Is Gangubai Kathiawadi’s Rahim Lala Based on a Real Gangster?

Is Gangubai Kathiawadi’s Rahim Lala Based on a Real Gangster? Well, Ganga Harjivandas evolves from being a young woman forced into prostitution to being a beloved local character in Kamathipura and a dreaded mafia don known as Gangubai Kathiawadi in the film “Gangubai Kathiawadi.” The criminal thriller starring Alia Bhatt as Gangubai Kathiawadi combines fiction and fact to create an onscreen replica of Gangubai Kathiawadi’s life. Rahim Lala, an underworld don, plays a significant role in her story, and we’re sure that viewers are curious about the character’s influence. If you’re wondering if the ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ character Rahim Lala is based on a real person, here’s everything you need to know!

Is Gangubai Kathiawadi’s Rahim Lala Based on a Real Gangster?

Is Gangubai Kathiawadi’s Rahim Lala Based on a Real Gangster? Rahim Lala is the prominent character’s sworn brother in ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi,’ and the two have a close relationship. Gangubai seeks justice after one of Lala’s men rapes her, and the tragedy begins the beginning of their familial tie. In the film, Ajay Devgn plays Rahim Lala and appears in a cameo role. Despite the fact that the film’s producers changed the name, Devgn’s role appears to be based on a real person named Karim Lala.

Gangubai Kathiawadi's Rahim Lala
Gangubai Kathiawadi’s Rahim Lala

Abdul Karim Sher Khan, commonly known as Karim Lala, was born in Afghanistan in 1911 and came to Mumbai (then Bombay) when he was young. Lala kick-started working at the local docks before joining a gang of Pathans, and the family lived in Bhendi Bazaar. Lala’s criminal career took off quickly, and he was soon involved in a variety of unlawful enterprises. Lala rose through the ranks of the “Pathan Gang” and managed his own illicit enterprises out of the slums of Bombay, including Dongri, Nagpada, Bhendi Bazaar, and Kamathipura. Lala met Gangubai in Kamathipura and recognized her as his sworn sister, according to Hussain Zaidi’s book ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai,’ on which the film is based.

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Smuggling, narcotics, extortion, contract killing, and gambling were among Lala’s unlawful enterprises. Haji Mastan and Varadarajan, two local thugs, were deadly competitors until they reached an agreement. As Lala’s health deteriorated in the late 1970s, he appointed his nephew Samad Khan as the Pathan Gang’s head. Lala, on the other hand, continued to run his hotel and transportation enterprises. Lala attempted to mediate a truce between his nephew, Samad Khan, and his competitors, Shabir Ibrahim Kaskar and Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, in the 1980s. After the incident, however, he failed to have a substantial impact on the Bombay criminal scene.

Gangubai Kathiawadi's Rahim Lala
Gangubai Kathiawadi’s Rahim Lala

Lala died on February 19, 2002, at the age of 90. He is the father of two daughters, one from each of his spouses. Many gangster roles in Bollywood films have been inspired by Lala, and his name is still associated with mafia legends and Mumbai’s history from the 1960s and 1970s. The directors have used Lala sparingly in the plot because the film is centered on the life of Lala’s sworn sister, Gangubai Kathiawadi. With an actor of Devgn’s caliber playing Lala, the character’s narrative importance is hammered home without jeopardizing the story’s core. As a result, the creators develop a distinct character roughly inspired by Karim Lala by slightly adjusting the name.

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