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While filming ‘Shakti’, producer Mushir Alam was kidnapped in broad daylight, exposing the murky ties between Bollywood and the Mumbai underworld
‘Shakti’ was released on October 1, 1982 and featured a stellar cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Rakhi Gulzar, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Amrish Puri. (News18)
Few films in Bollywood carry both cinematic and real-life drama quite like the 1982 Hindi film, Shakti. Following the lukewarm box-office response to Shaan (1980), director Ramesh Sippy reunited with legendary screenwriting duo Salim-Javed for another ambitious project, Shakti, starring the legendary Amitabh Bachchan and the iconic Dilip Kumar. But while the film itself would go on to become a box-office success, an extraordinary real-life incident during its production left the Hindi film industry shaken: the daylight kidnapping of its producer, Mushir Alam.
A High-Profile Project Meets Real-Life Drama
Released in 1982, Shakti was a major production bringing together two cinematic titans, Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar, for the first and only time. However, its production was marked by an incident as gripping as any crime thriller.
On September 24, 1982, producer Mushir Alam was abducted in broad daylight; a crime that would expose deeper links between Bollywood and the Mumbai underworld.
The Kidnapping
That morning, while en route to work, Mushir Alam was stopped by a white Ambassador car. Three armed men forced him into the vehicle and blindfolded him. Though under immense stress, the producer remained calm, trying to memorise every possible detail of his surroundings.
Despite being blindfolded, he took mental notes: a Sholay film poster on the wall, wooden stairs underfoot, and children reciting the Quran nearby. These clues would later prove crucial to the police investigation.
The kidnappers demanded Rs 20 lakh in ransom. With difficulty, Mushir Alam managed to arrange Rs 3 lakh through a contact. Upon receiving the partial sum, the kidnappers released him at a city crossroads.
A Star’s Push For Justice
Though Mushir Alam was reluctant to revisit the ordeal, actor Dilip Kumar insisted on a full investigation. According to crime officer Isaque Bagwan’s memoirs, Dilip Kumar even visited the Police Commissioner’s office on the very day of the incident.
When Mushir Alam later detailed the kidnapping to police investigators, key questions such as the number of steps he climbed and the time taken to reach the location, led police closer to the truth.
Officer Bagwan suspected the kidnappers had taken Mushir Alam to a property in Nagpada. Upon searching the area, police found the location described by the producer.
It was linked to the notorious Amirzada-Alamzeb gang, known rivals of Dawood Ibrahim. Investigators uncovered that the gang, financially crippled by failed assassination attempts on Dawood Ibrahim, had orchestrated the kidnapping with the help of one of Mushir Alam’s associates, Ahmed Sayyed Khan.
Bollywood And The Underworld
The incident cast a spotlight on the uneasy proximity between Bollywood and Mumbai’s criminal networks during the 1980s. Mushir Alam’s sharp memory ultimately led to the gang’s downfall.
Despite the chaos, Shakti was released on October 1, 1982. It featured a stellar cast including Rakhi Gulzar, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Amrish Puri. It went on to become the eighth highest-grossing film of the year and was later declared a superhit. Yet the chilling real-life episode surrounding its making remains one of Bollywood’s most unforgettable behind-the-scenes sagas.
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