The Broken News star Sonali Bendre reveals losing out on film roles due to pressure from the underworld

Popular Bollywood actor of the 90s, Sonali Bendre recently made a comeback on screen with the ZEE5 series, The Broken News. Directed by Vinay Waikul, it also stars Jaideep Ahlawat and Shriya Pilgaonkar, among others. 

Bendre, who is known for the 90s films like Sarfarosh, Diljale, and Major Saab, recently opened up about how Bollywood is influenced by the underworld and how she lost several film projects due to this. She also said that it was her then-boyfriend and now husband, Goldie Behl, who helped her during the process. Goldie is also a film producer.

On The Ranveer Show podcast, while promoting her OTT series, Bendre said she was denied roles due to the pressure from the underworld. According to Hindustan Times, she said, “Many clean sources were financing films. But, there was not a proper, formal industry status. So, there was a lot of unregulated finance coming in as well, and banks will not give it to you. So, that limit was there.” She added that she tried to stay away from ‘dodgy’ film producers. She understood how the industry worked due to her producer boyfriend and now husband, Goldie. 

She said that she was replaced in projects because 'someone' called the filmmakers. But she would get to know about it as the director or co-star would call her up and say there's pressure and they cannot do anything about it. And she said, she understood that. 

Bendre made her acting debut in the 1994 film Aag at the age of 19. She had earlier worked on several TV commercials and ads before she made her big-screen debut. The actor was last seen in The Broken News, which was released on June 10, on Zee5. The show is about two rival TV channels - one ethical and the other that solely relied on selling sensational news. The show is based on the BBC show, Press, which revolved around the print newsrooms.