Former Bollywood actress Mamta Kulkarni was recently named as a prime accused in a multi-crore drug racket linked to drug baron Vicky Goswami. According to Mumbai police, Kulkarni was actively involved in illicit activities and they were seeking her extradition from Kenya.
Kulkarni is known for her role in films such as Aashiq Awara (1993), Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Krantiveer (1994), Karan Arjun (1995), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995) and China Gate (1998).
But drugs-related criminal charges aside, Kulkarni, who is currently living in Nairobi, is all about spirituality and penance now.
In an exclusive interview with Mid-Day, Kulkarni claimed that even though she is not in a relationship with alleged gangster Goswami anymore, she still loves him. In the same way that we love our pet dogs.
As I did further penance, I slowly kept getting more and more detached. Then one day, I wasn't in the relationship [with Vicky] anymore. It was like staying in the house with a dog — you are with him.
"We stay apart now, but we are friends for our selfish reasons [sic]," she told Mid-Day.
Vicky met me in my years of penance but wooed me. He said, 'Come with me and see the world'. And he did show me the world.
Apparently, Kulkarni wrote a 90-page book in 2012, titled Autobiography Of A Yogini, about her transformation from 1990s sex symbol to a "detached, spiritual" person.
Kulkarni said that her spiritual teacher was the Mumbai-based Shri Gagangiri Maharaj.
In her Mid-Day interview, Kulkarni details several incidents that she says clearly showed her that she was "meant for a life of spirituality".
Like, during a shoot in Mauritius, while chanting a mantra, she saw the run rotate 360 degrees and charge at her; or the time the holy ash her Guru gave her saved her mother's life, to how when a friend lured her into for a drink, she fainted for half-an-hour only to realise that 'it was her Guru's way of showing her that she wasn't meant to drink'.
Now that a key witness in the drugs case, Jay Mukhi, has retracted his confession, saying he was tortured and coerced into making a false statement about Kulkarni, she is convinced that her spiritual path is showing her the right direction.
She even compared herself to Sita, and Goswami to Ravana.
"It's like Sita Mata... When she came back from Ravana's home, nobody believed her even when she was ready to take an agni pariskha. Just being around Ravana ruined her reputation, like mine has been ruined. If it happened to her, I am just a mortal," she said.
Fog In India
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Open Image ModalIndian students travel on a horse cart surrounded by fog in Jammu, India, Thursday, Dec.18, 2014. As winter sets in, thick fog engulfs most of north India early mornings. (credit:AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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Open Image ModalAn Indian man rides a bicycle through fog in Jammu, India, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. As winter sets in, thick fog engulfs most of north India disrupting normal life. (credit:AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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Open Image ModalIndians, wrapped in warm clothes, walk through a fog covered road in Jammu, India, Thursday, Dec.18, 2014. As winter sets in, thick fog engulfs most of north India disrupting normal life. (credit:AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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Open Image ModalA man rows his boat on the River Ganges in the early morning fog on the outskirts of Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. Several parts of north India continue to experience cold weather conditions, according to local news reports. (credit:AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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Open Image ModalIndian street vendors keep warm around a bonfire on a cold evening on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014. Temperatures dipped in north India and several mountain areas have received snowfall, according to news reports. (credit:AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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Open Image ModalA Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, smokes marijuana to stay warm at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati in Allahabad, India, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. Intense cold wave continues unabated in north India with fog disrupting traffic movements at several places. (credit:AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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Open Image ModalSadhus, or Hindu holy men, sit around a bonfire to keep themselves warm at "Sangam", the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river in Allahabad, India, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. Intense cold wave continues unabated in north India with fog disrupting traffic movements at several places. (credit:AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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Open Image ModalIndian villagers cycle amidst fog early morning in Allahabad, India, Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. Several parts of north India are experiencing cold weather conditions. (credit:AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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Open Image ModalIndians, wrapped in warm clothes, travel on a fog covered road in Jammu, India, Thursday, Dec.18, 2014. As winter sets in, thick fog engulfs most of north India disrupting normal life. (credit:AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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Open Image ModalIndian men warm their hands near a bonfire on a cold and foggy morning in Allahabad, India, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. Intense cold wave continues unabated in north India with fog disrupting traffic movements at several places. (credit:AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)