Bollywood actor unmasked as murderer: How man starred in Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh films while on the run for 12 years

Hemant Modi, a murder convict on the run, built a successful career as a Bollywood actor, all the while evading the police.

There have been many Bollywood protagonists who have led double lives, evaded the law, and built secret identities. But recently, an actor did that off-screen as well. When Hemant Modi, 53, was arrested in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, it unravelled a secret life in which he worked as an actor in Hindi cinema, rubbing shoulders with Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Ranveer Singh, to name a few.

Hemant Modi worked in a variety of Hindi and Gujarati films for 12 years while evading arrest.

Murder convict-turned-actor arrested

On Wednesday, Gujarat Police arrested Hemant Modi, a murder convict who jumped parole in 2014. The Ahmedabad crime branch arrested the 53-year-old near a metro station. A case of murder and rioting was registered against Modi in Ahmedabad in 2005. But the police later found that Modi had been working as an actor in Hindi films, as well as in Gujarati web series and plays, in a very public-facing life.

How Hemant Modi became an actor while on the run

The police said that Hemant Modi evaded arrest by changing his location and his name. In 2014, after jumping parole, Modi lived in Gujarat's Patan, before moving to Ahmedabad the following year. Here, he took on a new name - Twinkle Dave. He lived in a private company in the city till 2017

In 2017, Hemant, aka Twinkle, moved to Mumbai and began his career in cinema. Over the next eight years, he worked as a supporting actor in many Bollywood films, including Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Thugs of Hindostan in 2018 and Ranveer Singh's Jayeshbhai Jordaar in 2022. The police statement added that he also played roles in Gujarati films, as well as in web series and plays in both languages.

“During his years on the run, Modi maintained a highly active and visible career in the entertainment industry, appearing in major Bollywood productions such as Thugs of Hindostan alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, and Jayeshbhai Jordaar with Ranveer Singh,” the official statement said. He also remained active in theatre, performing in plays such as Yugpurush and Gandhi Viruddh Godse.

But despite becoming a public figure of sorts, Hemant Modi continued to evade authorities till this month. In 2025, he moved back to Ahmedabad and started living in the Gheekanta area, after which he came on the police radar.

Why Hemant Modi was convicted of murder

Hemant Modi was convicted, along with others, for murder and rioting by a Gujarat court in 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The incident, which had occurred near Parshwanath Township in Ahmedabad, was a fallout of a dispute over an alleged illegal staircase built in the way of a 'chawl'.

On June 15, 2005, a group, including Modi's brother, allegedly started a fight with complainant Ajay Patel and his friend Narendra Kamble. Kamble was killed during the clash.

While serving his sentence at the Mehsana District Jail, he was granted a 30-day parole in 2014, after which he failed to surrender and went into hiding. The Gujarat High Court declared him a parole jumper in July that year. The crime branch will now hand him over to the Mehsana District Jail so that he can serve the remainder of his sentence.

(With PTI inputs)