Rishi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar Took 'Expensive Gifts' From Dawood Ibrahim; Stars Went To Dubai For Dinners: Hussain Zaidi
Journalist Hussain Zaidi said Dawood Ibrahim loved Hindi cinema and wanted to be seen in the company of stars.
Journalist and author Hussain Zaidi opened up about the close relationships between Bollywood stars and don Dawood Ibrahim. Hussain said that Dawood would host top Indian celebrities in Dubai and would fund their films with black money. He recalled how Rishi Kapoor and Dilip Kumar openly spoke about meeting him and how the don loved Hindi cinema.
Hussain told Pinkvilla, “Dawood didn’t want to earn money from films; he simply loved Hindi cinema. He loved all the heroines. All the film stars who would travel to Dubai, Dawood used to organise dinner for them. For instance, Dilip Kumar, Rishi Kapoor, Amjad Khan… These people have even talked about it in their interviews about meeting Dawood. He has also given them expensive gifts. So, he wasn’t interested in Hindi films with the purpose of earning money. He just wanted to hobnob with them and be seen in that company."
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Recalling his interview with Dawood, Hussain said, “I asked him why he was terrorising the industry, and he told me, ‘I love the film industry; they don’t need to be scared of me.’ This trend started with Abu Salem, who would extort money from filmmakers."
Hussain said, “He knew everyone—producers, directors, stars, and actresses. During that time, people spoke about their friendship with Dawood as a thing to be proud of. I won’t name anyone, but they would say things like, ‘I just spoke to bhai on the phone.’ Speaking to Dawood was a thing to be proud about. Because the police didn’t have a strong grip at that time, everyone was in touch with him. They saw nothing wrong in being in touch with him."
“He didn’t fund films as a producer, but he would loan the money. At that time, there weren’t many studios, and the industry wasn’t institutionalized. So people would take Dawood’s money and invest it in their films, and in this way, his black money turned white. He would loan them the money, and after the film’s release, they would return it to him as white money," he revealed.
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