After the multi-starrer ‘Ek Ajnabee', Apoorva Lakhia is ready with another multi-starrer film ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala'. The previous film failed to do well at the box office, but ‘Shootout...' is the most awaited film of the year. We spoke to the director Apoorva Lakhia about his latest flick to know about the inside story. Here is the excerpt.

Q: The gang war has ended in Mumbai. So, why did you choose such a subject for your film?
A: Firstly, the reason as to why I choose a subject of gang war is that this particular incident is quiet interesting and controversial too. Most people who were involved in this shootout incident are still alive. There are still a lot of court cases running against the policemen because whatever happened that time was wrong.

Q: There have been a lot of other shootout incidents in Mumbai in the past. What was the reason behind choosing the shootout at Lokhandwala?
A: There are many reasons behind it. If you look at it carefully, it was a shootout where 286 policemen were engaged for the encounter of just five gangsters. The police fired 1700 rounds of bullet in a posh area for seven continuous hours in broad daylight. An incident of this sort has never happened in the history of Mumbai.

Q: What kind of research have you gone through for this film?
A: For this film I had to do an intensive research. I had managed to gain the original news tapes of the shootout of 1991 from Mithi Tejpal and Madhu Trehans. I tried to talk to as many people who were involved in the incident. A.A. Khan (Aftab Ahmed Khan) himself has helped me a lot. He has also written a book called ‘Surrender' on incident and I have included a lot of matter from it in my film.

Q: It has been heard that Maya Dolas had ditched Daud Ibrahim and thus he had planned this encounter on Maya through A.A. Khan ...
A: This is a controversial question. A lot has been said and written on the matter. What you are saying might be true or might not be true. As I told you earlier too, there were a lot of nuisances happening in the underworld at that time and the police department was tired of it.

When A A Khan heard that Maya was present at the building called Swati in Lokhandwala, the very moment he has decided to finish off the matter forever. In my film too I have Sanjay Dutt say the dialogue "Mumbai mein ayega toh upper ka ticket katayega" (If he comes to Mumbai, he would not be alive).

Not many people know that Maya Dolas had surrendered to save his life, but the police still fired at him.

Q: Whom are you trying to glorify through the movie, the underworld or the police department?
A: I'm not trying to glorify anyone through the movie. The police had been very cruel while handling the underworld at that time. Thus, under such situation it is very difficult to say who was correct or who was wrong. As for now, I leave this decision on the viewers.

Q: You say that the movie is a true-life depiction. So can we expect an answer from you?
A: When have I said that my movie is a true-life depiction of the incident? I have not made any documentary; it is like any other commercial movie in Bollywood, which is meant to entertain the audience. The only thing true here is the incident that I have chosen.

The rest, I have put in a lot of things from my own imagination. It is true that I have done a lot of research for the movie, but I have only incorporated only those things that I found interesting for the movie.

Q: Have you used any real footage of the shootout in your film?
A: Yes, I have. But I have not been too successful with that. Once I had even though of incorporating the entire track that I had received from Mithi Tejpal and Madhu Trehas, but when I had a look at the footage, it was not of a good quality that could be used in the film.

We have filmed some sequences exactly the way we saw them in the track. These sequences look pretty real and then we have used small portions from the track too.

Q: We have heard that A. A. Khan has also acted in the movie?
A: Yes, he has also acted in the movie. He has played the character of his senior Ram Moorthy. In this film we have changed the name to Krishna Moorthy.

Q: Who is the main character in your multi-starrer film?
A: In this film, my hero is Sanjat Dutt and then there is Vivek Oberoi followed by the other characters. Here I am depicting the tussle between the police and the underworld. So, I had to use two very strong characters for both sides so that the equation is balanced.

Q: Why Sanjay and Vivek? Did you have Vivek's character in ‘Company' in mind?
A: Who does not want to work with Sanjay Dutt? As far as Vivek is concerned, I did have ‘Company's image in mind so I wanted him to play Maya Dolas. Tusshar has a different image in the people's mind, so it was a challenge to fit him in the character of Dilip Buva. But I'm happy that he did a god job.

Q: So is it that you have put Amitabh Bachchan in a sub-hero category?
A: No, not at all. He is playing a lawyer in my film. If you want to know more about his character then you will either have to wait for my movie or do the research yourself. I will not tell you anything on my own.

Q: Diya Mirza is unhappy with her role being cut short...
A: Sometimes, after shooting the film, one realizes that it has become too long. So the sequences that are not too important for the story are normally cut down. It also happens that we have to re-shoot certain parts because the film becomes too short. There is a lot that happens on the editing table and Diya is aware of this.

Q: You were also to make a film on Salman Rushdie's novel ‘Midnight Children'?
A: Yes, I was to make the film along with Rushdie's wife Padma Lakshmi, but unfortunately, thing did not work out and the film has been shelved. I will think of it sometimes in the future.

Q: Your favorite subject is action. Will the next film also be based on it?
A: Of course, I'm a lazy kind of a person and make one film every two years. By the way, I'm making the next film with Sunil Shetty's Popcorn Production. - Rajnee Gupta