27 years ago, it was probably the darkest day in the history of Hindi Cinema when T-Series head Gulshan Kumar, was shot dead outside a temple after 16 rounds of firing. The cassette king was getting threat calls from the underworld, and the calls demanded a ransom of 10 crore.
Gulshan Kumar’s Last Ransom Call
But the Music Mogul was stronger than one could have thought. He outrightly refused to be scared and pay the ransom. In the last call with the gangsters, he was threatened, “If you haven’t informed the Mumbai Police, you are not taking us seriously. You better take us seriously.”
Gulshan Kumar responded to the caller, “Main mera dharam kar raha hun, Aap apna kariye,” as per a report by India Today. The T-series head miffed Abu Salem when he denied paying a ransom of 10 crore.
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Would Do A Bhandara!
Journalist-turned-writer Hussain Zaidi, in his book My Name is Abu Salem, quoted the exact conversation between the underworld Don and Gulshan Kumar. He wrote, “Don Abu Salem had demanded a ransom of Rs 10 crore. There were constant calls from the underworld, but Gulshan was not afraid. He told Abu Salem on the phone for 10 crores, I will get Bhandara in Vaishno Devi.”
Bahut Pooja Kar Li
Abu Salem was so miffed with Gulshan Kumar that he decided to kill the music producer outside a temple. On August 12, 1997 when Gulshan stepped outside the Shiv Mandir in Andheri, a man came and put a gun on his forehead. Before shooting him, the shooter told Gulshan Kumar, “Bahut Pooja Kar Li, Ab Upar Jaake Karna.”
A Cry For Help & Screams
The music producer kept banging doors in the nearby slums, but scared, everyone went inside and shut the door. He kept screaming and howling for help, while 16 gunshots were fired on his neck and back. Reports suggest that Abu Salem kept hearing those screams for 10 minutes before the T-series head surrendered near a wall.
A report by India Today writes that Gulshan Kumar‘s driver tried to help him but could not and witnessed him taking his last breath near a wall that had a painted picture of Goddess Amba. A lifeless man who changed the fate of devotional music in India, making Vaishno Devi a grand attraction with Jagratas, was lying there, at the feet of Goddess Amba! What an irony!
Surely, it was the darkest day in Hindi Cinema – August 12, 1997!
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