'They Are Going To Kill Shah Rukh': How Underworld Terror Haunted Bollywood Then And Now

The attack on Tiger Shroff last Sunday has terrified Bollywood, reopening wounds from the 1990s when the underworld frequently targeted Bollywood. 

Soon after, the Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate claimed responsibility, issuing a stark warning to Shroff against working with Salman Khan. 

According to an NDTV report, police interrogations later revealed an even more alarming twist: Shroff was never the original target. The attackers had arrived in Mumbai specifically to attack Salman Khan. 

 In recent years, the gang has relentlessly targeted figures from the Bollywood and Punjabi film industries, placing Salman Khan among its most prominent targets. The superstar has received repeated threats linked to the 1998 blackbuck case. 

Film Producers In The 90s, A-List Stars Today: The Return Of Terror To Bollywood 

For Bollywood, the nightmare of the nineties is back in a stark new form.   

Back then, extortion, turf wars, and financial rivalries left a trail of violence. T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar, producer Mukesh Duggal, Javed Riyaz Siddique and Ajit Diwani were brutally murdered, while filmmakers Rakesh Roshan, Rajiv Rai, and Lawrence D'Souza narrowly survived after targeted attacks. 

Now, the targets are not just filmmakers and producers but some of Bollywood's A-listers.  

But decades before Bishnoi turned his sights on Salman, another superstar, Shah Rukh Khan found himself facing Mumbai's underworld. The threat was so serious that Mumbai Police reportedly feared gangsters were "going to kill Shah Rukh", marking one of the most chilling chapters in Bollywood history. 

"I May Not Have Succumbed To It, But Then They Shoot You": Shah Rukh Khan 

In a 2001 interview with comedian and actor Ruby Wax for the UK TV series Hot Wax, Shah Rukh had spoken candidly about underworld threats. "They would set up a system, and they would say you do it. I may not have succumbed to it, but then they shoot you. So, sometimes it's nice to do a film." Wax asked him, "You're seriously saying someone calls you and says be in my film or I'll blow your head off?" Shah Rukh had nodded and said, "Not as nicely as you're saying it."  

He had described Bollywood as an easy and lucrative target, and confirmed that his life had been threatened "on many occasions". Shah Rukh said he had security for three years. 

"Sir, Gulshan Kumar Ka Wicket Girnewala Hai"  

 The underworld's grip on Bollywood had begun years before Shah Rukh spoke out.  Senior Police officer Rakesh Maria, who had investigated the Mumbai Bomb Blasts and served as the DCP in the Mumbai Crime Branch, writes in his memoirs, 'Let Me Say It Now': "One such instance was the unforgettably chilling call that I had received well past midnight and in the early hours of 22 April 1997... 'Sir, Gulshan Kumar ka wicket girnewala hai,' it was the voice of a reliable source from the other end, telling me in a tone of great urgency that the 'wicket' of Gulshan Kumar was slated to fall!" 

Maria writes that he was informed that gangster Abu Salem had planned to kill Gulshan Kumar near the Shiv temple the music mogul regularly visited. He called filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who was directing a film for Gulshan, and asked him to warn the producer of the danger. Maria also alerted the Crime Branch and arranged protection for Gulshan Kumar. 

A few months later, Gulshan Kumar was gunned down outside the Shiv Mandir on 12 August 1997. His brutal murder sent shockwaves through Bollywood.

"They Are Going To Kill Shah Rukh" 

Around that time, Mahesh Bhatt received another call from Rakesh Maria. 

As documented in author Anupama Chopra's book 'King Of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan', Maria told Bhatt, "They are going to kill Shah Rukh." 

An informer had told Maria that Abu Salem had ordered a hit on the Bollywood superstar. Maria urged Bhatt, who was making two films (Duplicate and Chaahat) with Shah Rukh, to keep the actor indoors. Bollywood's biggest star was now in the underworld's crosshairs. Bhatt immediately called Shah Rukh. 

