Once Saif’s heroine Govinda, this actress disappeared after having a run-in with the mafia; her sister accused her of being untraceable

Bollywood gained notoriety in the 1990s for its involvement with Mumbai’s organized crime. Numerous dons were said to have relationships with starlets, and the city’s infamous underworld was said to have connections to financiers and producers. A young actress who was a growing star in the south was ending her career in Bollywood at this time due to an encounter with the mafia.

The actress was Sakshi Shivanand, who debuted as an actress in Telugu films in 1993 with the film Anna Vadina. Sakshi gained notoriety in Tamil and Telugu cinema during the 1990s, collaborating with A-list actors like Chiranjeevi, Mammootty, and Arvind Swamy, despite having worked in Bollywood films such as Janam Kundli and Papa Kehte Hain early in her career. Sakshi put her career in the south on hold in the 2000s to come to Bollywood, where she gained recognition for her work in movies like Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai. She also collaborated with Govinda around this time.

But unfortunately for Sakshi, there were other unwelcome sources of attention. She discovered that the producer of the movie Tum, starring Saif Ali Khan, was purportedly connected to the mafia when she began receiving calls from the underworld. The actress had remembered, “I was terrified when the producer turned out to be from the underworld,” in a 2013 interview with DNA. Everyone I spoke to me that Bollywood has a very strong underworld link. I went totally crazy. I sprinted off to work on Kannada and Telugu movies.

Sakshi essentially destroyed her career in Bollywood when she changed her phone number and started ignoring all forms of contact from the Tum team. “I would have remained here if I hadn’t been alarmed after my encounter with the underworld. However, I fled the Hindi film business. I felt really disturbed. I would get calls from the Tum producer, so I had to update my phone. I was unknown to everyone. I lost my career in Hindi film as a result of the incident. I had completed Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha by Anubhav Sinha. Years afterwards, the actress said, “Even though it wasn’t a hit, I was noticed.”

Sakshi Shivanand is said to be married and has a low profile in life. Thanks to her actress sister Shilpa Anand, the actress made headlines again in 2019. Sakshi’s mother-in-law was allegedly planning to assassinate Shilpa and their mother. Shilpa is well recognized for her role in the TV series Dill Mill Gayye.