Business tycoon Raj Kundra’s arrest for allegedly promoting pornography, and in the process minting crores of rupees, has captured headlines of all TV channels and newspapers. However, there is nothing shocking in the revelations since it has been Bollywood’s best kept secret of how upcoming starlets and models are exploited by powerful people and often forced into pornography and prostitution. The visits of rich Sheikhs from West Asian countries to Mumbai and the frequent travel to these nations by several actresses including successful ones, were not only account of tourism but also had in some cases linked to sleazy activities. Kundra has close business connections with Dubai and some other places, from where members of the D-Gang often compelled prominent actresses to come and spend time in the lap of luxury. The Mumbai police that is probing the latest case is trying to ascertain Kundra’s links with the underworld as also with the late Iqbal Mirchi, an associate of Dawood who operated from London but passed away some years ago.
Investigations conducted so far have revealed that the businessman along with his close associates, his brother-in-law, amongst them, persuaded young starlets to come and participate in film shootings of pornographic films. In his own defence, Kundra continues to maintain that his movies were about erotica and had nothing to do with pornographic stuff. The police maintain that in the past one year and a half, he had made more than 100 blue films that were circulated through an app which had nearly two million viewers, This way he had minted huge amounts of money. In fact, two starlets, Poonam Pandey and Sheryl Chopra have directly accused him of exploiting them and pushing them into the XXX trade. In all fairness, two other actresses, Rakhi Sawant and Gehna Vashisht have come out and supported the film maker, whose wife, Shilpa Shetty too has been asked to join the probe.
Both Shilpa and Kundra had also promoted an IPL team and the allegation against them was that they were mixed up with the strong cricket Mafia operating out of Dubai and London. However, this charge has to be substantiated by a court of law. It is a well-known fact that many Bollywood starlets have been acting in pornographic films made by groups settled abroad. Although it may not be proper to name them, yet their activities on the blue celluloid are not hidden from anyone. The charge of making pornographic films was once also levelled against the producer director (a foreigner) of an award-winning film starring a well-known Indian actress in the mid-1970s. This particular director, who also owned a chain of other businesses had parked himself in the suite of a five-star hotel in the Delhi from where he operated. He had to leave after the Hotel management learned of his activities. There were many Indian actresses in the past few decades who got mixed up with international pornography following their failure to pursue a successful career. There were some others, who were forced to abandon their boyfriends and live with members of the D-Gang. In fact, Mandakini, the heroine of Raj Kapoor’s `Ram Teri Ganga Maili’, had married Dawood himself and now lives in a cosmopolitan city in South India. Kundra’s case could just be the tip off the iceberg. More skeletons would fall out once the Mumbai police completes its investigations and uncovers the sleazy side of Bollywood.
