Tiger Zinda Hai’ read a telling headline in a daily, while reporting the murderous attack on Bollywood star Tiger Shroff. The terrifying drama took place at a busy intersection, as the young actor finished his Sunday football game, attended a birthday party, and got into his car to head home.
Two gun-toting assailants accosted his car and pumped seven bullets at point-blank range through the glass. Shroff, a trained martial arts expert, instinctively ducked as the bullets whizzed past him, grazed the hands of Firdaus, his driver, and injured a bystander in the chest. Shroff himself got away with abrasions and bullet burns. All three men in the car survived what could’ve been a bloodbath.
Within minutes, the attackers identified themselves on social media (Anil Pandit and Harman Sandhu). They also issued a warning to Bollywood at large, besides identifying a specific group of people in particular – anyone associated with their main target, Salman Khan. Nobody will be spared, they announced. The wording is ominous and unambiguous. I heard the scratchy recording of Anil Pandit, boldly threatening Salman Khan and his family with complete annihilation. Not even a “kutta” inside their home will be left alive, boasted the killer.
But why Tiger Shroff? Why now? Because he is a soft target. He has not worked with Salman Khan in any movie so far. Could it be because the Shroffs pay a hefty rent to Salman Khan for the premises where MMA Matrix and MMA Wellness—Bandra’s most successful gyms operate? Allegedly, the Food Square Building, which houses the Shroff-run gyms, is owned by Khan. The Bishnoi killers are very clear—they are out to ruin Khan on any and every front, starting with hitting his businesses and business partners. Yes, there will be plenty of very bloody collateral damage.
Does this really sound like the old Black Buck story being kept alive by the Bishnois? Or is it something far bigger and more ambitious? The Bishnoi demand sounds almost childish—an apology from Salman Khan for allegedly killing a black buck in 1998. But for an apology to be issued, the actor has to first own up to the killing! If he does apologise, it’s an admission of guilt. Fact remains, a black buck was killed. But by whom?
Salman Khan was with a group of friends, including Saif Ali Khan and Sonali Bendre. Lawrence Bishnoi, the man and mastermind behind the attacks against Khan over the years, is being given ‘credit’ for the Tiger Shroff failed murder attempt as well. The same man is doing time inside Tihar jail, apparently living a posh life, deprived of absolutely nothing, as he commands a team of professional hitmen, without the slightest fear of retribution.
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Bollywood’s worst-kept secret
Bollywood is paralysed with abject anxiety and terror, wondering who will be targeted next. Take a quick look at recent threats: Aamir Khan, Rohit Shetty, Ranveer Singh, to name a few. The bigger concern is this: was the Tiger Shroff shooting just target practice? Does it signal the start of the old, deadly gang wars that nearly destroyed the fabric of Bollywood?
Are we heading back to brutal power struggles, extortion threats, daylight murders of Bollywood players, which, in the old days, involved the dreaded D-gang? If that is the case – which political parties are a part of the devilish plot? Who is in cahoots with whom?
Without heavy-duty political patronage, the dreaded underworld cannot survive and thrive. Are the Mumbai police doing an effective job of protecting targeted movie stars? Is providing Z Category security to the Shroffs and others on the underworld radar the only strategy to restore confidence in a city, still shaking from the latest attack?
What if the second shooter’s gun had not jammed? There’s no way Tiger Shroff would have made it alive. Providence alone saved the actor. Is this any way for our movie stars to live? Paranoid and forever looking over their shoulders for a potential killer? Afraid to leave their homes? Terrified on the sets?
Gangland turf wars are not new. Seizing control over Bollywood has always been the ultimate goal for the underworld. The Dons of Dubai seem to be back in business after a lull. And the Bishnois don’t want to yield even an inch to rivals.
Baba Siddiqui’s assailants are still running around somewhere, with no convincing explanation from the Mumbai Police. That cold-blooded killing was equally bold and remains an unsolved crime. Both Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde have issued tough statements about the latest attack. They promised to spare no effort to nab the motorbike killers, who roared away after pumping 5 rounds into the actor’s car. Will they ever be caught?
Here’s another puzzle: The cops claim they liberated Bollywood from the clutches of the ruthless D-Gang back then. But it’s a tall, hollow claim. Did the D-Gang ever go away as claimed? The modus operandi may have changed. But not the control. It’s Bollywood’s worst-kept secret. Everyone knows all it takes is one phone call from Dubai for the biggest players to fall in line.
The Bishnois want supremacy over Bollywood. They are currently boasting about the (botched-up) Tiger Shroff attack, while warning of more in the offing. Bollywood is shivering. Salman Khan’s home at Galaxy Apartments is like a fortress (friends are terrified to visit the Khans). As is Shroff’s residence. Intimidated and nervous, Bollywood stars are lying low and keeping silent. So far, I have not read any messages of support for Tiger Shroff from his colleagues. Stars dare not open their mouths. There are eyes, ears and guns everywhere. Tiger zinda hai, by God’s grace. Who knows if the next victim will be as lucky?
Shobhaa De is an author, columnist, social commentator, and opinion-shaper. She has written 20 books. She tweets @DeShobhaa. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)