[5][6] Born in 1951 in a Punjabi Hindu family, Gulshan Kumar Dua was the son of a fruit juice vendor who worked the streets of the Daryaganj neighbourhood in the heart of Delhi.

His family came as refugees from the Jhang region of West Punjab after the anti-Hindu riots during the partition of India in 1947.

Dua changed career paths when his family acquired a shop selling records and inexpensive audio cassettes, which foreshadowed the onset of a vast music empire.

His other movies included Bahaar Aane Tak, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Ayee Milan Ki Raat, Meera Ka Mohan, Jeena Marna Tere Sang and Bewafa Sanam.

Gulshan Kumar died in a shooting outside the Jiteshwar Mahadev Mandir, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva of which he attended daily in Jeet Nagar, Andheri West suburb of Mumbai,[20] on 12 August 1997.

The hired killers, including Rauf and Abdul Rashid, conducted reconnaissance for a month, but did not proceed because of the armed bodyguard.

At 10:40, while returning from the temple, he was confronted by one of the assassins who said: "Bahut puja kar li, ab upar ja ke karna (you have prayed enough already, now do it up there)."

Initially, Kumar survived and sought shelter in nearby huts, but residents shut their doors.

The police alleged that Saifi paid Abu Salem, a known associate of Dawood Ibrahim, to assassinate Kumar and assigned Rauf to the job, but it just so happened that Ibrahim and Abu Salem were already planning on murdering Kumar as he had refused to pay protection money to D-Company as part of an extortion attempt.