so, you're saying
you're not a low-cost airline,
but when you look at your planes,
for instance, it's a narrow-body aircraft,
you don't have any business class seating,
you just have one class.
These are all what I see as trademarks
of a low-cost airline.
Well, no, this-- this is Kingfisher class.
You know, appreciate it right.
OK, you call it "Kingfisher class"?
Yeah, this is neither business,
nor is it economy, it's one class.
INTERVIEWER: But the airline is not--
wouldn't be the world's most expensive way
to advertise beer in a surrogate manner?
Well, I guess the beer has become
the airline surrogate now. [LAUGHS]
When we first started rolling it out
all the details that Vijay obsessed upon,
you know, were now on public display.
It's the entire combination
of everything brand spanking new
airport staff smiling at you
instead of scowling at you.
The message was,
"everyone is welcome here."
[INDIAN INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
WILCOX: And so, here we were, fresh faced,
flight attendants wearing short skirts
instead of saris.
It was important to Vijay
that it perceived
to be shiny and new and somewhat Western.
He knew exactly what he was doing
and how to do it
and I think he did it very well.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
People were really impressed,
and, you know, it became the best airline,
most talked-about airline.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
KHOSLA: Well, it was brilliant when it launched.
People just, sort of, saw aviation
in a completely new light -
something that people
had never experienced in India before.
If there's anything that you find
that I should do better,
please don't hesitate to mail me.
Finally, you know,
our flights are on time,
finally, the planes are clean,
finally, the service is great.
The feedback from our customers
was tremendously, tremendously good.
I was skeptical about him
getting into the airlines business,
but he surprised me.
Kingfisher Airlines
was a resounding success.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
SID: Without a doubt, Kingfisher
revolutionized air travel in India.
It changed the game.
I think he was very proud,
and quite rightly so,
because it was what he achieved.
PATEL: His image shed some
of the old "liquor baron" label.
He's not this guy who just makes booze.
I think some of that,
kind of, got washed away.
Given the market share
that Kingfisher took
within its, like, first year or something,
was astronomical,
so it's only fair for you to think
of expansion and what could be next,
what's the next opportunity,
when you've seen something do so well.
WILCOX: We went to Toulouse, France,
which is where they build the airbuses.
We were there to firm up some training
arrangements for some of our pilots.
We were walking around
with a couple of the airbus salespeople.
They kept taking Vijay
into these other rooms
and, basically, showing him their wares.
And, um, it turned into a shopping spree.
We had ordered A319s,
we had ordered A321s,
we had ordered A330s.
By the time we left Toulouse,
we had ordered
billions of dollars' worth of airplanes.
[INAUDIBLE]
One of the keys of low-cost carriers
is keeping things as simple as possible.
When you add even a new row of seats
in a certain number of airplanes,
you're adding a level of complexity.
Every single time
you make a change like that,
you're entering a different business
and you are no longer focused
on providing low costs,
which is, frankly, what the market wanted.
We're going to raise $200 million
for Kingfisher Airlines,
as I said, in one form or another,
and this is primarily
to fund our aircraft acquisition.
In India, if you need to get
serious money,
you need to go
to the big public sector banks
and that's what Mallya did.
Many people don't realize,
in 1969, Indira Gandhi nationalized
India's biggest banks.
REPORTER: Mrs. Gandhi's latest socialist measure
meant that peasants and small farmers
could get loans more easily.
The traditional big banks
are all owned by the government of India
and, therefore, by the taxpayer.
These banks are not particularly well run.
REPORTER: It has led to favoritism
and petty corruption among bank officials.
Vijay Mallya charmed the pants
off these bankers.
These were rather dowdy,
poorly paid public servants
and Mallya came across
as being exactly what your image
of a billionaire tycoon would look like.
And so, he wrapped the bankers
round his fingers.
So, Vijay Mallya
expanded Kingfisher Airlines
by borrowing more and more money
from state banks.
He always wanted to add new features,
he wanted to make this
a luxurious experience
and he didn't care very much about costs.
REPORTER: Staying on the topic
of cheap airlines, late last night,
Vijay Mallya has signed a huge deal
with Airbus Industries.
