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Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has opened up about why he didn’t think he needed the permission of gangster Hussain Ustara’s family for his upcoming film O Romeo. Speaking during the film’s trailer launch event on Wednesday, he said the film’s story is based on a book whose rights he already owns.
Vishal Bhardwaj on taking permission from Hussain Ustara’s family for O Romeo
The film, which stars Shahid Kapoor in the role of Ustara, is based on Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, about Hussain Ustara. “This film is from the book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, by Hussain Zaidi, and I’ve taken the rights of this story. I didn’t think (of the permission). The germ of the idea and the characters are the same, but we’ve added a lot of fictional elements, which permission Hussain Zaidi sahab has taken or should’ve taken. I don’t think it was needed for me to take permission because it is based on a book,” he said as quoted by news agency PTI.
Ustara’s daughter, Sanober Shaikh, recently said that the filmmaker did not seek their permission to depict her father’s life. She has also objected to the romantic angle shown between Shahid and Triptii Dimri’s characters. She plays the role of gangster Sapna Didi.
Vishal Bhardwaj on making another film titled Sapna Didi
Earlier, Vishal was reportedly set to make a film titled Sapna Didi with Deepika Padukone as the underworld queen Rahima Khan and Irrfan Khan in the role of gangster Hussain Ustara. However, following Irrfan Khan’s death and reported creative differences with director Honey Trehan, the film got shelved.
When asked about making the same film with a different cast earlier, he said, both the movies, Sapna Didi and O Romeo, are different. “That script and the cast was different but this is a different film. This film’s titled O Romeo, and when I first started working on the film, I never thought we would have this title. But the story evolved, it (draft) underwent many changes. This film has nothing to do with the earlier film,” the director added.
All about O Romeo
O Romeo stars Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, Nana Patekar, Avinash Tiwary, Tamannaah Bhatia, Farida Jalal, Disha Patani, with Vikrant Massey in a special appearance. Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, the movie is slated for a theatrical release on February 13 this year.
