She is not the first aspirant to be dogged by such talk. Ram Teri Ganga Maili actress Mandakini is believed to have abandoned her career when Dawood Ibrahim took a fancy to her.

Women have been involved in the past with the underworld, but mostly as molls or glamour dolls who have dalliances with crime dons, a subject of tabloid frenzy. Ibrahim has been linked to top Indian actress Mandakini. Abu Salem, a rival to Dawood, was arrested in Portugal along with his moll Monica Bedi, a small-time actress for whom he wrangled roles opposite big Bollywood stars such as Sunjay Dutt and Govinda.

When did it happen???

It was that a "concert" was arranged in Dubai with the ubiquitous troupe of singers, musicians, and film stars. Mandakini was invited as a special guest by Dawood himself. The young girl must have been dazzled at the sleek luxury sedan which came to pick her up at the airport. She must have been flattered too to be receiving the attention of one of the richest criminals of the underworld. Mandakini must not even have paused to wonder for a second at the appropriateness of what she was doing, for it was a well known fact that Bollywood actresses could be had for a song or an expensive trinket or two by the Muslim dons of the Islamic Mafia. She was only too happy to oblige. Her producers and directors began getting impatient after waiting for more than a few days for her return, but yet there was no sign of Mandakini. Days slowly turned into weeks and then months, but all of a sudden a hush seemed to descend on the Film Industry, whenever a question was asked about Mandakini. Soon the period of her absence reached nine months and it was then that the whispers got louder, "She's having his baby", the word was heard. Indeed. "Mandakini" the young Christian movie star from Bombay who was christened so in an insulting reference to the Hindu River Goddess Ganga, the most "virginal" of virgins, according to Mr. Raj Kapoor, was pregnant with the child of Dubai's most notorious underworld criminal!

And going by the whispers this wasn't the first time a Bollywood actress had had the privilege of bearing his progeny. What was quite clear however is that Dawood was not going to stoop so low as to actually marry a woman of such low virtue as an Indian film actress. And so the trimester came and went, the ninth month passed and no one got a glimpse of Mandakini. Soon the story seemed stale, the gossip began turning to other issues of more interest and Mandakini was forgotten. She was incognito for years and then suddenly she returned, but there was no trace of a child!