The actor gets a politician's son to fund his film after top studios refuse to finance it

The shoot of Zila Ghaziabad finally started in Wai two days ago, thanks to its lead star Arshad Warsi. The film, also starring Sanjay Dutt and Vivek Oberoi, had run into troubled waters when studios like UTV, Viacom and Eros refused to fund it.

Informs a source, "The first schedule got cancelled due to a lack of funds, but Arshad Warsi came to the rescue of the producer, Vinod Bachchan. On his personal guarantee, he convinced a Delhi-based politician's son to pump in money for the smooth sailing of the shoot."

The producer, however, denies the story. "I have not approached any studios. The film is produced by me and is very much on schedule. We were supposed to shoot from mid-July. My stars are supporting me a lot. There is no politician funding the film."

Rural politics

The film deals with politics and mafia as prevalent in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh). Though there have been several films made on the mafia in Mumbai and Delhi, not many have explored the underbelly in this part of the country. All the lead roles are based on real-life characters.

Arshad's role is modelled on the outlaw Mahender Fauji. Vivek plays another outlaw Satbir Gujja. Sanjay essays the life of Thakur Pritam Singh, a zamindar-turned-cop (also known as the badshah of Bulandshah), who was notorious for his unorthodox way of dealing with criminals.

Arshad was unavailable for comment.