I refer to Tamil and Malayalam movies, not Bollywood (and these are only one among many sources I mention). Like I said, Tamil movies have been exploring criminal-politician-state nexus for a few decades now, although that doesn’t stop the Tamils from electing famously authoritarian governments themselves.

I don’t buy the argument that mafia or middle eastern emigre have influenced these potrayals in Tamil cinema since the 70s and 80s. It’s the local politics that did. Maybe there’s merit to the argument about Hindi films (I don’t know), but not Tamil.

You couldn’t be more mistaken if you confuse the South Indian film industry (then centered around Madras/Chennai) with the Hindi film industry (Bollywood, centered in Bombay/Mumbai).