Mumbai Police have arrested 73-year-old Bollywood filmmaker Shakeel Noorani after a 33-year-old aspiring actress accused him of rape, blackmail, assault and causing serious harm to her health. According to reports, Noorani had been hiding for around 40 days after a First Information Report (FIR)

Mumbai Police have arrested 73-year-old Bollywood filmmaker Shakeel Noorani after a 33-year-old aspiring actress accused him of rape, blackmail, assault and causing serious harm to her health. According to reports, Noorani had been hiding for around 40 days after a First Information Report (FIR)

Mumbai Police have arrested 73-year-old Bollywood filmmaker Shakeel Noorani after a 33-year-old aspiring actress accused him of rape, blackmail, assault and causing serious harm to her health. According to reports, Noorani had been hiding for around 40 days after a First Information Report (FIR)

Mumbai Police have arrested 73-year-old Bollywood filmmaker Shakeel Noorani after a 33-year-old aspiring actress accused him of rape, blackmail, assault and causing serious harm to her health.

According to reports, Noorani had been hiding for around 40 days after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him. Police eventually traced and arrested him at a farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar on Saturday.

Noorani is known for directing Hindi films including "Joru Ka Ghulam" (2000) and "Bade Dilwala" (1999).

According to the complaint, the woman first met Noorani in 2016 at an entertainment award function in Lokhandwala, Andheri. She said the filmmaker spoke to her about possible work in an upcoming film and took her contact details.

She later visited Noorani's home in Malvani for what she believed would be a script discussion. The actress alleges that Noorani gave her a soft drink that had been mixed with an intoxicating substance. She reportedly lost consciousness after drinking it.

The woman has alleged that Noorani sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious and recorded an intimate video on his mobile phone without her consent. She claims that after she regained consciousness, he used the video to threaten her and prevent her from telling her family or approaching the police.

According to her complaint, the alleged blackmail continued for about four years. She has accused Noorani of using the video as leverage to subject her to repeated sexual assaults during this period.

The complaint also contains allegations of serious physical harm. The actress claims that Noorani forced her to take contraceptive pills and gave her harmful substances, allegedly resulting in a miscarriage. She returned to Mumbai in 2026 seeking financial help for medical treatment connected to the health problems she says resulted from these incidents.

After the FIR was registered, Noorani allegedly went into hiding. The Malvani Police began searching for him and carried out a tracking operation. As part of the investigation, officers also searched the residence of his son in Lokhandwala, Andheri.

Police later used technical intelligence and location-tracking methods to locate Noorani at a farmhouse in the Medha area of Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district, more than 200 kilometres from Mumbai.
Local police in Medha detained Noorani and handed him over to the Mumbai Police team. Before being taken back to Mumbai, he underwent a mandatory medical examination at the Rural Hospital in Medha.

Mumbai Police have registered the case under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India's current criminal law framework.

The charges include Section 64(2)(m), relating to rape; Section 123, concerning causing hurt by means of poison or intoxicating substances; Section 88, concerning causing miscarriage without a woman's consent; and Section 351(2), relating to criminal intimidation.

The provisions have been applied based on the allegations that the actress was allegedly drugged, sexually assaulted, threatened with an intimate recording, and given substances that allegedly caused serious medical consequences.

Noorani was produced before the Borivali Holiday Court. The prosecution sought police custody, saying investigators needed to recover the mobile phone allegedly containing the intimate video and investigate whether similar offences may have occurred in other jurisdictions.

The court granted police custody until August 12.

Noorani's lawyer, Advocate Vikas Singh Goar, has denied the allegations. His defence maintains that the filmmaker has been falsely implicated in the case.

The investigation is continuing. Police are expected to examine digital evidence, medical records and other material relevant to the complaint as they determine what happened and whether additional offences or evidence are involved.

The case has drawn attention because of the serious nature of the allegations, the alleged use of an intimate video for blackmail, and the long period over which the alleged offences are said to have occurred. The next stage of the investigation and court proceedings will determine how the allegations are tested against the available evidence.

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