Rough ride ahead for stars, as vanity vans association announces strike

Kapoor's Shamshera and Devgn's Tanaajiare currently on floors

The All Camper Van Owners' Association, which provides vanity vans to Bollywood stars, announced yesterday that it will go on an indefinite "non-cooperation movement" from December 10, to protest against the exorbitant taxes levied upon them by the state government. With 250 van owners withdrawing their services from next week, the shoot of several films is likely to be affected.

As many as five big-ticket films are on the floors, including Ajay Devgn's Tanaaji: The Unsung Warrior, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Shamshera and Akshay Kumar's Kesari. Ketan Rawal, president of the body, asserts that the impending strike will inconvenience the stars. "Only Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Anil Kapoor own their personal vans. The rest use our vans. Most actors don't use the makeup rooms in studios as they are in poor condition."

Representational picture of vanity van

He points out that the Maharashtra government charges RTO tax of Rs 1,25,000 per annum from a vanity van owner. In other states, the tax is reportedly no more than Rs 12,000. Rawal expresses his disappointment at having to inconvenience the producers. "It will be a problem for the producers, but what to do? We will request them to bear with us during this time."

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