REPORT
When Chhota Rajan
inspired Bollywood
I
n the Bollywood world, which has oft been captivated
by the underbelly of the underworld nexus, has brought
glimpses of the story of mafia don Rajendra Sadashiv
Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan -- a former aide and strongman-turned-foe of fugitive Dawood Ibrahim -- who has
been arrested by the Indonesian police in Bali. What
made Chhota Rajan's life worth a cinematic treatment
was how he fought his way into the gangster world. Born
into a middle
class Marathi
family, Chhota
Rajan
took to black
marketing of
Bollywood
film tickets
and gradually made his
way to bigger crimes
like murder,
extortion,
arms smuuggling
and
more.
He
earned his
name Chhota
Rajan
only when he
took over the
gang led by
his mentor
Bada Rajan
after he was killed in the 1970s. Ram Gopal Varma's
"Vaastav: The Reality" and Mahesh Manjrekar's "Vaastav" are some of the movies that blatantly depicted characters inspired by Chhota Rajan, who operated from
Mumbai and is wanted in India for a series of serious
crimes and murders. He has been nabbed in Bali. "Vaastav: The Reality", a critically acclaimed film released in
1999, is a \