Bollywood actresses who fell in love with real-life gangsters

Mandakini, who shot to fame with Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili in the 1980s, found herself at the center of one of Bollywood’s most sensational rumors. She was allegedly in a relationship with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, India’s most wanted man. Though she never confirmed these claims, a few old photographs surfaced showing her with Dawood, sparking intense media speculation. Her sudden disappearance from films and low-key life thereafter only added mystery to her story. Years later, she resurfaced as a yoga teacher and denied any romantic ties with the gangster.

Mamta Kulkarni was one of the boldest actresses of the 1990s, known for her fiery roles and magazine cover controversies. Her association with international drug smuggler Vicky Goswami turned her life upside down. It was reported that the two married while Goswami was serving a sentence in a Kenyan jail. In 2016, her name cropped up in a ₹2,000 crore drug trafficking case, and the couple was accused of operating a global narcotics network. Though Mamta denied her involvement, she remains a wanted accused and reportedly lives in Kenya in self-imposed exile.

Monica Bedi’s affair with dreaded gangster Abu Salem was a headline-grabbing love story that turned into a nightmare. The actress, known for her roles in a few Hindi and Telugu films, was reportedly in a live-in relationship with Salem during the early 2000s. The couple was arrested in Portugal in 2002 for traveling with fake documents. After extradition to India, she spent several years in jail. Monica later attempted to rebuild her image with TV appearances, including Bigg Boss, but her past relationship with Salem remains her most defining and controversial chapter.

Actress Sona’s relationship with the notorious Mumbai smuggler Haji Mastan is one of the earliest recorded affairs between Bollywood and the underworld. Mastan, who ruled Mumbai’s docks and smuggling scene in the 70s, was fascinated by cinema and fell for Sona, who was said to resemble Madhubala. They reportedly married, and she later withdrew from acting. Their romance formed the basis of the fictional characters portrayed in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai—a cinematic tribute to the merging worlds of crime and stardom.

Anju Mahendru, known for her long relationship with Rajesh Khanna, was also rumored—though never proven—to have been acquainted with an underworld figure during the 1980s, after her breakup with Khanna. While these claims were never confirmed or widely reported in mainstream media, her presence at certain high-profile parties frequented by underworld figures sparked gossip columns at the time. Unlike others on this list, Anju always maintained a dignified silence, and these remain whispers with no documented evidence—but they add to the murky overlap of Bollywood’s glamour and Mumbai’s underworld.