Friday, May 18, 2007

Apoorva Lakhia's next film on Osama!


After doing a take on the 1991 police encounter at Lokhandwala in which a notorious Mumbai gangster was killed, director Apoorva Lakhia is all set to move towards international terrorism.

His next project, Mission Istanbul, is plotted around the clandestine and sinister workings of fugitive Osama Bin Laden’s terrorist network, the Al-Qaeda. Bobby Deol plays one of the leads in this start-to-finish action adventure.

Says Lakhia, “After Shootout at Lokhandwala, Mission Istanbul is going to be my big film. I definitely have Bobby Deol aboard. The film needs four big heroes. And it has to be shot in Turkey, Afghanistan, Srinagar and Mumbai.”

There is no indication as yet if Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, is characterised in Mission Istanbul which Lakhia is doing for producer Suniel Shetty. But Laden will be shown making an appearance on television. Then 9/11, the most horrific instance of terrorism in the world, does not feature in the film, but the London blasts and the attack on Akshardham do.

He has sourced out actors from Turkey and other Islamic nations who resemble some of the Al-Qaeda terrorists closely, and after auditioning them, has signed them on for Mission Istanbul.

Currently, Lakhia is working on getting permission to shoot the film in Afghanistan. “And if not Afghanistan, then I’ll replicate the hinterland in Jaisalmer. The landscapes are pretty much the same. And even the local Muslims resemble each other in both the places. I’ve shot Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost in Jaisalmer. So I know the terrain,” says the director.

Lakhia is not the only Bollywood director planning to bring global terrorism to Hindi cinema. Ram Gopal Verma has a mammoth project entitled Ek tackling international cross-border terrorism. Even his Gabbar in Sholay will be seen fraternising with international terrorists.

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