#GunsAndGlamour: 5 Actresses Who Fell In Love With Real-Life Gangsters Like Monica Bedi

The last decade has seen an exponential rise in the popularity of crime dramas. And for the best, the sub-genre of gangster stories have made a remarkable return. While some of these films/shows made us relive the classic era, the others chronicled criminals with a fresh perspective. Similarly, ZEE5’s upcoming original series Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu is all set to revamp the crime genre. The show draws an interesting yet realistic connection between the crime and glamour world.

Watch the trailer:

Weaving a fictional crime story around this real-life inspired setting, Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu (MHBRH) follows the journey of Nawab (Parth Samthaan) who dreams to be the don of Mumbai. The trailer has already gotten the viewers intrigued as they are eagerly waiting for the show’s premiere. An interesting aspect of the show is that it portrays two different worlds i.e crime and glamour which regulate hand in hand. The show will see Nawab falling head over heels in love with Laila (Patralekha), a budding actress in Bollywood

While we’ll see a bigger picture of this theme in the show, we thought of giving you an overview of some real-life stories. Similar to Nawab-Laila, these stories are of romance between infamous gangsters and renowned film stars.

So, here’s taking a look at 5 actresses who fell in love with the underworld gangsters.

Mamta Kulkarni

Actress Mamta Kulkarni is still remembered to be one of the finest and rising stars of the 90s. After making her debut with the film Tirangaa, the streak of success seemed endless for the actress. However, in 2000 she went missing and it was later found out that she had a connection with the underworld.

 Mamta’s love affair with the infamous Vicky Goswami is still fresh among the masses. She left her successful Bollywood career midway for the love of Vicky. In many interviews, the actress even backed Goswami and claimed that he’s been trapped in a conspiracy.

Monica Bedi

Being a prominent face of mainstream cinema, actress Monica Bedi had worked with superstars like Govinda, Salman Khan, and Suniel Shetty. However, she often made headlines due to her relationship with gangster Abu Salem. Reportedly, Bedi was the second wife of Salem, and the couple separated after their arrest.  For those unaware, Salem was one of the accused criminals during the 1993 bomb blast case.

Their love affair became the talk of the town for a very long time. In an interview, Monica had said that Salem’s love for her was “pure”.

Mandakini

Mandakini was one of the A-list actors of Hindi cinema during the 80s era. Also, this was the time when some notorious gangsters had a hold over the city of Bombay. And Dawood Ibrahim and his D-Company were at the forefront in the city. While Mandakini was achieving great success in her film career, the actress also made headlines for her love affair with Dawood.

Many reports also claim that Mandakini used Dawood’s influence to make producers cast her for their films. However, later, Dawood flew from Mumbai to escape from the law. The actress also got married in 1990 and stayed away from the spotlight.

Anita Ayoob

Former Pakistani actress Anita Ayoob also shared a close relationship with the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. She acted in several Indian and Pakistani films however, her career took a controversial turn due to her affair with Dawood. It was also reported that Dawood’s hitmen had shot a producer Javed Siddique as he refused to cast Ayoob in a film.

Sona Mastan

Sona Mastan Mirza was an actress in the Hindi film industry in the 70s and 80s. Though she was not that popular, gangster Haji Mastan fell in love with her due to her striking similarities with Madhubala. She got married to Mastan in 1984 and they often made it into the news due to their love story. The 2010 film Once Upon A Time In Mumbai shows a fictional representation of their story.

So, that was some of the interesting real-life connections between film stars and criminals. And the upcoming Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu will give you a detailed insight into this infamous connection.

Meanwhile, stay tuned to ZEE5 for more interesting content and stories.