But the actor reportedly laughed when told a hired killer was out to get him. Unlike Salem's other targets, Shah Rukh had received no direct threats, and seemed baffled by why anyone would want him dead. 

According to Anupama Chopra's book, Shah Rukh later accompanied Mahesh Bhatt to meet Rakesh Maria, who urged him to lie low and limit his movements. A Special Operations Squad commando in plain clothes was also assigned for his security.  

"I Don't Tell You Who To Shoot, So Don't Tell Me Which Film To Do.": Shah Rukh Khan 

It was during the shooting of Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai that Shah Rukh received the call from Abu Salem. 

"In typical Mumbai street language, Salem asked, "Haan, kya chal raha hai" (What's going on?). Shah Rukh asked, "Who's this?" The question prompted a spate of choice Hindi curses. Shah Rukh didn't retaliate. He spoke politely but deliberately in English, situating himself and his caller in separate worlds. Shah Rukh said, "What is the problem, sir?" Salem replied that he was angered by Shah Rukh's refusal to work in a project being made by a Muslim. 

Shah Rukh reportedly told him that he was working with several Muslim directors and pointed this out to Salem. "Salem saw Shah Rukh's logic and decided that he would, after all, spare his life. "Log bolte theIN tu bahut proudy hai lekin tu bada sharif hai," he said. "Abhi police ki zaroorat nahin tereko. Main nahin maroonga." (People tell me that you are very proud but you are a decent man. Now you don't need the police. I won't kill you.)  

The police, however, weren't relying on Salem keeping his word," wrote Anupama Chopra in her book 'King Of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan.' "Salem never asked Shah Rukh for money. A few times he told Shah Rukh to do a particular film, to which Shah Rukh politely replied that since he didn't interfere in Salem's job, Salem should not interfere in his. "I told him, I don't tell you who to shoot, so don't tell me which film to do." 

As Chopra documents in her book, Salem's calls continued. He told Shah Rukh that his mother and wife were fans of the star. But the calls could turn menacing. Salem would sometimes tell the actor he knew exactly where he was and who he was with. He also boasted of the murders he had orchestrated and the powerful men he had terrorised into paying him. Shah Rukh later summed up the ordeal: "It was like living under a telescope. It was very depressing and very scary." 

Shah Rukh reportedly received calls from Salem and other underworld figures for four years. 

By the early 2000s, Mumbai Police had largely broken the underworld's grip through sustained crackdowns, police encounters and tough laws such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company had weakened, while Abu Salem and Chat Rajan were behind bars. 

Is This A Full-Scale Return To 1990s-Style Extortion? 

For nearly two decades, Bollywood enjoyed a period of relative calm. However, that fragile peace was shattered when the Lawrence Bishnoi gang turned its attention to the film world. This time, its target was another Khan: Salman. What began as threats against Salman Khan soon escalated into gunfire outside his Bandra home in April 2024. In October 2023, gunmen linked to the gang killed former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, marking one of its most high-profile attacks. 

Since then, the gang's campaign of intimidation across the Hindi and Punjabi film industries has expanded rapidly. Drive-by shootings have targeted actor Gippy Grewal's Canadian residence, Kapil Sharma's cafe, the family home of actor Disha Patani in Bareilly, and filmmaker Rohit Shetty's Mumbai residence. Stars such as Ranveer Singh and Ayush Sharma have faced heavy extortion demands, while fresh gunfire was reported outside the home of Diljit Dosanjh's manager in May 2026. 

Almost every attack comes with an online claim of responsibility, nearly always citing a connection to Salman Khan as the trigger. Yet there lies a deeper question: Is a decades-old Blackbuck case the only motive for targeting the film industry? Or is it simply a cover for a full-scale return to 1990s-style gangland extortion? 

Shah Rukh Khan's account showed how the underworld built a total fear psychosis to control Bollywood by threatening stars, dictating film choices, and extorting money. The attack on Tiger Shroff has revived those old fears. 

For an industry that worked for decades to escape organised crime, the threat is no longer theoretical. The names may have changed, but the tactics, the threats, intimidation and gunfire are all too familiar.