Asia Times: BHJKHBJKBJKBJ


	July 28, 2001	atimes.com

India/Pakistan

The gun behind the Bollywood screen
By Raju Bist

MUMBAI - Threats from Abu Salem are nothing new. But his latest extortion attempt had the Mumbai film industry - "Bollywood" - gasping. Salem, one of the most dreaded figures of Mumbai's underword and on the wanted list for the 1993 bombings in Mumbai which killed 300 people, issued threats to about a dozen actors, demanding payoffs totalling around Rs100 million (US$2.1 million).

His demands came after a recent warning by Mumbai Police Commissioner M N Singh that: "Any gangster threatening and attacking film personalities will not be spared."

Actor Amrish Puri, who plays the top baddie in most of his films, was one of Salem's intended victims. He commented: "The demand was made at least five times over phone at my office. The person calling claimed to be an associate of an underworld don. I immediately informed the police. They have now provided me with an armed bodyguard." Salem is believed to have asked the film villain to cough up Rs10 million.

Threats to Indian film personalities have mushroomed lately after a long lull in the film business. There have been some big hits lately, such as Gadar, Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai, and Lagaan. Several big budget releases are due, including producer-director Subhash Ghai's Yaadein. In addition, there is big money coming in from the sale of satellite TV, music, cable TV and overseas rights. The underworld smells blood and has been calling up stars, producers, distributors, financiers and directors.

Film luminaries are a frequent target of extorionists. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who now hosts the immensely successful Indian version of television's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? after lording over the big screen for two decades, received threatening phone calls and was provided security by the Maharashtra state government. Others have not been so lucky. Gulshan Kumar, a producer of small-budget movies and owner of the T-series music company which has bought music rights for many a Bollywood blockbuster, was gunned down by underworld killers. Ajit Dewani, a close associate of actress Manisha Koirala and actor Aftab Shivdasani, was killed by four Salem gangsters.

Last year, director Rajiv Rai was set upon by five gangsters with the intention of kidnapping him for ransom. The timely intervention of his Mumbai office staff saved Rai who has since shifted base to London. More recently, producer-director Rakesh Roshan, the man behind last year's biggest hit, Kaho na pyar hai, was fired at by hired assassins riding a motorcycle. Roshan, who took a bullet in his left shoulder, managed to flee in his car.

Any film personality of status now moves around with an armed escort. This includes the likes of producer-director Ghai, who specializes in big-budget extravaganzas and has delivered 18 hits out of the 20 movies he has made so far. Apart from Ghai, producers Pravin Shah and Vashu Bhagnani have also received threats. Police protection has been provided to actors Govinda and Hrithik Roshan, producers Pahlaj Nihalani and Mahesh Bhatt and director Karan Johar.

The Bollywood-underworld link is best exemplified in an ongoing case which continues to grab media headlines in India. In December 2000, the Mumbai police arrested Nadeem Rizvi, producer of Chori chori chupke chupke, for his alleged mafia links. Leading diamond merchant Bharat Shah, who claimed to have financed the film, was arrested later. Both Rizvi and Shah are presently in custody.

The Mumbai police say they have audio tape of alleged telephone conversations between Rizvi, Shah and Pakistan-based Mumbai underworld don Chhota Shakeel over extorting money from local businessmen. Shakeel is the main henchman of gold smugger-turned-terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, who is, ironically, the son of a former Mumbai policeman.

Earlier, actor Sanjay Dutt was arrested immediately after the 1993 Mumbai bombings under the Anti-Terrorist Act for possessing an illegal AK-47 rifle, and was accused to having links with the underworld. He spent 18 months in jail and is still fighting the case. Police say Dutt continues to hobnob with the underworld and has recently been taped talking to Shakeel.

Prominent among other Bollywood personalities against whom legal charges have been framed are music composer Nadeem Khan. The musician took refuge in Britain and is still being sought by Indian law enforcement agencies for his alleged involvement in the murder of Gulshan Kumar.

The ongoing Rizvi-Shah case threatens to drag nearly the whole of Bollywood in its wake, with prominent film personalities being called to the defense stand as witnesses. Apart from Dutt, others who have already been questioned as part of investigations into the film industry's underworld links are top actors Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee, and directors Rakesh Roshan and Mahesh Manjrekar.

Underworld characters are an integral part of many a Bollywood caper. In fleshing out these roles, scriptwriters are merely extending the real into reel life for the Bollywood-underworld connection is as old as the song-and-dance formula to which Indian film makers are addicted.

Thanks to its erratic, unprofessional working ways, the Mumbai film business has never been recognized as an industry even though it produces 800 movies a year and generates around Rs40 billion. The result: film producers have often turned to the underworld for finance. The underworld honchos not only charge interest in the stratospheric range of 60 percent but also demand immediate repayment, even if the film does not do well.

Lately, with production costs shooting up, financing has become the most important ingredient of any film project. Producers tend to blame the stars for this messy state of affairs, saying that they have jacked up their prices beyond reasonable limits. Leading actors like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan earn Rs20 million for a single movie. Even relative newcomer Hrithik Roshan is rumored to have collected the same amount for each of his forthcoming films. Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol are in the Rs15 million bracket. Among women, Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor are the highest paid, at Rs12 million each. Aishwarya Rai, Manisha Koirala and Urmila Matondkar receive Rs8 million-Rs10 million.

Underworld dons also target producers of box office hits to obtain the overseas rights of the movies. "The underworld plays a major role in the film industry. Disputes arise. Killings take place," says a top-ranking Mumbai policeman.

If a film does even reasonably well in India, it is assured hit status overseas in places like the Middle East, UK, US and East Africa, which together have expatriate Indian communities totalling 30 million. Exports of Indian movies fetch the country Rs5 billion every year, and according to the All India Motion Pictures and Producers Association, this figure is growing rapidly by 30 percent a year.

This fact is not lost on the Indian underworld, many of whose key figures like Dawood Ibrahim, Ashwin Naik, Abu Salem, Chhota Shakeel and Chhota Rajan are based abroad. They are only too keen to partake of a piece of the savory overseas rights cake. Roshan reportedly refused to sell the overseas rights of Kaho Na Pyar Hai to Shakeel and nearly ended up paying with his life. Producer-director J P Dutta was attacked by Abu Salem's men for the same reason, and he, too, narrowly escaped.

The Bollywood-underworld connection is an old story, but the public outcry this time has forced the government to sit up and take notice. In fact, Maharashtra state has set up a panel to probe the Bollywood-underworld nexus. State minister Kripa Shankar Singh told reporters recently that the underworld had penetrated deep into the film industry, and he hoped it would soon be rid of mafia elements.

But ultimately, if Bollywood is to escape the sinister clutches of the underworld, it will have to be by its own efforts. The industry must clean up its act.

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