Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur‘ had released more than a decade ago, in 2012. The film has garnered a cult status today and all the characters from the film are also remembered. Not to mention, the songs from the film which were quirky to the tee. But did you know that initially Hansal Mehta was supposed to direct the movie, not Anurag Kashyap.
Hansal had said during a chat that he had wroked on the script of the movie with writer Zeeshan Quadri and approached Manoj Bajpayee for the film. He told Mid-day, “Zeishan Quadri (write) came to me with that story, and we worked on it for a few months. I spoke to Manoj, who was doing nothing at the time. We had just started talking; we had broken up for several years. I spoke to Manoj, and I said, ‘Tu karega kya?‘ And he said, ‘Haan karte hain, main thoda paisa bhi laga leta hoon (Yes, let’s do it, I’ll put some money into it as well)’.”
However, Hansal had to let go off the project as he couldn’t find a producer or anyone to back the project and it had to be mounted on a big budget. Mehta revealed how it went on to Kashyap. “I had no idea how to go about it, because nobody trusted me… We started writing, and in the mean time, Zeishan went and met Anurag. Anurag called me and asked, ‘Sir, aap bana rahe ho toh main nahi banata hoon (If you’re really doing it, I’ll step away). But I didn’t have a producer; it was an impractical dream. I told him I have just one request, that he hire Manoj because I’d promised to take him in it,” said the director.
But at that point, Bajpayee was to play Faisal’s character. It was not to be made into a two-part project back then. But Anurag added the origin element to the story and a whole new chapter was created which was not meant initially. Eventually, Manoj played Sardar Khan in the film and Nawazuddin Siddiqui was roped in to play Faisal.
Interestingly, Hansal’s son Jai assisted Anurag on Gangs Of Wasseypur and Hansal called that experience as ‘baptism by fire’. He revealed, “Anurag said, ‘Sir, if you call him back, he will remain a boy, if you let him stay here he will become a man.’ He just said, ‘Sambhal lege, hum sab hai na yaha pe.’ It was a tough moment for me as a father because (Jai was) constantly calling me and telling me (he) wanted to come back, and I started avoiding (him).”
‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ also starred Richa Chaddha, Huma Qureshi, Pankaj Tripathi.
Hansal had said during a chat that he had wroked on the script of the movie with writer Zeeshan Quadri and approached Manoj Bajpayee for the film. He told Mid-day, “Zeishan Quadri (write) came to me with that story, and we worked on it for a few months. I spoke to Manoj, who was doing nothing at the time. We had just started talking; we had broken up for several years. I spoke to Manoj, and I said, ‘Tu karega kya?‘ And he said, ‘Haan karte hain, main thoda paisa bhi laga leta hoon (Yes, let’s do it, I’ll put some money into it as well)’.”
However, Hansal had to let go off the project as he couldn’t find a producer or anyone to back the project and it had to be mounted on a big budget. Mehta revealed how it went on to Kashyap. “I had no idea how to go about it, because nobody trusted me… We started writing, and in the mean time, Zeishan went and met Anurag. Anurag called me and asked, ‘Sir, aap bana rahe ho toh main nahi banata hoon (If you’re really doing it, I’ll step away). But I didn’t have a producer; it was an impractical dream. I told him I have just one request, that he hire Manoj because I’d promised to take him in it,” said the director.
But at that point, Bajpayee was to play Faisal’s character. It was not to be made into a two-part project back then. But Anurag added the origin element to the story and a whole new chapter was created which was not meant initially. Eventually, Manoj played Sardar Khan in the film and Nawazuddin Siddiqui was roped in to play Faisal.
Interestingly, Hansal’s son Jai assisted Anurag on Gangs Of Wasseypur and Hansal called that experience as ‘baptism by fire’. He revealed, “Anurag said, ‘Sir, if you call him back, he will remain a boy, if you let him stay here he will become a man.’ He just said, ‘Sambhal lege, hum sab hai na yaha pe.’ It was a tough moment for me as a father because (Jai was) constantly calling me and telling me (he) wanted to come back, and I started avoiding (him).”
‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ also starred Richa Chaddha, Huma Qureshi, Pankaj Tripathi.
