Veteran actor Mandakini has addressed one of the most talked-about controversies from her career - a photograph with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim that surfaced years ago.
Speaking to ANI, Mandakini recalled the circumstances surrounding the photograph.
"Jo bhi log likhna chahe, jo bhi bolna chahe, we don't have control over it. Ek artist ko hazaron log milte hain aur hum sabke liye barabar hai. I did not even go to Dubai to watch the match. Hum waha kisi show ke liye gaye the. Match mein bahut saare log baithe the, and he was just sitting there."
"No, I was not invited by Dawood. Controversy banana aur ek chiz ko interesting banana yeh sab mjhe nahi pata tha," she said.
Mandakini also spoke about the impact of the controversy and said that it caused considerable damage. She admitted that she later realised the importance of having a team to handle such matters.
"The controversy did a lot of damage. Later, I came to know that one should have a team to take care of all these things. I denied the rumours everywhere," she added.
The actor further said that her denial had also been reported in the media. Mandakini also clarified that she was unaware of alleged underworld funding in Bollywood during the 1980s.
"It was also printed at the time that I denied the rumours. I did not even know about the underworld funding in Bollywood during the 80s. I got to know about these things through films which were made later," Mandakini said.
Mandakini rose to fame with her debut film Ram Teri Ganga Maili, directed by Raj Kapoor. Released in 1985, the film became a major success and established her as one of the prominent faces of Hindi cinema in the 1980s.
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