India’s Gangsters, Dons, Killers & Dacoits – Here’s How Bollywood Immortalized Them In Biopics

Cinema has always been fascinated by real life and is inspired by it. On the other hand, real life has been in awe of cinema and often imitates what is seen on the big screen. The lives and times of underworld dons, criminals, gangsters and dacoits have been a favorite subject for filmmakers. Audiences also read stories from people on the other side of the law. Since Bollywood is always bankable when it comes to adding the necessary emotions and drama to even a hardcore crime movie, such biopics are a perfect recipe for success.

Here are a few.

Dayavan (1988) Varadarajan Mudaliar

Originally from Tamil Nadu, Varadarajan Mudaliar was a gangster and a smuggler. He moved to Mumbai in 1945 and started working there as a porter. Initially, he stole dock cargo, but soon expanded his criminal activities to extortion, kidnapping, contract killings, illegal gambling, and more. among the South Indian slum dwellers of Mumbai helped create a massive haven for himself in the Dharavi slums and easily expanded his criminal activities. He ran smuggling deals with crime bosses Haji Mastan and Karim Lala, and this infamous trio of mob bosses quickly rose to power. Director Mani Ratnam made an epic drama based on his life in 1987 epic and called it Nayakan, with Kamal Haasan in the lead role. Later in 1988 Feroz Khan did the Bollywood remake day van with Vinod Khanna.

Bandit Queen (1994)

Shekhar Kapurs’ iconic film, based on the life of bandit wife Phoolan Devi, was a smash hit. In the movie, Seema Biswas as Phoolan Devi and tells her story which was already covered in the book Indias Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi by author Mala Sen. Phoolan Devi was a victim of child marriage. At the age of 11, she was married to a man named Puttilal Mullah, who was in his twenties. She was continuously exposed to sexual abuse and exploitation. She decides to run away from her husband and join Vikram Mallah’s famous dacoit gang.

Ravan Raaj: A True Story (1995) Auto Shankar

This starring Mithun Chakraborty is an action drama inspired by the Tamil blockbuster Pulan Visaranai, which is loosely based on the life of serial killer Auto Shankar. Gowri Shankar, better known as Auto Shankar, was a Tamil Nadu-based gangster who was active throughout the 1970s and 1980s. also worked as a pimp and provided girls in VIP bungalows. In the late 1980s, Shankar rose to power and maintained relationships with the most powerful and influential people. He used to brutally kill and bury anyone who tried to oppose him, and was often hired for political assassinations. T.Rama Raos 1995 movie Ravan Raaj: A True Story features Shakti Kapoor as the main antagonist of Auto Kesariya, the character inspired by Auto Shankar.

Company (2002) Dawood Ibrahim / Chhota Rajan

Director Ram Gopal Varma is loosely based on the activities of D-Companys and mainly covers the fallout between mobsters Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. Dawood Ibrahim runs the D-Company and has been the most wanted criminal since the Bombay bombings in 1993. Chhota Rajan, the Indian criminal and mobster, is wanted for a number of criminal cases in his name. Chhota Rajan became Dawood Ibrahim’s right-hand man during his war with Arun Gawli’s rival gang in the late 1980s. However, the two parted ways in 1993, after the Mumbai bombings. Subsequently, Chhota Rajan formed his independent gang. The main character of the movie Company(2002), N. Malik (Ajay Devgn) and Chandrakant Chandu Nagre (Vivek Oberoi) are inspired by Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan respectively.

Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010)

Milan Luthrias’ film is loosely based on the life of Mumbai underworld mobster Haji Mastan, a mafia boss, originally from southern India. He was based in Mumbai and ruled the underworld from the 1960s to the 1980s. He operated a powerful smuggling business and had connections to powerful political leaders and good relations with police and government officials. Initially, he worked in the docks which made it easy to operate his smuggling business and soon became one of the most influential mob bosses who maintained good terms with other gang leaders. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut.

Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016)

Anurag Kashyaps’ psychological crime drama is inspired by real-life killer Raman Raghav, who operated in Mumbai in the 1960s. A series of murders took place in 1965 and 1966, when around 19 people were attacked. Raman Raghav, a homeless man, was suspected of being behind the murders, but the police let him go as no solid evidence was found against him. In 1968 the same pattern of murders took place and during the manhunt the police caught Raman Raghav in the act. In his confession, he admitted to murdering 41 people in 1966 and a dozen in 1968. The intent behind the murders was never clear, however, it was claimed that Raman Raghav suffered from schizophrenia. Ramans’ sentence was reduced from death to life imprisonment due to his incurable mental illness. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Raman Raghav to perfection in the film.

The list is endless with other films like Mumbai Saga (2021), based on the real-life encounter of gangster Amar Naik, Raees (2017), based on the life of criminal Abdul Latif, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Apoorva Lakhias 2017 biographical crime drama Haseena Parkar based on the life of Indian gangster and drug kingpin, Dawood Ibrahims (played by Siddhanth Kapoor) younger sister Haseena Parkar (played by Shraddha Kapoor), Ram Gopal Vermas Veerappan based on real bandit Veerappan (played by Sandeep Bharadwaj) and many others. Then, of course, there was also Serpent, based on the life of recently released bikini-clad killer Charles Sobhraj.