Disaster. Flop. Average. If you had to bet on a Bollywood movie’s fate last year, those would have been your three best options in a year that was set to end with a 30% to 40% drop in box-office collections.
The world’s most prolific film industry is desperately hoping for a better 2025. And so are the city’s cops: When the theaters go empty, the body count starts to rise on the streets of Mumbai. That’s what the 1990s were like — and everyone’s dreading a repeat of lawlessness in India’s financial capital.
The fears are far from exaggerated. Baba Siddique, a local politician and real-estate developer who enjoyed close friendships with celebrity actors, was gunned down in October as he was about to get into his car. A member of the gang that claimed responsibility said in a Facebook post that "Bollywood, politics and property dealings” were behind the murder.
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