John Abraham Preferred Over Saif for Shootout at Wadala

Posted by admin on Sep 5th, 2011 | 0 comments

There was a conflict of interest between producer Ekta Kapoor and director Sanjay Gupta about who would play the lead role for ‘Shootout at Wadala’ the movie based on the book by crime writer Husain Zaidi.

While Ekta pitched for Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Gupta felt that John Abraham was the right choice. Finally, it has been agreed that John will get the honor of essaying the role of the protagonist Manya Surve, the dreaded gangster on whose life the film will be made. A joint venture between Ekta’s Balaji Motion Pictures and Sanjay’s White Feather Films, the project has Anil Kapoor as ACP Isaque Bagwan, the first encounter specialist of Mumbai, who actually shot down Manya Surve along with officer Raja Tambat(actor yet to be decided) on January 11, 1982.

Shootout At Wadala, a prequel to the Sanjay Dutt – Amitabh Bachchan starrer Shootout At Lokhandwala, has the director Sanjay Gupta returning to his job, he had last directed Sanjay Dutt starrer Zinda back in 2006. A source says,, “Gupta’s new film is a massive crime saga. It spans from late 60s to early 80s. It also delves into the war between the Pathans and the Ibrahim brothers (Dawood and Sabir).”

“The film will have an ensemble cast which will be bigger than the one in the predecessor. Big names are being considered for the remaining roles, A call on the final cast will be taken soon. Unlike Lokhandwala, Wadala will see the heroine playing a very important role,” he adds.

Shootout At Wadala goes on floors in January 2012. The talented bunch of Allan Amin, Resul Pokutty and Sabu Cyril have been appointed to head the action, sound and art departments respectively Crime journalist S Hussain Zaidi has penned the script for the film. The film will be shot in Mumbai, Pune and Ratnagiri.