Vijay Mallya now joins us
on the phone line from London.
VIJAY: Well, first of all,
I'd like to say that there's nothing cheap
about Kingfisher
and my business model certainly
isn't to run a flying bus service.
It's time to fly the good times.
Initially, he was going
to undercut the big boys,
and then he decided
that it had to be an extension
of his own personality.
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
SANGHVI: And that's when he started doing
a first class and an economy.
Welcome aboard Kingfisher Airlines.
From the day we've started flying,
I've tried to create
the finest experience for you
and bring back the element of style.
First class is not something
I was familiar with,
certainly not something
that any low-cost carrier will have.
One of the beauties of low-cost carriers
is that everyone is the same.
When you put in a first class,
you're also actually
putting in a second class.
It creates a whole other dynamic
of people wanting upgrades,
and which slows things down
at the airports.
This required even more flight attendants.
Now we had six flight attendants on board.
Our flight attendant costs went up by 20%.
It was a lot of extravagant services
that were done on board the aircraft.
It was way more
than what any other luxury carrier
at that time was doing.
I remember the first time
I went on his plane.
Lobster thermidor for lunch
never heard of it.
He bought the best.
At that point,
I realized that the vision I'd been sold,
which was to create
a low-cost domestic carrier,
um, had been completely forgone.
It was very, very clear to me
that, you know, this was not a place
that I had the relevant experience
or that I could help make succeed.
Yeah, it was a very difficult
decision to make.
Ultimately, we parted ways
because our vision
for the long-term business was different
and I didn't think I was in a position
to help him realize his vision any longer.
When you're an entrepreneur,
you have to be a little crazy,
and you have to be a little optimistic.
That's true
if you're starting anything new.
Vijay, perhaps,
was just more optimistic than most.
MAN: What's the future for Kingfisher Airways?
In the first 18 months, up to September,
you've lost 347 crores,
you've already announced to PTI you've got
18 new aircrafts joining your fleet.
Are you confident that Kingfisher
won't go belly-up?
Kingfisher Airlines
will never go belly-up.
I am extremely confident
that it's going to be one of the most
successful, uh, ventures of the UB Group.
King of Good Times, Vijay Mallya,
is all set to take Deccan
into Kingfisher's folds.
Arachin Banerjee brings you more.
BANERJEE: The two airlines
are going to merge -
Kingfisher into Deccan aviation.
So, Vijay Mallya bought
another airline company called Air Deccan,
at what many people thought
was a vastly inflated price,
so that he could get hold
of their international slots.
He wanted an international carrier
where he was flying to Singapore
and London and New York.
He wanted to join the big leagues.
[PEOPLE APPLAUDING]
REPORTER: India's biggest airline,
after merging with Air Deccan,
has started daily non-stop flights
between London and Bangalore.
Guests can expect high-end pampering
at 30,000 feet.
VIJAY: Bangalore to London service
is the first by an Indian carrier.
I think we have a vastly superior product,
um, at a great price,
and we know our market.
KHOSLA: It had become the best airline,
there was no doubt about it.
He became the biggest airline
in the country.
I think, bigger than Air India.
SHAW: I think he overpaid for that airline.
He needed to borrow more and more
just to keep
that whole airline's business afloat.
I think that's when his problems started.
The "King of Good Times", Vijay Mallya,
bagged another plum deal
as he bought a Formula One team.
REPORTER: The Formula One team
acquisition came in at the right time.
It's turning out to be
a well-thought-out business strategy.
KHOSLA: He brought Indian sporting
to an international level.
I mean, who in India
had ever even thought of owning,
you know, a Formula One team?
We got a Formula One team,
we've bought a cricket team,
and these are his own
personal hobbies and interests
which became huge businesses.
KHOSLA: But then, it all went wrong.
[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]
REPORTER: Official word of a US recession
and a dismal start to the week
on Wall Street
are prompting a worldwide sell-off.
Global economic downturn
has hit the aviation sector very hard,
prompting companies
and individuals to forgo air travel,
worsening the existing slump.
How tight are you on cash
given that you have cash in business
which is liquor?
Uh, we will raise capital
uh, to the extent that is required.
