Ram Gopal Varma recalls underworld’s impact on Bollywood in the 90s: ‘They tried to kill producer Manmohan Shetty’ - Exclusive

Bollywood’s run-in with the underworld has been a topic of discussion for decades. Over the years, there have been multiple incidents that shook the B’town. Recently, outside Rohit Shetty’s home in Juhu, left everyone worried. Soon after the shooting, the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi Gang took responsibility for the attack. Amid all this, ‘Satya’ fame filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma shared his thoughts on the matter. In an exclusive interview with us, RGV recalled the impact of the underworld on the industry back in the 90s. Below are excerpts from our conversation.

Ram Gopal Varma on Rohit Shetty’s house firing incident

Ram Gopal Varma expressed his concern over the origin of the attack. He emphasised exploring what happened before the firing incident. RGV mentioned, “To start with, before the shooting incident happened, there should have been a pre-run, which only Rohit can say, no? Right. So, did Rohit get any calls for extortion? He's not talking. So, how do we know what the origin of the attack is?”

Ram Gopal Varma on Bollywood’s run-in with the underworld in the 90s

Further in the conversation, he shared, “See, for all we know, it's just somebody having fun; we really don't know. It is not possible, really, for a criminal organization with a brand to surface. Even Bishnoi’s roots are in another state, not in Bombay city.”

Recalling the underworld threats and incidents back in the 90s, Ram Gopal Varma added, “When this used to happen in 97, 98, I think the whole thing was like a movement. I mean, in terms of the scale, not some isolated incident. Right, no, no, everyone was under threat. Everyone who was somebody. Remember Rakesh Roshan, who would forget, he was actually shot at. Yeah. They tried to kill producer Manmohan Shetty, then, of course, Rajiv Rai. That I don't believe will come back.”

Ram Gopal Varma’s take on the Bishnoi gang’s claims

“Organized crime is different from an isolated incident, which could be a crime caused by anything, including someone doing it just for the heck of it. Bishnoy is the only guy who keeps claiming he's done it,” he said.

“For him, it's a badge of honor, you know, he's a criminal. There used to be a guy at that time called Ali Budesh, who used to claim responsibility for everyone who was killed. He used to claim that just like that,” concluded Ram Gopal Varma.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”