Karim Lala

Karim Lala, born Abdul Karim Khan, stands as one of the most formidable and feared ganglords in the history of Mumbai's underworld. A Pathan of immense physical presence and violent reputation, he was a stalwart of the city's criminal landscape, a man whose name alone could command respect and terror in equal measure. His significance in the narrative is twofold: he was a founding pillar of the old guard of Mumbai's mafia, and he was a pivotal figure in the lives of two of its most notable women, serving as the rakhi brother who would catapult Gangubai Kathiawadi to power and as a key ally to the schemer Jenabai Daaruwali. His story is one of a feared enforcer whose personal code of honor, particularly his chivalrous respect for women, had profound and lasting consequences on the power dynamics of the city's criminal world.