Rani Mukerji, Salman Khan, and Preity Zinta's Chori Chori Chupke Chupke had an underworld connection.Abbas-Mustan’s 2001 romantic comedy Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, starring Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukerji, is known for one of Bollywood’s earliest portrayals of surrogacy, even though the treatment was rather misleading. However, it’s known in the film lore for another completely different reason — a connection to the Mumbai underworld — even though financier Bharat Shah was initially unaware of it.“At a point of time, he (Bharat Shah) got a guy who told him he has Salman Khan’s dates. So, he said, ‘Okay, cool.’ But since that guy didn’t have a film background and wasn’t even rich, Bharat bhai called Salman,” recalled filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who co-produced Dil Se with Bharat Shah around the same time. “Salman told him, ‘Yes, I’ve given him dates.’ That reassured Bharat bhai enough for him to give the money and the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke started,” added Varma.“After some time, he got to know the producer, Nazim Rizvi, has some connection with Chhota Shakeel. But he thought he’s doing a legal business, and if the producer has some underworld connection, how does that concern him? He’s himself not even a criminal, but just associated with a criminal,” RGV told crime author Hussain S Zaidi in his podcast.A businessman from the film industry, whom Ram Gopal Varma didn’t name, got an extortion call for Rs 5 crore from the underworld back then. So, he begged Bharat Shah to help him, hoping Rizvi would help out given his connection with Shakeel. When the call to Shakeel was made, he decided to settle the extortion for Rs 2 crore.Bharat Shah’s indirect underworld connectionThat led to more businessmen from the film industry approaching Bharat Shah for help. “But he wasn’t getting any money. He was just helping out. But the cops were tapping his phone,” said Varma, recalling, “He was trembling with shock and fear. The cops suggested maybe Shakeel was acting for you. So, Bharat bhai said, ‘Why would he act for me? I’m just a filmmaker.'”Both Bharat Shah and Nazim Rizvi were arrested by Mumbai Police in 2001. Bharat was convicted for not disclosing the producer’s underworld connection and was sentenced to one year in jail. But since he already spent 14 months in prison during the trial, he was released immediately. Meanwhile, Nazim and his producing partner Abdul Rahim Allahbaksh Khan were convicted for forging links with the underworld and extorting film personalities. They were fined Rs 15 lakh each and sentenced to jail for six years.Bharat Shah, a diamond merchant and one of the richest men in Mumbai at that time, was the chief financier for top production houses like Yash Chopra’s Yash Raj Films, Yash Johar’s Dharma Productions, Shah Rukh Khan’s Dreamz Unlimited and later, Red Chillies Entertainment. He also served as a co-producer on films like Chopra’s 1993 romantic thriller Darr, Aziz Mirza’s 1997 rom-com Yes Boss, Mani Ratnam’s 1998 romantic drama Dil Se.., Rajkumar Santoshi’s 2000 action thriller Pukar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 period epic Devdas, and Farah Khan’s 2004 action romance Main Hoon Na among others.Story continues below this adMukesh Duggal’s shootingDuring the podcast, Ram Gopal Varma recalled another underworld episode with producer Mukesh Duggal, whom he encountered a couple of times at the office of his co-producer on his 1995 seminal rom-com Rangeela, Jhamu Sughand. “Duggal was close to Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel when they were together. He used to drink with them, and pull up Shakeel for not mixing his drink properly. After the split, Mukesh Duggal came into films. He did only legal business,” revealed RGV.Also Read — Bhoot Bangla Box Office Collection LIVE UpdatesWhen Mukesh Duggal was involved in a property dispute that also concerned Chota Shakeel, the latter put out a contract to kill the former, also thanks to their past association. “Duggal got information of the contract somewhere. So, he called the left-hand guy of Dawood, who then called Shakeel, convincing him to cancel the contract, saying, ‘Hum sab ek hi hain.’ But three hours after the phone call, Duggal was found dead. Shakeel said he tried but couldn’t contact the shooter in time,” added the filmmaker.