The 2001 romantic drama Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, directed by Abbas Mustan and starring Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukerji, is often remembered for presenting one of Bollywood’s earliest depictions of surrogacy, albeit in a somewhat flawed way.
However, beyond its story, the film remains notorious for its unexpected links to the Mumbai underworld, a connection that its financier Bharat Shah was initially unaware of.
Recalling the events, director Ram Gopal Varma, who co-produced Dil Se.. with Shah, shared how the project came together. During a conversation with Hussain Zaidi, he shared, “At one point, he (Bharat Shah) got a guy who told him that he had Salman Khan’s dates.
So, he said, “Okay, cool.” “But since that man had no film background and was not rich, Bharat Bhai called Salman. Salman told him: ‘Yes, I gave him dates,'” Varma said. He added that this reassured Bharat Bhai enough for him to donate money and start the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke.Things took another turn when Shah later discovered that the film’s producer,
Nazim Rizvi
He allegedly has ties with underworld figure Chhota Shakel. Varma explained Shah’s mindset at that time.
“After some time, he came to know the producer, Nazim Rizvi, who has some association with Chhota Shakeel. But he thought he was doing legal work, and if the producer has some association with the underworld, how would that worry him? He himself is not even a criminal, but is only associated with a criminal,” he added.The situation escalated when an unnamed businessman from the film industry received a blackmail call demanding Rs 5 crore.
Desperate, he turned to Shah for help, hoping that Rizvi’s call to Shakeel would solve the problem. When contacted, the demand was negotiated to Rs 2 crore.Soon more industry figures began approaching Shah for similar assistance. Despite the help of others, Shah did not benefit financially from these interventions. “But he wasn’t getting any money. He was just helping out. But the cops were monitoring his phone,” Varma recalled, adding: “He was shaking from shock and fear.”
The cops suggested that Shakeel might have been acting on your behalf. Therefore, Bharat Bhai said: “Why should he act on my behalf?” I’m just a filmmaker.
“”In 2001, both Shah and Rizvi were arrested by Mumbai Police. Shah was convicted of failing to disclose Rizvi’s alleged underworld connections and was sentenced to one year in prison. However, after spending 14 months in custody during the trial, he was immediately released. Meanwhile, Rizvi and his partner
Abdul Rahim
Allah Baksh Khan was convicted of maintaining his ties with the underworld and blackmailing members of the film industry.
They were each fined Rs 15,000 and sentenced to six years in prison.Before this controversy, Shah, who is also a prominent diamond merchant, was among the most influential financiers in Bollywood. He has supported major streamers such as
Yash Raj movies
Dharma Productions, Dreamz Unlimited, and later Red Chillies Entertainment. His co-production credits include films like ‘Darr’, ‘Yes Boss’, ‘Dil Se.’, ‘Pukar’, ‘Devdas’ and ‘Main Hoon Na’, and collaborations with filmmakers like Yash Chopra, Aziz Mirza, Mani Ratnam, Rajkumar Santoshi,
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
And Farah Khan.
