Zubair, who was a film producer, said the fact that he is related to Dawood has had adverse effects on his career and he wants to change the perception through "Bigg Boss".
"Since 2011 all the buyers, investors and others backed out (from his film projects) as they got to know that I am related to Dawood Ibrahim.
"People were scared of me. This ('Bigg Boss') is an opportunity for me to change the perspective of lot of people in the film industry," Zubair told PTI.
"Since the day I got married I have taken 'panga' (risk). I have been getting threatening calls since then. I don't care. I feel there is one life and death. Change is constant and death is permanent, I know death will come some day, so it is better to fight and then die.
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"I don't want to be a coward. My fight is against illegal elements of the society. It's a cause."
The season 11 of the Salman Khan-hosted popular reality TV show will see Zubair as a 'common contestant'.
When the makers of "Bigg Boss" approached him first, he thought it was a prank.
"I initially felt it was a hoax call. I was told that a lot of people recommended my name for 'Bigg Boss' and I am a good person. They convinced me that the call was real... I thought about it and said yes," he said.
Zubair said he wanted to connect with his children through the show.
Zubair has been in the entertainment industry for the past 15 years and said he wants to expose the darker side of the movie business.
"I will also raise a lot of industry issues, like the dirty politics in Bollywood. Everyone talks to Dawood bhai, whosoever has problems talks to him, it's just that they don't open up about it," he said.
By participating in "Bigg Boss", which airs on Colors Channel from tonight, Zubair wants to give a fresh start to his life.