Leading Bollywood actors attacked or threatened

LAHORE: Bollywood star, Saif Ali Khan, who sustained severe injuries to his spinal cord after being stabbed by an unidentified assailant in the wee hours of Thursday, is not the first Indian film celebrity who has been physically attacked, faced shocking life threats or embroiled in violent confrontations, research shows.

Before Saif, an unknown person had sent actor Shahrukh Khan a threatening message, asking for a ransom of Indian Rs50 lakh in 2024.

Actor Salman Khan has received many death threats over the years too.

In 2024, two men on a motorcycle had opened fire outside his residence in Mumbai. The shooters were reportedly hired by the infamous Lawrence Bishnoi's gang.

Later, Anmol Bishnoi, brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Facebook post.

According to “India Today,” in November 2024, Salman Khan received a fresh threat from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, who said that the actor should either visit a temple or apologize for allegedly killing a black buck, and pay Rs50 million. The threat message said that if Salman failed to fulfil the conditions, he would face a fate ‘worse than Baba Siddique’, who was fatally shot on October 12, 2024.”

Salman also received a similar death threat from an unknown person on October 30 last, who had received Rs20 million from him.

In 2005, actor Aamir Khan had gone on to receive a threatening letter from an anonymous person.

The “India Today” stated, “Aamir Khan received a few death threats, according to reports. He bought a new bomb/bullet-proof car – a Mercedes Benz S600 – worth Rs10 crore for this reason. He became the third person to own a bullet-proof car after PM Manmohan Singh and industrialist Mukesh Ambani.”

In June 2024, actress, Raveena Tandon, faced a violent mob after her car struck three pedestrians in Mumbai.

The Indian Express had reported, “In a video that has gone viral, the actress could be seen arguing with a crowd of people near her residence in Bandra. As per the police, Raveena’s car had just entered her residence compound when a crowd gathered outside, demanding that the driver come out and speak to them over claims that the vehicle hit a woman.”

Actor Dilip Kumar was victim of an unfortunate acid attack in 1955.

According to renowned Indian film magazine Filmfare’s May 1955 issue, a young man from Delhi, Yasin Chandiwala, attempted to disfigure Dilip with acid.

Dilip was quoted as saying, “I had received a hysterically written letter from this person. He really was a lad stating that he was going to throw acid on me and giving reasons why he wanted to do that. The reasons were all so contradictory that I believe the boy is unbalanced. One of his reasons was that I, a Muslim, had taken a Hindu name and had developed associations with non-Muslims! Another was that I was playing fast and loose with Muslim women and he objected to this. Still, another was that he was desperate, his parents being in Pakistan and he was stranded here, and that he wanted to come to my attention so that I could do something to mitigate his plight.”

Indian journalist, Paurush Gupta, had once written, “In the 1960s, there were accusations that Dilip Kumar (maiden name Yusuf Khan) was a Pakistani spy. Many claimed that he was helping Pakistan gather intelligence from India. It was claimed that he frequently visited Pakistan on one pretext or another for the same reason. Apparently, when the India-Pakistan war was in full swing, there was news that spy equipment was found in the house of an important person, and this person used to pass a lot of information to Pakistan.”

He added, “In fact, the Calcutta Police raided his house and probed him. Then in 1998, Dilip Kumar went to Pakistan to receive this award, along with Sunil Dutt, who was also born in undivided India. Later, during the Kargil war, there was a widespread demand that Dilip Kumar return the honour bestowed on him by Pakistan, but he refused to do so.”

In 2021, Shiv Sena had verbally attacked Dilip Kumar for supporting Deepa Mehta's film 'Fire.’

In 1971, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah had faced an attack at a restaurant from an old acquaintance. However, fellow actor Om Puri's swift response saved his life.

In 2015, Naseeruddin was trolled on Twitter following comments he made in praise for book written by Pakistan's former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. He said he was targeted for being a Muslim.