Married to the mob

Has the don8217;s shadow finally receded? Now that Bharat Shah has been set free to trade in diamonds and finance blockbusters, must allega...

Has the don8217;s shadow finally receded? Now that Bharat Shah has been set free to trade in diamonds and finance blockbusters, must allegations of an underworld-Bollywood nexus be consigned to irrelevance? Ever since the Mumbai police arrested Shah and film producer Naseem Rizvi in 2001, they have sought to position the case as an attempt to cleanse Bollywood of the influence of organised crime. In the course of two years of investigations and hearings, they cast a wide net. Shah and Rizvi stood accused of conspiring with gangsters to extort money from members of the film industry. In transcripts of phone conversations said to be between actors/ producers and the Karachi-based gangster, Chhota Shakeel, they sought to highlight the crime syndicates8217; leverage in dictating scripts and enlisting Bollywood icons as messengers. It was, in other words, not a matter of merely taking a few men to task, it involved tracing the mafia8217;s web of intimidation and patronage.

In the event, most of the charges levelled did not stick. Shah, for instance, has been announced guilty of a mild charge of withholding information about Rizvi8217;s underworld connections which, it transpires, he has already served in the last year. Rizvi and his aide have invited only a relatively more stringent verdict. Is this, then, the end of the chase? Is it now business as usual? It cannot be. Even before Shah8217;s trial, the involvement of organised crime syndicates in Bollywood was an open secret. But over the last two years, investigations have pointed to deeper links between the underworld and Bollywood.

It is no longer just about a Haji Mastan organising a forgettable film for a favourite or a Dawood Ibrahim playing host at Sharjah matches. Most witnesses in the Shah case eventually chickened out and turned hostile 8212; including Shahrukh Khan, Rakesh Roshan, Mahesh Manjrekar and Sanjay Dutt; but testimonies of a courageous few, like actress Preity Zinta, give a measure of extortionist calls from 8216;8216;bhai ka admi8217;8217;. Not all, however, are victims. If many a producer is coerced into signing off overseas rights cheap, for instance, there are enough whispers about film-makers seeking easy finance from the dons. Bollywood8217;s reach and influence are immense. Its leading actors inspire and are idolised by millions; its scriptwriters help both to capture and set the mood of the day. The mob8217;s leverage is thus especially worrisome. It has to be a dual rescue act. Bollywood, of course, must snap these dangerous liaisons. But the state must enable the industry, by cracking down on organised crime and opening up legal sources of finance.