I think the focus fully is on profit.
We are working very, very hard
to make sure
that we are actually profitable.
On a trip to India in 2009,
I had the chance
to fly Kingfisher Airlines a few times,
and I felt that this airline
seemed to have a really high
customer service.
It was charging prices that were similar
to competitors in the marketplace.
There were empty seats on the aircraft,
so how could they survive
at such a cost structure?
And that's what piqued
my interest in the airline.
And when I came back to Canada,
I just wanted to go through the financial
statements and see what was going on.
I slid through the financial statements
of the airline and I said,
"Well, this airline
is not in a good situation."
The business was not generating
as much cash it needed to survive
on a day-to-day basis.
Their costs were higher
than their revenue.
There seemed to be no hope
for the airline to come out of it,
and that's why they had to keep on
going back to the banks to fund more cash.
CRABTREE: And so, in October 2009,
Mallya got a loan from IDBI Bank,
which was a public sector bank.
This loan was for about $200 million.
Kingfisher gave the bank
financial projections about how much money
they were going to be making in revenue
and how profitable they were going to be.
I am really surprised that the lender,
which is IDBI,
actually depended only on projections
that were provided by the company
and did not look at the audited numbers
that were being disclosed
in the marketplace.
The second thing was that
Mr. Mallya used the brand value
of Kingfisher Airlines
in order to get additional loans
from the bank.
Now, that is very irresponsible banking
in my view.
CRABTREE: How do you put a valuation
on the brand, on the logo?
It's an intangible asset,
and so, typically,
these are not accepted
as part of loan agreements,
but in this occasion, it was.
MONGA: How can bankers in IDBI
ignore all these red flags?
There may be political pressure,
there may be incompetence
on the part of the bankers,
there may be corruption in the system.
All three are possible,
all three are likely.
VIJAY: My strategy is,
if I have to leverage, I go for leverage.
Banks are going to lend me more money
because the banks know the fundamentals
having done their due diligence
on my businesses.
But then, my track record is flawless.
I pay back my debt.
He knew, I think, at the back of his mind
that this debt mountain was growing
and he also probably knew,
there was no way of recovering from it.
I assume he realized
that things were going wrong
even when he put up this public front
and said, "things are fine".
REPORTER: Now, Veritas has reported.
The report claimed, in fact,
that Kingfisher Airlines and UB Holdings
were on the verge of bankruptcy.
MONGA: So, our reports were published.
"A Pie In The Sky" seemed very apt to me
because it was so far out there
that it seemed
it was not going to survive,
and it was just flying on hope.
I'm rather surprised actually
that the so-called Veritas report
is being so extensively quoted.
Frankly, I've never heard Veritas.
Mr. Mallya was dismissive of it
and he did, uh, make a couple
of statements in the public media,
disparaging our work as well as our firm.
It's a shame
that there's been so much attention
paid to the Veritas report,
which contains
a lot of glaring factual inaccuracies.
We highlighted issues
that Indian people needed to be aware of.
Our report was the tipping point
in terms of changing the discussion
surrounding Kingfisher Airlines.
After our report was published,
scrutiny really heightened on the company.
If you borrow 5,000 rupees
and you default, as a farmer, you're dead.
If you borrow 5,000 crores,
then you can get away with it.
That's the problem.
That's the problem we need to address.
REPORTER: Vijay Mallya,
Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines,
today said
that with the price of crude oil rising,
flying is definitely
going to get costlier.
PATEL: By 2011,
money became a huge problem.
Fuel went from $48 to $130.
I remember the day when Indian Oil,
the fuel company, called our CFO and said,
"We are not going to extend
the credit line anymore,
and you have to pay cash to buy fuel."
That was probably
the worst day for the airline,
that we have come to this stage,
it's such a great airline and, you know,
we have come to cash-and-carry.
SHUKLA: When things got bad,
they got really ugly.
So, he had not paid catering
over a period of time
so there wasn't enough food
on board the aircraft,
So, we started giving our own food.
We'd take out our crew meals
and eat, serve.
Then when we'd land
at a particular airport,
we tried to find food at the airport.
