Milan
Luthria
has
been
given
an
unenviable
task
by
his
producer
Ekta
Kapoor.
He
has
to
make
a
gangster
film
with
Sanjay
Dutt
which
would
be
completely
different
from
anything
done
so
far
in
Hindi
films.
Considering
the
underworld
cinema
has
been
done
to
bludgeoning
death
by
every
director
from
Mahesh
Bhatt
to
Ram
Gopal
Varma,
and
considering
Dutt
has
played
a
gangster
in
at
least
three
dozen
prominent
and
inconspicuous
films,
Luthria
is
at
his
wit's
end
as
to
how
he
should
approach
the
age-old
theme
of
gangsterism.
"I've
been
focusing
on
the
getting
the
writing
right.
It's
not
easy
to
make
a
film
that
looks
at
the
era
and
still
manages
to
tell
a
powerful
story.
To
compound
my
problems,
there's
hardly
any
material
on
the
underworld
in
the
1980s.
That
in
a
way
is
a
blessing
because
it
gives
a
free
reign
to
the
imagination."
The
director
of
Kachche
Dhaage
and
Taxi
No
9211
is
trying
to
get
the
fundas
right
for
this
project.
"My
film
for
Ekta
Kapoor
will
take
a
penetrating
look
at
gangsterism
in
the
1980s.
I'm
quite
enamoured
by
the
period,
quite
taken
up
by
the
period
and
its
flamboyance.
There
was
a
lot
action
and
lots
of
inner
life
in
some
of
the
films
from
during
that
period.
I
think
the
last
film
that
looked
at
gangsterism
from
inside
was
Anurag
Basu's
Gangster."
"Earlier
when
I
was
assisting
Mahesh
Bhatt
he
did
some
interesting
takes
on
gangsterism
like
Saathi
and
Sir.
The
challenge
is
to
have
a
fresh
take
at
the
whole
era.
I've
to
take
the
whole
period
into
account
and
yet
it
can't
be
a
rambling
look
at
the
era.
It
has
to
have
a
strong
story
to
tell.
It
has
to
be
a
clutter-breaking
gangster
film."
Story first published: Thursday, May 15, 2008, 15:03 [IST]