Mumbai police today released audio tapes of conversations between an alleged member of the underworld and leading Bollywood film directors and actors

The police say the recorded conversations, between the alleged Karachi-based don Chhota Shakeel, actor Sanjay Dutt, directors Mahesh Manjrekar and Sanjay Gupta and producer Harish Sugandh, reveal that an Indian actor was requesting personal favours from the mafia.

The conversations have shocked Bollywood and threaten to undermine its credibility. Actor Sanjay Dutt and director Mahesh Manjrekar are currently filming Kaante the first Hindi film to be shot in Los Angeles using a Hollywood crew. In it they both play gangsters.

However leading Hindi film director Mahesh Bhatt said the tapes didn't necessarily mean that organised crime was rife throughout Bollywood.

"Let's not seize the moment and say that the conversation between these gangsters and the people mentioned in these tapes suggests that these people are part of the underworld crime network," he said.