Ramayana producer Prime Focus faces Income Tax searches in Mumbai, shares drop 8%

Income Tax officials searched the Mumbai offices of Prime Focus Ltd on Wednesday morning, October 7, just weeks before the company's big-budget Ramayana is due in theatres for Diwali.

Reports say the searches are linked to foreign remittances. No one has said which transactions are being examined or what led the department to act now.

The market reacted quickly. Prime Focus shares fell about 8% on Wednesday morning as news of the searches spread.

Namit Malhotra heads Prime Focus, one of India's major media and entertainment services firms. Its work covers visual effects, animation, post-production and content production, and a large part of its business runs overseas.

The studio arm of the company is behind Ramayana, directed by Nitesh Tiwari. Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash lead the mythological epic, and Sunny Deol and Ravie Dubey are also in the cast.

A search by itself does not prove any wrongdoing. Any findings from the department's inquiry are not known yet.