Bollywood’s Dawood connection: ‘Aashiqui’ star Anu Aggarwal reveals ‘underworld’ secrets of movie industry. ‘It was ruled by…’

Anu Aggarwal, who gained nationwide fame along with her debut within the 1990 romantic movie Aashiqui, has made candid revelations in regards to the shadowy underworld affect in Bollywood in the course of the Nineteen Nineties. Talking in a current interview, she described the movie trade of that interval as a “soiled enterprise,” highlighting how a lot of the financing got here from illicit sources. Aggarwal identified that in her time within the trade, Bollywood was primarily managed by underworld figures, together with Dawood Ibrahim.

In her dialog with Pinkvilla, she recalled that a lot of the cash flowing into movies got here by under-the-table offers. In keeping with her, “It was dominated by individuals like Dawood Ibrahim. All the cash that was coming into the movie trade got here from the underworld. It was a very completely different situation.”

The Heavy Burden of Sudden Stardom

Anu’s rise to fame was swift. Aashiqui’s huge success turned her right into a family identify in a single day, however the adoration quickly grew to become overwhelming. The fixed public consideration affected her deeply, main her to retreat from the highlight. She spoke in regards to the degree of obsession followers had, with some even touring internationally simply to get a glimpse of her residence.

She famous, “For me to stroll round alone and stay alone at the moment… I had followers standing beneath my constructing. Fortunately, it was an MLA-MP constructing, so we had police safety. It was insanity. Folks would fly from nations simply to see my constructing, similar to how it’s for Shah Rukh Khan at this time. Shah Rukh is my neighbour, and that is what used to occur to me, and I ran away from it.”

This era of fame, fairly than being a time of celebration, grew to become suffocating. Anu ultimately selected to stroll away from movies, not due to bitterness or disillusionment, however as a result of the depth of fame was an excessive amount of to deal with. She defined that she had already achieved her desires and wished to pursue private development exterior of the trade.

Aashiqui Success Did Not Deliver Full Compensation

Regardless of the industrial triumph of Aashiqui, Anu Aggarwal revealed she was by no means absolutely paid for her function within the movie. She claimed that she solely acquired 60 % of the remuneration promised to her and that the remaining quantity stays unpaid even many years later. “I haven’t gotten the complete charges for Aashiqui until at this time. I’ve solely been paid 60% of the complete charges. They nonetheless owe me the 40%,” she stated.Following her breakthrough, she acted in different movies reminiscent of Ghazab Tamasha, King Uncle, and Ram Shastra, amongst others. Nonetheless, her rising profession got here to a sudden halt after a devastating automotive accident in 1999. The crash left her in a coma for 29 days, and he or she by no means returned to appearing after recovering. Her closing movie look was within the 1996 thriller Return of Jewel Thief.Whereas the trade’s darkish associations and the pressures of fame might have been sufficient to push anybody out, Anu clarified that her choice to depart was private. She emphasised that she had no regrets and easily wished to discover a life past cinema.