Nobody said, "Look, this is a really bad
situation which is going out of control
and maybe we need to correct it."
Uh that did not happen.
I was trying to tell him to cut his losses
and get out of the airlines business,
but he kept telling me, he said,
"No, no, I can rescue this airline.
I can turn it around.
I can definitely make it work again."
He literally bet everything he had
on trying to rescue that airline.
SID: It was a dark time.
VIJAY: The industry needs
Whatever you put your heart and soul into,
there's going to be an element
of personal pride.
I think he genuinely
wanted to save the airline.
VIJAY: To write the epitaph
of Kingfisher Airlines is not fair.
A lot has been said about the banks.
We are in compliance
with their payment terms.
This is a huge growing market,
and so, the future is bright.
SHUKLA: It progressed to a point
where he stopped paying us our salaries.
Employees wrote letters to Mallya
and said,
"We need our payments, we need our money.
Why aren't you paying us?"
He assured us that things would get better
and he would pay us.
He kept telling us he's going to banks,
he's doing, um, a lot of things,
but the money never came.
[EMPLOYEES CHANTING]
KHOSLA: A lot of people were not paid.
We did a lot of work for the airline,
supplied uniforms, we weren't paid.
- MAN: You asked him to pay your arrears?
- Of course, of course.
I spoke to him about it and, you know,
he said, "I'm trying, I'm trying."
He was trying to do a million things,
but he was seeing his airline sinking.
[EMPLOYEES CONTINUE CHANTING]
I was owed a lot of money and it hurt.
It did, it really, seriously hurt.
But what do you do?
You can say,
"I'll never talk to you again."
Are you achieving anything by that?
Nothing.
MAN: He's not paying his employees,
and nobody is raising a voice.
If this happens in this country,
then, uh, how-- what type of example
is it going to set?
We protested and we demanded his arrest.
I had to manage and organize protests
and manage media.
We were leading from the front.
Vijay Mallya sent us numerous mails
and he said,
"Please don't talk to media.
Give me ten days.
I swear in the name of God,
stand by me,
you will be suitably rewarded,"
and all that.
"I am trying to revive this airline,
and within ten days,
I will clear all your dues."
[DEVESHWAR SPEAKING IN HINDI]
BOY: Mm.
DEVESHWAR: Mm, very good. Very good.
That was the time
when my wife became pregnant,
our-- our savings were gone,
I slipped into depression,
so it was like a nightmare for us.
All his promises were empty,
empty promises.
For him, $100 is a peanut.
But for us, it was our life.
I don't know how he could possibly
be this callous.
It's the only word I can find.
WILCOX: Employees not getting paid
for a period of time is illegal in the US
and you go to jail
if you don't pay your employees.
It was shocking news, frankly.
It was practically unimaginable to me.
I think
that was a bad move.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
REPORTER #1: The wife of an employee
of the troubled airline
committed suicide on Thursday.
The suicide note found
in her southwest Delhi home
said that her husband had not been paid
for the last six months.
REPORTER #2: This is a symptom of the financial crisis
that the airlines are also seeing
and amongst its employees also.
We have seen that they have been
protesting over the past few days,
and now, one among them
has faced a personal tragedy -
his wife, in fact,
killed herself this afternoon.
DEVESHWAR: One of our colleague's wives
committed suicide and in her suicide note,
she clearly wrote,
"I am committing suicide
because Vijay Mallya
has not paid my husband
for the last six months."
We thought, at that time,
"He will pacify us,
he will pay our salary."
He's still, uh--
he's, uh, a stone-hearted person,
nothing,
there was no change in his attitude.
SHUKLA: And around the same time,
what we learnt
was that all the employees
of all the countries were paid,
it was only the employees of India
that were not paid,
which made you realize
that it wasn't lack of funds,
it was lack of repercussions.
He thought that this was one of the things
which he could get away with not doing.
At that point of time,
when he said he didn't have any money,
he's running his cricket team
and his Formula One racing team.
To rub your wealth in people's faces,
I think that showed
the character of the man
and that revealed
the character of the man.
SANGHVI: Perhaps the company
didn't have money, but Vijay did.
Sell a house for God's sake. Do something.
