India Today ·
Arts, culture, entertainment and media
It did a lot of damage: Mandakini breaks silence on photo with Dawood Ibrahim
Actor Mandakini opened up about her controversial photo with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. In a recent interview, she said the controversy did a lot of damage.
Veteran actor Mandakini broke her silence on the controversial photograph of her with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim that surfaced years ago. She clarified that she had not been invited by him and had travelled to Dubai for a show before going to the cricket match where the picture was taken.
In an interview with ANI, Mandakini said she had no control over reports linking them romantically that followed the photograph. She said that, as an artist, she met thousands of people and treated everyone equally.
Recalling the circumstances around the image in an interview with ANI, Mandakini said, “Jo bhi log likhna chahe, jo bhi bolna chahe, we don't have control over it. Ek artist ko hazaron log milte hain aur hum sabke liye barabar hai (People may want to write or speak whatever they wish—we have no control over that. An artist meets thousands of people, and everyone is equal to us.)
"I did not even go to Dubai to watch the match. Hum waha kisi show ke liye gaye the. Match mein bahut saare log baithe the (We had gone there for a show. There were a lot of people seated at the match), and he was just sitting there.”
She also rejected the suggestion that Dawood Ibrahim had invited her. “No, I was not invited by Dawood. Controversy banana aur ek chiz ko interesting banana yeh sab mjhe nahi pata tha (I didn't know anything about manufacturing controversy or making something interesting),” she said.
Mandakini said the aftermath of the episode was serious and that she later realised the importance of having a team to handle such matters. “The controversy did a lot of damage. Later, I came to know that one should have a team to take care of all these things. I denied the rumours everywhere,” she said.
She said her denial had also been reported at the time and repeated that she did not know about alleged underworld funding in Bollywood during that period. “It was also printed at the time that I denied the rumours. I did not even know about the underworld funding in Bollywood during the 80s. I got to know about these things through films which were made later,” Mandakini said.
In the same interview, Mandakini also looked back at Ram Teri Ganga Maili, her debut film directed by Raj Kapoor. Released in 1985, the film became a major success and established her as one of the prominent faces of Hindi cinema in the 1980s. She said filming began when she was 16 and described it as Raj Kapoor’s final directorial venture.
Mandakini addressed the long-running discussion around the white saree waterfall sequence in Tujhe Bulayen Yeh Meri Bahen and the breastfeeding scene, saying she did not find the scenes vulgar or uncomfortable. She said both moments were meant to convey innocence and purity in the story, but were later viewed through a sensationalised lens.
After the film’s success, she went on to work with several leading names in the industry, including Mithun Chakraborty and Govinda, and appeared in numerous films. Her filmography also includes Tezaab, which featured Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in the lead roles. In 2023, she appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show alongside Varsha Usgaonkar and Sangeeta Bijlani, where she shared several anecdotes with Kapil Sharma.