Lawrence Bishnoi: Crime, ‘good looks’ and social media frenzy
Film director Ram Gopal Varma, who invited much criticism for suggesting that Lawrence Bishnoi was under the “protection of the government in jail”, also admired the gangster for his "good looks".
“If a film is based on the BIGGEST GANGSTER, no film maker will cast a guy who looks like DAWOOD IBRAHIM or CHOTA RAJAN. But here, I don’t know a single FILM STAR who is more GOOD LOOKING than B (presumably Bishnoi),” Varma said in his social media post on ‘X’.
Earlier, Varma wrote that “A LAWYER turned GANGSTER wants to take REVENGE for a DEER’S death by killing a SUPER STAR and as a WARNING orders some of his GANG of 700, which he recruited through facebook to first kill a BIG POLITICIAN who is a close friend of the STAR.
“The police can’t catch him because he is under the protection of the GOVERNMENT in a JAIL and his spokesman speaks from ABROAD…If a Bollywood writer comes up with a story like this they will thrash him for writing the most unbelievable and ridiculous story ever.”
Lawrence of social media
Hashtags with his name are trending on social media platforms with posts ranging from his “tragic love story” to “loyal friendships” and his “Sanatan Hindu beliefs”. Varma has also called Bishnoi a potent mixture of a “Hindu don”.
One user claimed that Bishnoi is his “hero” saying “remember how Muslims glorify, idolise and support the likes of Dawood and Yakub Memons of their community? Well, Lawrence Bishnoi is our hero and we'll support him always.”
Another, while accusing the government of “shielding a gangster”, claimed, “Home Ministry is denying Maharashtra Police custody of Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been operating freely from Sabarmati jail. The big question is —Why is the Modi government shielding a gangster?”
Support or criticism, the man from Dutranwali in Abohar has been making more news than anyone else ever since his alleged involvement in the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique on a busy road in Bandra on Saturday. However, Bishnoi is not just a new big name in the dark underbelly of India’s financial world, he is also acquiring a brand new status, almost a larger-than-life image, with various theories and stories. Siddique’s murder could be part of a larger plan to stake claim as the new underworld boss in Mumbai, according to one doing the rounds.
The fact is crime and criminals have been a popular topic for filmmaking industry across the globe. In the case of Bishnoi what seems to be adding to his persona is also his religion.
Why crime and criminals fascinate
The Police Science Institute says “we are fascinated by those willing to do things that we are not. Most of us would not kill someone, and could not even imagine doing so, but we are still nevertheless fascinated by those who can”.
As per Psychology Today, just like virtue, there is a dark side in all of us.
“…those impulses to cheat, to wound somebody, to transgress the boundaries that all stay silent and contained within. The evolutionary psychologist David Buss, in his book ‘The Murder Next Door: Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill’, conducted a study and found that 91 per cent of men and 84 per cent of women have had a vivid fantasy of killing someone,” it says.
Experts also say “majority of people, whether they accept this truth or not, all have a secret deviant inside us (sadism) who rejoices when someone acts badass and wins”.
