The glamorous world of Bollywood seems quite fascinating from afar but behind all the glitz and glamour there is a dark side that not many are aware of. With fame comes hate, and sometimes hate takes extreme forms such as murder and death threats.
The recent target of the haters was the Bhatt family. Three members of the family including Mahesh Bhatt, daughter Alia Bhatt and wife Soni Razdan received death threats on the phone from a person, who demanded 50 lakh rupees and threatened to pump them with bullets if they failed to do so. The suspect is under arrest and is being questioned by the police.
This is, of course, not the first time that such a thing has happened in our entertainment industry. Several other celebrities have also been threatened for life in the past. Here is the list of the celebrities who have received death threats:
BCCL
Amitabh Bachchan, in 2010, had lodged a complaint against an unknown blogger who threatened him and his family. He revealed that he was being harassed from a very long time but he ignored. However, when he started receiving threatening messages on his private phone, he filed a complaint.
BCCL
Rumour has it that after the first season of Satyamev Jayadev, Aamir Khan received a few death threats, and that is the reason why he bought a new bomb/bullet-proof car ¨C a Mercedes Benz S600 ¨C worth Rs.10 crore. He became the third person to own a bullet-proof car after PM Manmohan Singh and industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
TOI
Ravi Pujari, who reportedly works for gangster Chota Rajan, has threatened a lot of celebrities in the past ¨C one of them is Shah Rukh Khan. Before the release of Happy New Year, a note was found at the filming location which read ¡°¡®SRK will be the next target.¡±
A few days after that, the Baadshah of Bollywood, received a call at his office warning him to not work with producer brothers Ali and Karim Morani. Morani who was accused of money laundering in the 2G scam and has been recently booked for rape was SRK¡¯s good friend. SRK also bought a bombproof car soon after.
His film co-stars Sonu Sood and Boman Irani had also received threat calls during the same time.
AFP
An anonymous caller who called at the police control room of Mumbai had threatened to kill Salman Khan last year. No case was filed as police suspected it to be a hoax call. However, they launched a probe into the matter thereafter.
AFP
In 2013, Akshay Kumar was also threatened by Ravi Pujari. The call was reportedly regarding Akshay¡¯s domestic help, who he had sacked.
PTI
After Kangana¡¯s sister Rangoli was attacked by a stalker who threw acid on her in 2007, the Fashion actress also lodged a complaint stating that she has been receiving death threats from the same guy.
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Last year Karan Johar received death threats from an unknown number, after which security for the filmmaker was increased by the police. Furthermore, he even received a call from the underworld don Abu Salem to stop the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
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A few days back, the actress who is gearing up for the release of her forthcoming film Anarkali Of Aarah, confessed that she has received death threats on social media two-three times. She said that she is considering deleting her Twitter account.
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Mallika Sherawat received many death threats after she revealed that she will be working in a film based on the life Bhanwari Devi, an Indian dalit social-worker from Bhateri.
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The actress and her family received extortion calls in 2011 from the underworld.
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Ejaz Lakdawala¡¯s gang members reportedly barged into producer Sajid Nadiadwala¡¯s office and threatened him. He was provided with police security thereafter. Ejaz Lakdawala is one of the most wanted gangsters of Mumbai.
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In 2011, Vivek Oberoi had also reported to the police about the threatening calls he received.
bollywoodhungama.com
Filmmaker Rajiv Rai, who is known for his works in films including Tridev, Mohra and Gupt among others, was attempted to be murdered. The filmmaker left the nation in 1997 thereafter and returned back from the UK after a long gap in 2011.
BCCL
In 2013, RGV was threatened from the underworld to omit some lines from his gangster film Satya 2.
famouspunjabi.com
T-series founder Gulshan Kumar received extortion calls from the underworld don Abu Salem. Later, in 1997 he was killed by two armed men outside a Jeeteshwar Mahadev Mandir in Andheri West.
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Sonu Nigam received a death threat in 2014 from underworld don Chhota Shakeel, who warned him to change his event management company for his world tour.
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An attempt to kill Rakesh Roshan was made in 2000 when he was shot at by two men outside his office in Santacruz. Fortunately, his driver saved him by taking him to the doctor immediately after the attack. A few years later in 2004, he again received death threats from the underworld.
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Boney Kapoor received death threats in the year 2013, reportedly from Ravi Pujari¡¯s gang. The called blamed the filmmaker for the arrest of two of his gang members.
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Late Yash Chopra also received extortion calls from Raji Pujari saying that if he failed to pay him the amount, he would kill him.
Furthermore, other celebrities such as Farhan Akhar, Sohail Khan, Farhan Azmi and Ritesh Sidhwani also received death threats from Ravi Pujari and his gang. The celebs got threat calls for several months. "These calls never stop. Every time after I complain to the police, the phone stops ringing for a few days. But then it starts all over again. The person calls from an unidentified number, which has been traced to Iran, and identifies himself as Ravi Pujari,"?Farhan Azmi said in a statement at that time.