The makers of a film about Indian crime lord Dawood Ebrahim have gone to police after receiving threatening calls.
Coffee With D is about a journalist’s attempt to organise an interview with Ebrahim.
Director Vishal Mishra and producer Vinod Rahani alleged that people have been calling them every day since December 14 from different numbers and locations, demanding that the movie show Ebrahim in a good light.
“The trailer was launched on December 14, 2016 in Mumbai. Since then, we are getting threat calls from internet numbers,” Mishra said.
Mishra also alleged that the movie’s entire team has received threats, and that’s why they moved from Mumbai to Delhi and lodged a complaint at the Parliament Street police station.
Rahani said he received the first call on December 26, 2016.
“The first time I received a call was from one Nayeem when I was in Nagpur on December 26, 2016. The caller threatened me to remove parts of the film which portray underworld don Dawood Ebrahim in a bad light and make fun of him,” Rahani said.
“Nayeem also told me that he was calling on behalf of Chhota Shakeel [Ebrahim’s aide] and threatened to kill the entire families of the film crew if I fail to comply with his demands,” he added.
R.P. Meena, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, said: “We have not registered an FIR in this connection on their allegations. Their complaint is being studied for further course of investigation if needed.”
The movie features comedian Sunil Grover in the role of the TV journalist. Last month, Grover wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to arrest Ebrahim and to expedite the process of his trial for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
