This world has seen a lot, from the pyramids to Felix Baumgartner’s plunge from space, evolution of organisms to the many wars and bloodshed, wise men say history repeats itself, that we all fall into an evolutionary cycle where the end and the beginning have no particular distinction. But in a world that has subdued many distinctions, India has stood tall.
The various cultures and the problems they face, Indian media has united us, our vast diversity in cinema still grows, creating new perspectives, breaking boundaries, exploring the inexhaustibility of music and uniting us as a nation through entertainment.
The center of India’s vivid cinema history has experienced the terrors of riots, gang wars and terrorism. ‘Godfather’s of Crime’ is investigative journalist- Sheela Raval’s account of her dealings with the Mumbai underworld led by the infamous don Dawood Ibrahim, the don held responsible for the bomb blast in 1993 and also the one who financed Bollywood. Though the don gave only one interview, the book refers to many conversations between Raval and the don’s henchmen and confidants.
The book gives the true Indian perspectives of both the judicial system and in contrast, that of the typical Mumbai gangster and the deeper into the book you go, the more you understand the power play of international politics on the city of Mumbai. This understanding allows the reader room for speculation as to whether governments are anything they portray themselves to be.
Raval has tried her best to and succeeds in providing an unbiased account to allow the reader to truly understand the political happenings and the methods in which the nation has to react to terrorism and how an international terrorist’s organisation has managed to resist these measure using its own political connections. She has also managed to earn the trust and respect of the D-company whilst maintaining neutrality, this shows as there are moments when the gangsters show their emotional sides and desires to be legitimate, hopes that they will be the last criminals of their lineages.
‘Godfather’s of Crime’ is a must read as it revolves around the Indian “Pablo Escobar” and the way our government shall deal with the issues at hand.
