Bollywood's association with the mafia peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, and actor Sakshi Shivanand had a brush with the underworld that impacted her career in Hindi films.
Sakshi made her acting debut in Telugu cinema and later moved to Hindi films, but she didn't find much success and eventually returned to South cinema.
She got another opportunity to make a comeback in Hindi films and appeared in projects like Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai, but soon discovered that the film's producer allegedly had underworld connections.
Scared, Sakshi abandoned the project and cut off all contact, effectively ending her prospects in Hindi cinema.
She told DNA, 'If I hadn't freaked out after the brush with the underworld I'd have continued here. But I ran away from the Hindi industry. I was really shaken up.'
Her last big-screen appearance was in the 2014 Kannada film Paramashiva, and several top names from the Hindi film industry, including Karan Johar and David Dhawan, have also been threatened by underworld gangsters in the 90s.
