Emraan
Hashmi.
Photograph:
Afsar
Dayatar/Rediff
Would
you
rather
watch
a
film
on
Dawood
Ibrahim
or
Swami
Vivekananda?
Director
Vishal
Bhardwaj,
known
for
his
gangster
films
like
Maqbool
and
Omkara,
picks
Dawood,
adding,
“Audiences
will
buy
tickets
for
a
film
on
Dawood,
not
on
Swami
Vivekananda.”
The
filmmaker
was
speaking
at
the
launch
of
S
Hussain
Zaidi’s
latest
book,
From
Dubai
to
Karachi:
The
Dawood
Saga
Continues.
Also
present
at
the
event
was
actor
Emraan
Hashmi,
who
played
Shoaib
Khan,
a
character
bassed
on
the
fugitive
gangster
in
Milan
Luthria’s
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbaai.
Hussain
Zaidi’s
book
follows
Dawood
after
he
flees
his
sanctuary
in
Dubai
and
decamps
to
Karachi
after
the
March
12,
1993
Mumbai
bomb
blasts.
Emraan
Hashmi,
S
Hussain
Zaidi
and
Vishal
Bhardwaj
at
the
book
launch.
Photograph:
Afsar
Dayatar/Rediff
“Every
filmmaker
has
a
dream
to
make
a
Godfather
kind
of
film.
Devil
characters
sell,”
Vishal
added.
When
Vishal
was
asked
if
he
is
planning
to
make
another
gangster
film,
he
shrugs
and
says,
“Let
us
wait.”
So
what
happened
to
Sapna
Didi,
which
was
announced
in
2018,
based
on
Zaidi’s
earlier
book,
Mafia
Queens
of
Mumbai?
Vishal
had
cast
Deepika
Padukone
and
Irrfan
in
it.
After
Irrfan’s
death
in
April
2020,
the
projet
was
shelved
and
Vishal
stays
mum
about
it
at
the
book
launch.
Sapna
Didi,
one
of
the
most
feared
names
in
Bombay’s
underworld,
was
determined
to
kill
Dawood
after
he
murdered
her
husband
Mehmood
Khan.
Want
to
know
more
about
the
underworld?
Emraan
gives
us
a
tip:
Video:
Afsar
Dayatar/Rediff
Quite
a
few
actors
have
played
Dawood
in
the
movies.
“I
played
the
younger
version
of
Dawood
in
Once
Upon
A
Time
in
Mumbaai,”
says
Emraan.
“I
would
like
to
tell
filmmakers
that
if
they
plan
to
make
a
movie
on
Hussain’s
latest
book,
they
don’t
have
to
go
any
further
as
I
am
right
here.”
