After a year of planning, writing and battling casting hassles, Shootout At Wadala was finally launched yesterday with a launch event that was attended by the entire cast. While Ekta Kapoor is gung ho about the prospects of this gangsters v/s cops film, co-producer and director Sanjay Gupta is also heaving a sigh of relief that he is getting behind the camera more than half a decade after Zinda. No wonder, he can be heard singing praises about his lead protagonist Anil Kapoor and antagonist John Abraham who stayed by him even though others came and went.
"It was more than a year ago when Sanjay had approached Anil Kapoor and John Abraham to play a top cop and gangster respectively. Even though they hadn't formally signed on the dotted line, there was a gentleman's agreement about doing the film", says a source close to Sanjay Gupta, "In fact when Sanjay approached Anil, he didn't even hear the story and was happy with the basic characterization narrated to him. Ditto for John as the antagonist who instantly agreed. Even though rest of the cast was doubtful for close to a year, Anil and John were permanent."
This can be evidenced from the fact that while names like Vidya Balan, Asin, Vivek Oberoi, Nana Patekar etc. were thrown around, neither Anil nor John (who had won accolades in Gupta's Musafir and Zinda respectively) blinked an eyelid even once.
"Yes, both of them have come forward and supported me at the time when there was a 'fatwa' out on me. So many people were interested in working with me and vice versa but when it came to formalizing the association, they backed out. It was Anil and John who stood by their word", says Gupta in a humbled tone, "Now that we are beginning the film's shoot today, it is almost a surreal moment for me. Seems like last 5-6 years have just evaporated in a jiffy and I am beginning from where I had left."
While last few years taught him quite a few important lessons in life, not to forget an ally he got in Ekta Kapoor, he wonders why people nursed so much negativity when it came to his return as a filmmaker.
"People thought that if they dump me down in drain, they would be able to finish my career in Bollywood. Today if you see, most of them have been forced to shut their own shop", says Gupta, "I wonder why there is so much negativity in this industry. I think the biggest weapon you can have is your own self. Instead of praying for someone's downfall, why not lift yourself up and come trumps? The phenomenon hasn't stopped, it is still continuing. Well, let them do it, it's okay. I have moved on for sure."
More Pages: Shootout At Wadala Box Office Collection , Shootout At Wadala Movie Review
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