Ramgopal Varma's office was raided by tax authorities on Wednesday, probing the alleged evasion of service tax in the film industry.

The service tax officials say that Varma tried to evade tax by shifting base to Hyderabad when his films suffered financially post 2008. Until then he was based out of Mumbai.

This news has shocked and shaken many in the industry. On behalf of all, Kulmeet Makkar, the CEO of Film and TV Producers Guild, requested the service tax commissioner to go slow on the industry. When contacted he said, "It is unfortunate that the service tax department is taking action based on the perception that the film industry intends to evade service tax. The industry's tax structure is complex and lacks clarity due to changes in the tax regime. The seminar was held after my meeting with service tax chief R Sekar."

The other stars who fell prey to the tax department were director Anurag Kashyap, whose bank accounts were frozen, for failing to pay Rs 55 lakh service tax. Actor Sunny Deol owed Rs 1.95 cr and cleared Rs. 86 lakh. Producer Samir Karnik was held for evading Rs 1.18 crore in service tax.