The Tiger Shroff shooting brings renewed attention to Bollywood’s long history with organised crime, from the extortion and intimidation associated with Mumbai’s underworld to the threats against Salman Khan linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and the gangster films that have drawn from this history.
On October 18, 2026, gunmen opened fire at Tiger Shroff’s car in Mumbai’s Juhu neighbourhood as the actor was leaving a football ground. Shroff escaped without serious injury, while his driver and a bystander were wounded. A social media post claiming responsibility in the name of people associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang soon circulated, and police launched an investigation into the suspected network behind the attack. By October 21, several arrests had been reported across Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana, with investigators examining the alleged links between the shooters and people accused of supplying weapons or sheltering suspects. The investigation remains ongoing.
For Bollywood, the incident brought back memories of a period when threats from criminal networks formed part of the working reality for several people in the film industry. The names associated with these cases have changed over the decades, but the relationship between organised crime, celebrity and the business of making films continues to draw attention. Understanding the latest case requires looking at Mumbai’s underworld history, the documented instances of intimidation directed at film-industry figures, and the very different circumstances surrounding the Bishnoi gang’s alleged activities.
Mumbai’s criminal networks grew across several decades, with figures such as Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, and Varadarajan Mudaliar becoming prominent through activities including smuggling, illicit liquo,r and protection rackets. Their operations developed within a city shaped by its ports, trading routes and expanding commercial economy. These figures did not form one unified organisation, and their areas of influence and methods varied.
Dawood Ibrahim’s rise marked another chapter in this history. His network expanded beyond Mumbai, and the 1993 serial bombings brought the city’s underworld into national and international focus. The period also drew greater scrutiny to alleged links between criminal networks and the Hindi film industry, where large sums of money moved through production, distribution and overseas markets.
The relationship took several forms. Producers and other industry figures reported receiving extortion demands, while allegations of criminal involvement in film financing and pressure over casting and business decisions circulated through the industry. These claims need to be examined case by case, since a reported threat, an allegation of financing, and a finding established in court carry different evidentiary weight.
The murder of music mogul Gulshan Kumar in August 1997 and the shooting of filmmaker Rakesh Roshan in January 2000 became two of the most widely discussed cases associated with underworld intimidation in Bollywood. Both incidents unfolded during a period when criminal networks were alleged to have used threats and violence to exert influence over prominent industry figures.
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has revisited this period in conversations about the underworld’s relationship with cinema. Speaking to crime writer Hussain Zaidi, Varma described how attacks on well-known figures could spread fear among others who might receive similar demands. His account offers a filmmaker’s recollection of the period, and should be read alongside reporting on the investigations and legal proceedings surrounding individual cases.
The film industry’s relationship with criminal networks also attracted scrutiny around financing and overseas distribution. Claims that particular films received money from gangsters, or that specific stars were compelled to meet criminal figures, need independent corroboration before they can be presented as fact. The history is substantial enough without relying on every anecdote that has circulated about celebrities and dons.
The Bishnoi gang’s relationship with Bollywood has developed in a different context. Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been in prison since 2015, has been linked by investigators to a network operating across several Indian states. The gang’s publicly stated hostility towards Salman Khan centres on the actor’s involvement in the 1998 blackbuck hunting case in Rajasthan. Blackbucks hold religious and cultural significance for the Bishnoi community, whose traditions include protecting wildlife.
Threats against Khan became a major security concern in 2024, when gunmen opened fire outside his Bandra residence. Mumbai Police subsequently filed a chargesheet against six people in connection with the shooting and named Bishnoi and other alleged associates as wanted accused. Investigators have also examined whether targeting Khan helped the gang establish a presence in Mumbai and attract public attention. These remain investigative assessments of the gang’s motives and should be attributed accordingly.
A July 2026 report by The Indian Express examined a United States indictment that described an alleged plan to murder Khan as part of an effort to promote a criminal enterprise and instill fear. The allegations outlined in an indictment must be distinguished from findings made at trial, but the case illustrates the scale of the investigation into threats against the actor.
The Tiger Shroff shooting has brought fresh scrutiny to the gang’s alleged activities. Reports published on October 21 said investigators suspected that Salman Khan had been the initial target and that the shooters had allegedly considered attacking him before turning to Shroff. This account has been attributed to police sources; it should not be presented as an established fact until supported by the investigation.
The comparison with Mumbai’s older underworld is useful, provided it is handled with care. Earlier cases involved allegations of extortion, financing and attempts to influence film-industry business. The current cases include threats and attacks that police suspect may serve to establish a gang’s reputation and reach. The available evidence does not establish that the Bishnoi network is a continuation of Dawood Ibrahim’s organisation, or that every attack on a celebrity has the same motive.
As the real-world relationship between crime and cinema became part of public discussion, Mumbai’s underworld also became a recurring subject in Hindi films. Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998) followed a man drawn into Mumbai’s criminal world, depicting the routines and relationships of gang members alongside the violence associated with their lives. The film helped shape a wave of crime dramas, including Varma’s Company (2002) and D (2005), while films such as Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010) drew from the reputations and histories of real criminal figures.
These films occupy an interesting place in the history of Bollywood and organised crime. They draw from events that shaped public memory, while also turning gangsters into characters whose loyalties, ambitions, and rivalries can sustain a story. Their portrayals can help audiences engage with a period of Mumbai’s history, but fictional scenes cannot serve as evidence for claims about real criminal networks.
The shooting outside Tiger Shroff’s car brings this history into the present, with police still investigating the alleged connections between the attackers and the Bishnoi gang. What the case ultimately establishes will depend on evidence gathered by investigators and tested through legal proceedings. For now, it sits within a longer history of criminal networks seeking visibility or influence around the Hindi film industry, and of filmmakers turning that same history into stories for the screen.
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