A movie on Abu Salem with the man himself

Now this is an interesting piece of news. Abu Salem's lawyer Ashok Sarogi and his wife, Saria, are producing a movie on the life of Abu Salem. The movie may feature Abu Salem himself for a few shots if the court grants permission to film him under heavy security. The cast and title of the movie have not been announced. The good folks at M&C give us this-

'The film will capture Salem's rise from a small-time street vendor in suburban Andheri to a dreaded mobster. I got the idea of making the film on Salem's life after I interacted with him in jail,' said Salem's lawyer Ashok Sarogi.

'During my interaction, I found that there was a tale behind his life's story. The film will project him as a man with a gentle heart,' Sarogi said.

The untitled three-hour Hindi movie is being produced by Sarogi's wife Saria and directed by N. Chandra with an Rs.40 million budget.

The cast includes leading Bollywood actors who would be playing the roles of Abu Salem and his love interest Monica Bedi, a former actor. But Sarogi is not disclosing the names at this stage.

The Sarogis are hopeful of roping in the mobster for some close-in shots, provided the TADA court grants permission.

'We want him for some close-in shots to be filmed within the city. We would move the TADA court to allow him to come out of the jail under police escort,' said Saria.

'However, if the court turns down our plea, then we will have to do the shots with a duplicate.'

I understand there is novelty value in getting the real life gangster appear in a movie and the authentic touch it would lend to the enterprise. As much as I would like to see Abu Salem play himself in front of the camera, I believe the court will be opening a Pandora's box if they allow this. Think about it - if they grant approval for Abu Salem, they will be setting a precedent that would be hard to reverse. Sooner or later, any film star who goes behind bars is going to want to continue working on their movies under the same pretext. Not only would this be unfair it would make the entire legal system a joke from an actor's perspective if they knew they could always get out of jail for a day behind the camera.

[via M&C]

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