Anu Aggarwal, best known for her role in the 1990 film Aashiqui, recently opened up about the Hindi film industry’s connection with the underworld during the ’90s. “It was a dirty business. I don’t know how dirty it is today,” Anu said in a recent interaction, as she revealed how many films were funded by the underworld at that time.
Speaking to Pinkvilla, she said, “At that time, it was all under-the-table deals. It was ruled by people like Dawood Ibrahim. All the money that was coming into the film industry came from the underworld. It was a completely different scenario.”
Anu Aggarwal likens her life back then to that of Shah Rukh Khan’s today
Anu became an overnight sensation after her debut in Aashiqui and had amassed a massive fan following, which, however, put her safety at risk. She revealed that the intense adoration also led her to eventually run away from the film industry. Speaking about the same, she shared, “For me to walk around alone and live alone at that time… I had fans standing under my building. Luckily, it was an MLA-MP building, so we had police protection. It was madness. People would fly from countries just to see my building, just like how it is for Shah Rukh Khan today. Shah Rukh is my neighbour and that’s what used to happen to me, and I ran away from it.”
During the same conversation, she also revealed that she still hasn’t been paid her full remuneration for Aashiqui. “I haven’t gotten the full fees for Aashiqui till today. I’ve only been paid 60% of the full fees. They still owe me the 40%,” the actor alleged.
After Aashiqui, Anu appeared in films like Ghazab Tamasha, King Uncle, Ram Shastra, and more. Her last film was 1996’s Return of Jewel Thief. In 1999, she met with a serious accident that left her in a coma for 29 days. Following the accident, Anu never returned to acting.
