Hussain Zaidi

Biography

S. Hussain Zaidi (born 28 February 1968) is an Indian author and former investigative journalist. His works include Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, Black Friday, My Name is Abu Salem, and Mumbai Avengers.

S. Hussain Zaidi is India's most prolific crime writer. He publishes under the Blue Salt imprint. The Mumbai mafia has been his focus in books such as Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, My Name is Abu Salem, and Byculla to Bangkok.

Zaidi began his career in journalism while working for the newspaper The Asian Age, where he became the resident editor. Zaidi later worked for several other periodicals, including The Indian Express, Mid-Day, and Mumbai Mirror.

 His in-depth research on the Mumbai mafia has been used by international authors, including Misha Glenny in McMafia and Vikram Chandra in his book Sacred Games. Zaidi was once kidnapped in Iraq.

Zaidi has covered the Mumbai mafia for several decades. His 2002 book Black Friday detailed the 1993 Mumbai bombings, an attack consisting of thirteen explosions that killed 250 people. The book was adapted two years later, in 2004, into a film by Anurag Kashyap also titled Black Friday. 

The film was so controversial that the Indian Censor Board did not allow it to be released in India for three years. It was finally released on 9 February 2007 after the Supreme Court of India allowed it following the TADA court verdict in the '93 Bombay blast case.

 In Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, a historical account of the Mumbai mafia, Zaidi conducted an interview with crime boss Dawood Ibrahim, who is suspected of having orchestrated the bombings. The book was adapted into the film Shootout at Wadala by Sanjay Gupta.

Zaidi was also an associate producer of the HBO documentary Terror in Mumbai, which is based on the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

The 2015 Kabir Khan film Phantom, starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, is an adaptation of Zaidi's book Mumbai Avengers; the screenplay was written in conjunction with the author.

Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment are making a web series titled Bombay Meri Jaan, an adaptation of Zaidi's book. The series will reportedly focus on Dawood Ibrahim's early life, as well as his gang members and other contemporary mob bosses.