Photos of Mandakini beside underworld don Dawood Ibrahim at a Sharjah cricket match went viral a year after the 1993 Bombay blasts, triggering rumours that effectively ended her career. She denied any relationship and was never charged.
In 1994, photographs surfaced showing Mandakini seated near Dawood Ibrahim while watching a cricket match in Sharjah. The timing could not have been worse: Dawood had been named the mastermind of the March 1993 Bombay serial blasts, which killed hundreds, and was India's most wanted fugitive.
The images spread rapidly and gave rise to persistent rumours of a romantic relationship between the actress and the don. Mandakini has consistently and forcefully denied any such relationship, insisting the encounter was incidental.
She was never charged with any wrongdoing and was in time given a clean chit. But in the raw, fearful atmosphere after the blasts, the mere association was toxic; producers backed away and her film offers dried up. She made her final film, Zordaar, in 1996 and left the industry.
Sources
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