5 Times Bollywood Brilliantly Captured Real Underworld!

There have been several reports over the years that suggest that a lot of projects in Bollywood have been financed by Mafia money. If we search online, we can even find images of top Bollywood stars with influential gangsters. And, in addition to this, some B-town actresses have also been romantically linked to underworld Dons and bosses in the past.

Not to say that there’s a direct connection. But for the longest of time, hardly any Bollywood movie was made that depicted actual gangsters. This might also have happened because there weren’t enough filmmakers that had the courage and the skill to deal with this complex subject. 

But whatever was the case, it isn’t any more. Over the past decade or so, we have regularly seen portrayals of actual Mafia through Bollywood films. Let’s have a look at the best and bravest of the growing bunch: 

Black Friday

One of the most hard-hitting crime films ever made in India, Black Friday was when Anurag Kashyap really burst onto the scene. His film, which investigated the 1993 Mumbai blasts and its aftermath, was incredibly accurate in its depiction of the underworld. From Tiger Memon to Dawood Ibrahim, the film didn’t shy away from presenting as true a story as possible. Such was the bold nature of the film that it wasn’t allowed to be released for three years.

Company

Ram Gopal Varma’s Company, which starred Ajay Devgn and Vivek Oberoi, was loosely based on Dawood Ibrahim’s mafia organization D company. RGV is known to uncover the workings of Mumbai’s underworld and this was the movie that really dug in. Company, along with Satya and D, make up The Indian Gangster Trilogy, which is a must-watch for every cinema-lover. 

Shootout at Lokhandwala

Shootout at Lokhandwala ran with the caption “based on true rumours”. The film, which depicted the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout, had Vivek Oberoi playing the role of the deadly gangster Maya Dolas, who eventually gets shot down after 400 policemen attack his residence. The film’s stylish take on the underworld and catchy songs made this film a success. The film’s success also inspired a sequel Shootout at Wadala, which starred John Abraham.

Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai

The period crime drama presented the Mumbai underworld in the 1960s and 1970s. The film’s two main characters Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgn) and Shoaib Khan (Emraan Hashmi) are reportedly inspired by real-life gangsters Hajj Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim. Though the film was slightly over-dramatic than it needed to be (it was produced by Ekta Kapoor), the direction and the performances were enough to make it a box-office hit. The film’s success was big enough for a sequel which had Akshay Kumar and Imran Khan.  

Gangs of Wasseypur

Anurag Kashyap’s two-part epic crime-drama doesn’t strictly follow a journalistic method. But it is largely inspired by coal mafia of Jharkhand other mafia activities. Some of the major characters of the film are actually based on real-life politicians and criminals. Whether fiction or not, this film broke the boundaries of Indian filmmaking and gave us another insight of workings of Indian criminals.  

And next up:

Raees

The upcoming Shah Rukh Khan-starrer which would also star Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Farhan Akhtar, is reportedly based in 1980s Gujarat and would trace the life of an alcohol bootlegger. Though only a few details of the film are known and only a teaser-trailer has been released, the film has all the makings of a brilliant movie.