Announce that you're going to pay this
out of your own pocket.
It's the most obvious thing to do.
Even for PR reasons, damnit, do it!
He didn't do that.
By that point, he was trying
to keep various plates spinning,
but a number of his various businesses
were in financial trouble.
He had a yacht
where his staff were not being paid,
he had a Formula One team
which was losing stacks of money,
uh, just in the same way the airline was.
SHAW: Vijay was in denial.
You know, he kept thinking
that he could build this business,
he kept thinking that things will change,
and things will turn around.
Uh, but, eventually, you know,
he had to call it quits.
MAN: All good things must come to an end.
That's the lesson
the "King of Good Times," Vijay Mallya,
and his company Kingfisher Airlines
are learning the hard way.
A mountain load of debt
and insufficient revenues
have brought the carrier
down on its knees.
PATEL: Finally, the company's money
did run out.
The airline just closed
that's what happened.
DE: It was a very grand party
and he did spend
huge amounts of money on it.
[CHUCKLES] Vijay wouldn't be Vijay
if he had backed off.
It was his 60th and he wanted
to have a terrific time and he did.
KHOSLA: He had a great 50th with Lionel Richie
and blah, blah, blah in the same place.
Now, it was time for 60
and Enrique was coming.
So, it wasn't just a quiet sort of dinner
saying, "I'm 60 years old."
It was, you know, Enrique.
We attended the party,
and a lot of our friends
advised us not to go,
and they said,
"It'll be seen in a very bad light."
[CHEERING AND WHISTLING]
In his mind, he said, "I'm 60 years old,
I've done nothing wrong,
I've earned this money,
and I should be able
to celebrate my birthday like I want."
I do personally agree that
we probably could have done without it,
from an optical point of view.
[CHEERING CONTINUES]
PINTO: He had to celebrate it,
and if he had to celebrate it,
it had to be the biggest party
in the world.
And Enrique Iglesias arrived,
and it never occurred to him
that people would hold it against him.
I don't know how many crores or rupees
he's spent on a massive
birthday party celebration.
This is theft!
This is loot!
[SHOUTING]
Can you answer, as of November 2015,
there are 900-odd KFA employees
yet to receive their payroll?
When we saw this birthday thing,
we realized that he's
he's actually enjoying our misery.
It felt like he was
he was glorifying our misery
by showing us the disparity
between himself and us.
And that, sort of, just broke all of us.
DEVESHWAR: While we were starving,
he was celebrating his birthday.
Mallya didn't show any consideration
towards anyone.
For me, he's not a celebrity.
For me, he's like a thief,
he's like any other criminal.
That was not a very, sort of,
smart decision to have had that party
because that was really
rubbing salt into the wounds.
The shit really hit the ceiling
after that.
We have breaking news
that is coming in the bulletin -
the CBI has questioned
UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya
in the Kingfisher Airlines'
loan default case.
There is evidence of criminal conspiracy
in this particular transaction
between Mallya and the IDBI Bank.
In October 2009,
Mallya got a loan from IDBI Bank
and it became particularly controversial
because there was evidence
of different types of wrongdoing.
Mallya is thought to have known that,
by that point,
the airline was losing money.
Prosecutors allege that he disguised
the true state of the finances
in order to secure this loan.
The loan is the example that has been used
by the government of India,
that there was some kind of
fraudulent activity
and some kind of relationship
between the borrower,
which is Kingfisher Airlines,
and the lender, which is IDBI,
which resulted in fraud being committed.
CRABTREE: According to some allegations,
after having got the loans for Kingfisher,
he took some of this money and used it
to pay bills in other parts of his empire,
particularly the Formula One team.
Technically, uh,
that is counted as the diversion of funds
or money laundering.
[IN HINDI] Look at the types of people
that have taken money from the banks.
Now that I have started
to tighten the screw,
they are starting to sweat.
on an anti-corruption platform,
it also became clear
that there was going to be a much greater
spotlight placed on Mallya
and his fellow tycoons,
and Mallya was the most high profile
of all of them.
Today, when the controversial liquor baron
is meant to be facing a serious challenge
in the Supreme Court
REPORTER: The legal noose around
Vijay Mallya seems to be tightening.
