Why’s Bollywood obsessed with Vijay Mallya? Neeyat, Crew tap into a lingering fantasy

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Rajesh KrishnansCrewis a heist movie,where Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kriti Sanon and Tabu play troubled air hostesses fed up with being victims..

Except here, the victimMira Rao (Vidya Balan)managesto kill him too.Neeyatsreferences to Mallya were less in-your-face, but with the styling of its murder victim Ashish Kapoor (Ram Kapoor), there was no doubt about who the filmwastalking about.Just like Mallya, Kapoors character sportedsalt-and-pepper hair, long coats and a beard...

When Mallyalaunched Kingfisher Airlines back in the day,mediareportsteemed with news of himhandpickingthe women who would work for him, along with snippets of beautiful air hostesses posing with the former businessperson and politician.Marketedas the only five-star airlinein India that offered premium serviceseven on domestic routes, Kingfishersoon becamean aspiration for the middle class...

Mallyas representation is different because theressimmering angeragainst him and a strong desire to bring him to justice.Natwarlal was a poor man who started conning to make ends meet,but Mallya wasnt.Born with a silver spoon in his mouth,he chose tosquander all his wealth, womanise, and flee the country with hismoney.There isntan ounce of sympathy for the businessman...

InCrew,Walia owns an airline calledKohinoor a tongue-in-cheekallusion to Indias inability to retrieve boththe famed diamond and one of its most notorious fugitives from the UK.Walias limited screen presence indirectly referstothe timeMallya stopped his media appearances after the news of Kingfisher Airlinesfacing a financial crisisbroke...