Sonali Bendre says she lost films due to underworld's influence: 'There was a lot of unregulated finance coming in...'

Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre, who starred in films like Sarforash, Diljale, Hum Saath - Saath Hain and more in the 90s, has said that she lost several roles due to the influence of the underworld on Bollywood. In a recent interview, she shared that the filmmakers would call her and say, "I have that pressure...'

TN Entertainment Desk

Updated Jun 27, 2022, 08:55 IST

Actress and popular TV commercial's husnpari Sonali Bendre entered Bollywood at the age of 19. She made her debut with Aag in 1994 and then went on to star in films like Sarfarosh, Hum Hum Saath - Saath Hain, Diljale and more. Recently, Sonali made her acting comeback and digital debut with web show The Broken News.

In a recent interview, Sonali opened up about the underworld element in the Hindi film industry back in the day. She revealed that she lost films due to the pressure and it was her beau Goldie Behl who helped her understand how it worked.

On The Ranveer Show podcast, Sonali said, "Many clean sources were financing films. But, there was not a proper, formal industry status. So, there was a lot of unregulated finance coming in as well, and banks will not give it to you. So, that limit was there.”

She added that she always tried to avoid working with "dodgy" producers.

“There were times when I was supposed to do a role and it went to someone else because someone called them up. But then the director or the co-actor will call you and say ‘I have that pressure and I can’t do anything about it’ And, I understand,” she shared.

This is not the first time a celebrity has spoken about how the underworld controlled Bollywood. While Sonali and other actors lost films due to this, there were several other incidents. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan was reportedly offered roles by gangsters and even threatened for not signing up films they wanted him to. Meanwhile, several filmmakers had receive extortion calls.

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