Mandakini addresses decades-old photo controversy with Dawood Ibrahim

Veteran Indian actress Mandakini has publicly addressed a decades-old controversy surrounding a photograph of her with underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim, stating she was in Dubai for a professional show and did not attend the cricket match where the picture was taken at his invitation. In a recent interview with ANI, Mandakini clarified that she had traveled to Dubai for a stage performance and later attended a cricket match at Sharjah, where she was photographed with Ibrahim among many other people. Mandakini denied that Ibrahim had invited her to the event. "No, I was not invited by Dawood," she said, explaining that she was unaware at the time that the photograph would become the center of intense speculation. "Creating a controversy and making something interesting out of it, I didn't know about any of that." The actress, who rose to fame with her 1985 debut film "Ram Teri Ganga Maili," stated that the ensuing controversy and rumors had a significant negative impact on her career in Hindi cinema. "The controversy did a lot of damage," she said. "Later, I came to know that one should have a team to take care of all these things. I denied the rumours everywhere.