Director Rajiv Rai, known for his 1997 film Gupt starring Kajol and Bobby Deol, and Mohra starring Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon, faced several threats from gangsters and even an attack at his office when Bollywood was facing a lot of heat from the underworld. He relocated to the UK and has now returned to India. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, the director recalled the horrific time in the 90s. He also revealed that the police had asked him to not engage with the underworld calls. They also advised Rai to take training from the CID for precautionary purposes.
During the conversation, Rajiv shared, “The problem happened after Gupt. After that one, I gave two films that weren’t upto the mark. So, that was also very troubling for me. I got a call on my landline the next day. Nobody asked for money. I didn’t say anything, I never came on call, we never talked. I right away called the police and they asked me to not talk.”
He added, “We had recorders in the office, everything was recorded and sent to the police. I must have said hello on the first call, main samajh gaya yeh galat hai. I spoke for four seconds, then I pretended that I am someone else. I feel that the number of calls I used to get at that time, maksad toh paisa hi hoga (they must want money).”
Recalling the attempt of attack at his office in 1997, he was relieved that his bodyguards protected him that day. “Mere upar attack hua, maine kaam chorra tha (I was attacked after I left work). It happened in my office, I don’t talk about it much. They came with guns and bullets. Agar mere aage aate toh main abhi hota hi nahi. I was inside, but my bodyguards were there. Vo bhaage toh darr gaye. It’s complicated, chaar neeche, chaar upar, inka mission confusion mein hi kharaab hojaata hai (Lack of planning and confusion spoiled their mission). 90% of the time, the police used to tell me that they misfire professionally,” he said.
When asked if he fled the country because of the threats, he answered, “I went because there was a lot of pressure. My father was very unwell, I had to take care of him. I couldn’t afford to die. I thought that agar mujhe goli lagg gayi, toh kaun dhyaan rakhega (My father was unwell, who would have taken care of him)? My son wasn’t well, he was autistic and I had to educate him. There were so many threats. So, I had multiple reasons. I thought that I should call it a day, God has given me a little bit of money.”
Moreover, the director revealed that he went on to make more money after moving away. “And, when I didn’t work for 20 years, I actually made money through my old films. I made more money, jitna maine unn dino mein nahi banaaya jab main kaam karaha tha (I made less money when I was working). Legally fight bani..cash has to be cheque..if you come to my office, we don’t even have Rs 5K in cash. Rakhte hi nahi the log.’
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After receiving the threatening calls, the police advised him to undergo training from the Crime Investigation Department. “I used to keep visiting after every three months to check on my father. I went to several countries, mujhe police ne bola tha kabhi bolna nahi (police advised that I should never reveal this). When this attack happened, I had to take training,” Rajiv shared.
“So, I used to go to CID for training. Jab phone aaye toh mujhe bola gaya ki training lo. They used to teach kaise gaadi badalni hai, always look over your shoulder..bahut kuch (When I got the threatening call, I was asked to train. They taught me how to change the car, look over my shoulder… a lot). I had a police permission to cut the red lights, because at that time, they can shoot you when your car stops,” he concluded.
