Gulshan Kumar Dua was the son of Chandrabhan Kumar Dua, a fruit juice vendor who worked the streets of the Daryaganj neighbourhood in the heart of Delhi. Dua started working with his father from an early age. He was a devoted worshiper of Shri Shiv Ji and Devi Parvati, as he was a follower of the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism. Dua changed career paths when his family acquired a shop selling records and inexpensive audio cassettes, which foreshadowed the onset of a vast music empire.
Music business and film career
Gulshan Kumar started his own audio cassette operation known as "Super Cassettes Industries," which turned in to a profitable business. He began a music production company in Noida. As his business started growing, he moved to Mumbai. His first movie in Bollywood was Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka in 1989. Next was the big hit Aashiqui in 1990 which is remembered for its music by Nadeem–Shravan. His other movies included Bahaar Aane Tak, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Ayee Milan Ki Raat, Meera Ka Mohan, Jeena Marna Tere Sang and Bewafa Sanam.
T-Series music label
During the life of Gulshan Kumar, T-Series emerged as one of the top music labels in India. It continues to be a major label. Today T-Series controls more than 60% share of the Indian music market. In international market, T-Series enjoys a turnover in excess of $4.2 million, and exports to 24 countries across six continents. In India, it has the largest distribution network of over 2500 dealers.
Film Acted
Assassination and death
Gulshan Kumar Dua lost his life in a shooting outside the Jeeteshwar Mahadev Mandir, a Hindu mandir dedicated to Lord Shiva of which he attended daily in Jeet Nagar, Andheri West suburb of Mumbai, on 12 August 1997. He was shot 16 times. On the day of the assassination, his bodyguard, provided by the Uttar Pradesh government was sick. Although he had received two threatening calls, on 5 and 8 August 1997, Kumar refused to pay the extortion money. The hired killers, including Rauf and Abdul Rashid, conducted reconnaissance for a month, but did not proceed because of the armed bodyguard. At 10.40 am, while returning from the temple, he was confronted by one of the assassins who said: "Bahut puja kar li, ab upar ja ke karna." Initially, Kumar survived and sought shelter in nearby huts, but residents shut their doors. His driver Suraj was shot in both legs as he tried to shelter Kumar. An Mumbai underworld organisation called D-Company is considered to have been responsible for this assassination. The police also accused film composer Nadeem Saifi of the music duo Nadeem-Shravan of having paid for the murder due to a personal dispute and fled the country after the murder. However, on 9 January 2001, Abdul Rauf Merchant confessed to being the murderer. On 29 April 2002, Sessions Judge M. L. Tahilyani sentenced Rauf to life imprisonment, stating that he was not imposing the death penalty because the prosecution had failed to prove that Rauf was a contract killer. The police alleged that Saifi paid Abu Salem, a known associate of Dawood Ibrahim, to assassinate Dua and assigned Rauf to the job, but it just so happened that Ibrahim and Abu Salem were already planning on murdering Dua as he had refused to pay protection money to D-Company as part of an extortion attempt. As per his family's wishes, Gulshan Kumar Dua was cremated in a shamshan in Delhi. After the police's allegations against him, Nadeem Saifi had fled to the United Kingdom. In 2001, the case was taken to the London High Court, which rejected the Indian government's request for extraditionon the ground that there was no prima facie case against Saifi. In August 2001, the prosecution's main witness, Mohammed Ali Hussain Shaikh, who had earlier claimed Saifi participated in the murder, eventually claimed that he didn't know Saifi and had never seen him. Abu Salem also denied Nadeem's involvement on Indian national television. Saifi was also exonerated by four courts, including the House of Lords in the United Kingdom and the sessions court in Mumbai. Saifi eventually acquired British citizenship, and later moved to Dubai, where he runs a successful perfumery business. Abdul Rauf alias Daud Merchant was convicted in 2002 for the murder of Gulshan Kumar. He fled India after he was granted furlough by the Bombay high court in 2009. He was extradited from Bangladesh in 2016. He is currently in the high-security Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. In late 1980s and early '90s, Bollywood was impacted by the Mumbai mafia dominance and extortions. The influence of organised crime in the film industry was such there were regular reports of film stars attending events hosted by mafia bosses and allegedly enjoying their patronage. It is believed that Gulshan Kumar had refused to pay extortion to gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Legacy
In 2017, T-Series announced plans to produce a biographical film about Kumar titled Mogul – The Gulshan Kumar Story.
