Several incidents from the script for his next gangster film has been part of the actor's early life

It was like deja vu for John Abraham, when he realised while filming for Sanjay Gupta's gangster film that a lot of portions in the script was what he had witnessed in real-life, growing up in Andheri (east).

John, who plays Manya Surve in this film, met the gangster's right-hand man while prepping for his role and realised that the gang used to live and work from the same area that John lived in as a kid.

Gupta, who finds the co-incidence extremely surreal says, "We cannot take his name, but we met a guy who was a close confidant of Manya Surve and who shared intimate details of their lives with us.

For John it was like tracing back in time where he'd see hordes of people come in and out of this area named Koldongri in Andheri."

It obviously helps the actor make his character as realistic as he can. Says John, "I grew up in times when gang wars were a way of life.

I have seen things happen right in front of me and I am trying to infuse those experiences into my character."

Gupta and the actors are leaving no stone unturned in meeting every important person related to the gangster's case for information.

Adds Gupta, "We met Manya's cousin who works with the Customs, just to see what details he could share about his brother.

Anil Kapoor, on the other hand, has been spending all his time with Isaque Bagwan (top cop who shot Surve dead) to tap into his mannerisms and his look.

In fact, Manya had a guy with him who be befriended in jail and who broke out of there with him. Not many people know about him, who is also one of the main characters in the film."