Mumbai, the maximum city, the city of dreams is well known for its flourishing film industry, the Bollywood and its organized crime syndicate, the Indian mafia. Over the years, the interactions between the much celebrated Hindi film industry and the infamous Indian mafia has been no secret. The tussle between these two has reverberated throughout the 90s. The rise of the mafia coincided with the increasing woes of Bollywood. Bollywood’s liaison with the mafia began when government regulations restricted the access of Bollywood to legitimate means of financing. Mumbai’s infamous mafia had by then established their stronghold on the city and had accumulated tremendous wealth to shell out big bucks for the movies. This was a way out for the mafia to launder the black money.
Picture source: Wikipedia
Mumbai’s original don, Haji Mastan was the first to forage into the blingy world of the Hindi film industry. He produced movies of his mistress to support her budding acting career. He even had celebrity friends like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Firoze Khan and Sanjeev Kumar. Called by the name of ‘Celebrity Gangster’, he captivated Bollywood. Even though his films bombed at the box office, he grew to the stature of a celebrity. Eventually, the law was amended in 2002 to allow the film industry to qualify for bank credit, but by then the mafia’s reach had deeply penetrated in Bollywood’s finances.The amendment in the law led to the further corporatization of Bollywood, it was now recognized as a legitimate industry. Yet, the ties between the mafia and the film industry did not falter. The underworld continued to invest in the films and the Bollywood continued to have gangsters as producers. The primary purpose of this symbiotic relationship was to launder the black money of the mafia. The second reason could be the stardom the mafia would get due to their association with the film stars. The mafia also dabbled with film piracy, counterfeiting, and distribution of films. It even exercised hegemony over the kind of films being made during that period.Abu Salem, the infamous mafia don who married Bollywood actress Monica Bedi, had supposedly proclaimed that he helped produce Devdas, one of the most expensive movies of its times. Phone records of gangster Chhota Shakeel, taped by the local police indicated his connections with many Indian actors, producers, and directors. The witch hunt took a dangerous turn when producers were put behind bars for being a part of the organized crime syndicate.
Picture source: Wikipedia
The intertwined network of the film industry and the underworld is a well-established fact, yet the magnitude of these connections was realized when the mafia started extorting money and threatening these movie stars. The assassination attempt on Rakesh Roshan in 2001 proved the heights at which the India mafia would go to reap profits. The bone of contention here was the rights of a particular film of Roshan’s that he refused to sell to the organized crime syndicate. In a separate incident, a bunch of goons stormed into the office of producer Sajid Nadiadwala and demanded money. These aren’t isolated incidences. In the past celebrities like Karan Johar, Amrish Puri and Hrithik Roshan have sought police protection due to the threats from the underworld. These threats and physical assaults basically implied that if one didn’t agree with the terms of the mafia, it would lead to a fatal end.At the same time, Bollywood’s fascination with the mafia has led to a series of gangster films being churned out. The upcoming film, Sanju, is based on the life of Sanjay Dutt who was sentenced to five years of imprisonment for illegal possession of firearms during the 1993 terror attacks in Mumbai that were spearheaded by Dawood Ibrahim. Other movies like Daddy, based on the life of the gangster Arun Gawli, and Once Upon A Time In Mumbai depict the tight relationship between the globally admired Bollywood and the feared underworld.
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