`Mumbai Saga` born out of research for `Shootout at Wadala`: Sanjay Gupta

Durban: Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta`s next is `Mumbai Saga` and he says it is the outcome of research material collected for `Shootout at Wadala`. He is left with so much content that he may end up having a trilogy of the movie.

"Shootout At Wadala" is a real life story of Mumbai Police`s first official encounter when they gunned down gangster Manya Surve. "My next film is called `Mumbai Saga`. When I made `Shootout At Wadala`, which is based on true events, I did a lot of research and from all that research I could use only those material which was restricted to the film," Gupta told IANS during his recent Durban sojourn. "I couldn`t use the rest of it. But the stuff that I stumbled upon was magnificent from my filmmaking point of view. During `...Wadala` we got so much material that we are looking at a possible trilogy, which could be `Mumbai Saga 2` and `Mumbai Saga 3`," he added. The film will be Mumbai-centric and "Mumbai Saga" will focus on the nexus between mill owners, the underworld, and police. Explaining the era that he will capture in the film, Gupta said that in the 1980s and 1990s most mills suffered fire incidents in the city once known as the Manchester of India. "How the hell were all the mills burning down? But that was not the case, they were being burnt down and the workers were being displaced. The owners wanted to use the land for real estate. "It was no longer viable to have a 13- or 15-acre cotton mill in the heart of the city ... so to do this, the underworld was brought in and there was the emergence of a whole new Hindu gang," he said. "So what unfolded at that time is the backdrop of `Mumbai Saga`. This is the nexus between underworld, mill owners, and police ... It`s out in public domain," added Gupta known for making action dramas like "Kaante" and "Shootout at Lokhandwala". Gupta said a handful of journalists had the guts to openly write about it and one of them was Darryl D`Monte. "He has written extensively on it. He has written an interesting book `Ripping The Fabric: The Decline of Mumbai and its Mills` and in that he has given names, dates and statistics. The book is part of my research," said Gupta who read about 20-25 books during "...Wdala". "Mumbai Saga" may be inspired by the real stories, but it won`t be a docu-drama. "We are taking all that material and fictionalising it. It may be dramatized and characters may be added or removed. I am not making a docu-drama, it is a full-fledged action drama," said Gupta. "We are not taking real names, but the story will be true," he added.