Prosecutors alleged that the normal rules
that you would apply
when you were trying
to get money from banks,
didn't seem to apply to him
and it was that
that eventually caught up with him.
REPORTER #1: Troubled liquor baron Vijay Mallya
has left India
on the second of this month.
REPORTER #2: How was he allowed to leave the country?
Vijay Mallya, who owes 9,000 crores,
is gone.
The court had not taken away his passport
and said, "you cannot leave the country,"
so he left the country.
That he didn't plan to come back
is another story.
He's been raided, he's been questioned,
and now, he is sitting in London.
REPORTER #1: London's Westminster Magistrates Court
is all set to hear the extradition case
against the former liquor baron
with the Crown Prosecution Service
fighting the case on behalf of India.
REPORTER #2: Vijay, how do you feel about today?
- REPORTER #3: Mr. Mallya--
- [OVERLAPPING VOICES]
I want to repay the public sector banks
and other creditors -
employees very much included.
I want to disprove the narrative
that I stole money.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
And in just a few moment's time,
this huge question
is about to be answered.
[NEWSROOM MUSIC PLAYING]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
Conspiracy, cheating,
and money laundering -
the UK court
has held up these three charges
against willful defaulter Vijay Mallya.
It's one of the biggest
diplomatic victories
in the political history of India.
SID: They are saying
he didn't pay his employees,
he looted the banks,
he fled from the authorities,
he money-laundered,
he syphoned funds
REPORTER #1: When you say "small," how small?
SID: It's political
and they need a scapegoat.
They need a political pawn,
they need a man to make an example of.
REPORTER #2: Do you have a message
for the Indian government?
I don't think it would be very appropriate
for me to pass messages
to the Indian government via the media.
[OVERLAPPING VOICES]
CRABTREE: Kingfisher, in the end,
is said to have owed about $2 billion,
but Indian tycoons in general
owe about a $150 billion in bad loans.
So, there are many
business figures in India
who borrowed more and didn't repay
to a level that's much larger
than Vijay Mallya.
The problem that he faced
is he was much better known
than any of them,
and so when India was casting around
to find somebody
to blame for this problem,
Mallya was public enemy number one.
[CARS HONKING]
PINTO: It could have happened
to much worse guys, and it hasn't.
I could throw names at you. Why bother?
You know them already.
[CHUCKLING] Of people who owe
the State Bank of India money
all over the place.
It's systemic.
To say that Vijay Mallya
should not pay the price
because there are bigger cheats
and robbers than him,
to me, is the most ridiculous statement
I've ever heard,
because if we go by that logic,
a pick-pocket or somebody
who's a small-time criminal
should never go to jail.
Just because somebody is worse than you,
doesn't absolve you of your crimes.
The issue of bad loans
in the public sector banks in India
needs to be resolved,
it needs to be resolved quickly,
otherwise the Indian banking system
will collapse.
Eight hundred million people in India
who need food support.
That tells you
that India faces enormous challenges.
And all this capital
that is being frittered away
belongs to the people of India
and it is a fiduciary obligation
of these bankers
to not let that money rot,
which it has done
over the last 25, 30 years.
It's been a free-flowing tap
for corrupt people.
PINTO: He did take money, damnit.
He does owe the bank 9,000 crores.
It's a lot of money.
You can't say it's a witch hunt
and it's undeserved -
it's very much deserved.
He's a crook in that sense of the word.
He's not really a crook,
he's just an idiot.
KARNAD: India's largely
a socially conservative place.
He gave us this image
of wild extravagance.
His image has ended up
uh, being too toxic.
SID: Everyone wants scandal,
everyone wants a bit of spice,
everyone wants a bit of controversy.
You know, he was in a sexy business,
making alcohol.
It's not like he was, you know,
making steel somewhere or something,
it's a lifestyle brand,
therefore, it's much easier to target him.
Vijay is a bit of a kid,
I think he'll always remain that -
a kid with his toys, a kid with his ego,
a kid with his preoccupation
with himself, his image -
which
inhibits him from taking
the right decisions at the right time.
So, it's the kid in him
that gets him into a lot of trouble.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]