Mafia Queens of Mumbai: Stories of Women from the Ganglands

About the Book WELL-RESEARCHED BOOK ON 13 WOMEN WHO WENT ON TO LEAVE THEIR PERMANENT MARK ON THE FACE OF THE MUMBAI MAFIOSI Smuggling, gun-running, drugs, terrorism — for many decades, Mumbai has lived under the shadow of the Underworld. Dawood Ibrahim, Karim Lala, Varadarajan Mudaliar: these are names that any Indian would recognise. Analysed in print, immortalised on film, their lives, their gangs, their ‘businesses’ are out there for anyone who wants the information. But there have been women, too, who have been part of this murky side of the city, walking alongside, sometimes leading and manipulating men in the Underworld to run their own illegal businesses. Here, for the first time, crime journalists S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges explore the lives of some of these women, and how, in cold blood, they were able to make their way up in what was certainly a man’s world. From Kamathipura to Dongri, from assassins to molls, this is a collection that tells the stories of women who have become legends in Mumbai’s streets, lanes and back-alleys. Absorbingly told and impeccably researched, Mafia Queens of Mumbai reveals a side of Mumbai’s Underworld that has never been seen before. About the Author S.Hussain Zaidi is a veteran journalist, currently working as the Resident Editor of the Deccan Chronicle/Asian Age, Mumbai. His earlier bestselling book Black Friday, based on the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993, was made into an acclaimed film of the same name by Anurag Kashyap. Alex Perry, while reviewing the book for Time magazine, said: ‘The undeniable strength of Black Friday is the depth and intelligence with which Zaidi portrays the bombers themselves. In penetrating this closed world, Zaidi ridicules the shorthand caricature of terrorists so popular nowadays: that they are “evil”, “fanatic” or “mad”.’ Zaidi is also associate producer of the HBO production of Terror in Mumbai, a documentary based on the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Zaidi started his career in The Asian Age and has worked in several newspapers including Indian Express, Mid-Day and Mumbai Mirror. His in-depth research on the Mumbai mafia has been used by international authors like Misha Glenny in McMafia and Vikram Chandra in his monumental book Sacred Games. Jane Borges is a senior journalist and editor. Her bylines have appeared in the Sunday Mid-Day, The Asian Age and Muscat Daily. Her debut novel, Bombay Balchão, was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puruskar and Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize. In 2022, she won the RedInk Journalism Award in the lifestyle and entertainment category. Read more