Top 5 Books About the Mumbai Underworld
The Mumbai underworld has captivated the imagination of writers and filmmakers for decades. Whether dark true stories or dramatic fictional sagas, we all love to follow the action-packed journeys of larger-than-life characters.
Books about the underworld allow us to unveil the secrets of this shadowy subculture from the comfort of our homes. In this article, let’s explore five books that take us on an immersive journey into the Mumbai underworld.
1. Sacred Games, by Vikram Chandra
This is a 900-page book, and I’ve read it twice. That says enough about how much I love it. It may seem like a cops-and-robbers story on the surface, but it goes much deeper than that. Borrowing from real-life events and characters, it portrays both sides of the law in great detail, complete with non-italicized street slang. It may feel heavy in your hands, but it moves like a bullet once you start reading it.
2. Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts
Like Sacred Games, Shantaram is more about the journey than the destination. It follows a convicted bank robber who escapes prison in Australia to flee to Bombay in the 80s. We see him as he falls in love with the city, deals with his violent past, and rises in the underworld. Overall, it’s an immersive first-person introduction to the Mumbai underworld.
3. All Hussain Zaidi books
If you want to become an expert on the Mumbai underworld without putting yourself in danger by meeting a real Bhai, the second best thing you can do is read Hussain Zaidi’s detailed books on this subject.
I recommend you begin with Dongri to Dubai. It covers six decades of the Mumbai underworld. Beyond that, you can delve into other books like Byculla to Bangkok and The Dirty Dozen.
4. Maximum City, by Suketu Mehta
Suketu Mehta left Bombay as a teen and came back many years later. He wrote this book to get to know his city again. In line with that, I read this book when I shifted to Mumbai years ago, and it has stayed with me since. Although the underworld is only one of the many aspects of the city that it covers, it does a fantastic job of portraying real events and characters.
5. Bullets Over Bombay, by Uday Bhatia
I first learned about Bhais from Munna Bhai MBBS. However, it was Satya that showed me the true reality of the underworld. Whether you’ve watched Satya once or ten times (like me!), Bullets Over Bombay is the perfect book to go along with it. It includes many interesting behind-the-scenes stories and facts about how the film came to be.
Bonus: Shantanu, by Devansh Kamdar
The aspect of the Mumbai underworld that has always fascinated me the most is the hitman. They are the ones who put themselves on the line for their bosses and keep their fear alive in the streets.
Shantanu is one such hitman. Known for his cold precision, he is alone in the world, but he considers his gang to be his family. He has been unquestionably loyal to his boss, underworld kingpin Kshitijbhai Bhosale, for many years.
However, when Shantanu is assigned a special target, he is torn between loyalty to his boss and his newfound feelings. Will he stay true to his love or eliminate the target as he was ordered to do? Grab your copy of Shantanu now to find out.
