Recently, Tiger Shroff, a prominent Bollywood action star, wrestled his fate from the jaws of death. A bizarre assassination attempt on Shroff, who was going back home from what he thought was a routine Sunday ball game, turned into a dark mowdown very quickly. We all saw the clips; we all saw the sheer audacity of the assailants to do the deed and escape with no haste whatsoever, which has raised many questions.

How come someone even has the gumption to do this in the middle of the metropolis like Mumbai? How come a person sitting outside India plans and executes stuff like this without coming under the scanner of intelligence agencies? Is Mumbai safe? Why Tiger Shroff? Was it because he was a low-hanging fruit? How does someone sitting in jail allegedly have the means and resources to perpetuate crime? Is Mumbai safe? Is our city turning back in time of the 90s where Underworld ruled in its full glory? What does this mean for common citizens? Is Mumbai really safe?

Like everyone, even I was completely taken aback, alarmed and terrified. Seeing that viral clip left me consternated. I declared in a panic-stricken voice, ‘Tiger just got shot’! I called my friends; we apprehensively discussed, ‘he just cheated death’. My whole social media was soon flooded with stories, posts, and reels about Shroff. It was not long before names started to surface.

Individuals purportedly linked to the infamous Lawrence Bishnoi gang, specifically identified as Anil Pandit and Harman Sandhu, claimed responsibility through social media posts and audio messages. Allegedly operating from California after leaving India through a ‘Dunki’ route, the pair drew widespread public attention. This incident gave me flashbacks of the dark ages of the 90s. Before filmmaking was given industry status, to secure financing, prominent producers turned to the underworld as bank loans were a tough nut to crack. Untraceable financiers opened a whole new can of worms for Bollywood.

Javed Siddiqui (1995), a big-time producer, was shot dead by the members of the Dawood gang after reportedly refusing to cast an actress favoured by the underworld. Gulshan Kumar (1997), the music baron and T-Series founder, was shot 16 times after refusing to pay extortion demands. Rakesh Roshan (2000), following the massive success of ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’, was shot in the chest and arm for refusing to hand over the overseas profit percentages. 

In my opinion, the Tiger Shroff incident is not an isolated event, recently there has been a flurry of incidents including Rohit Shetty, Kapil Sharma, Disha Patani. All linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. It is very clear that they want attention, and we’re not shy about giving it to them. They have captured the front pages, digital spaces, airtime, and even our conversations. It would be very interesting to see how this unfolds; until then, we can only watch from the sidelines as reality continues to outpace the darkest screenplays.