Tiger Shroff Attack: Why Gangsters Target Bollywood

Indians all know Bollywood and for a gangster who wants to leapfrog in his branding, shooting a star is the guaranteed shortcut. Even after the Sidhu Moosewala murder in 2022, Lawrence Bishnoi, his gang, the rivals, splinters, offshoots, were famous only in limited regions of north India. Or with the educated public in the rest of the country who followed headlines. Once shots were fired outside the house of Salman Khan two years later, that changed. Now everyone aware of Khan, which is every adult Indian, knew the gangster trying to kill him. They don't think of him kindly, but then which gangster is particular about positive image reinforcement. Infamy matters because it gives fantastic returns. Extortion demands are immediately met by all industries.

There was no reason to target Khan. An excuse was picked out that he was involved in a poaching case connected to the Bishnoi community which Lawrence Bishnoi comes from. The gang had tasted blood with unexpected fame after the Moosewala killing and realised the potency of this strategy. The attempted killing of Tiger Shroff on October 18 is the upping of the stakes yet again. And they have come closer this time--from shots outside a house to bullets fired into the car with intent to kill. In one video clip, it looks like a gun jammed, making the survival almost miraculous.

This strategy comes with risks. The Mumbai police arrested the shooters in the Salman Khan shooting case, and they will get the Tiger shooters too. But these are the expendables, a category perfected by the Mumbai dons in the 1990s when they used to terrorise, extort and kill Bollywood figures like Gulshan Kumar. The man who pulls the trigger is the lowest in the chain and his elimination doesn't do anything to those who give the orders. The Mumbai dons who gave the orders were based abroad, just as many from the Bishnoi gang are. It was only when the Mumbai police made it certain that anyone who pulled the trigger was sure to be killed in encounters that they couldn't find shooters anymore. That was how the first round of the Bollywood terror ended.

The Bishnoi gang dips into the villages of north India for its shooters and its core network is in a place that the Mumbai police have no control over. An eradication program will be difficult. Also when one gang has shown that targeting Bollywood has become a viable strategy, others will mimic it. The movie is only going to get worse from now on.