Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, who was sent to gallows by a Mumbai court on Thursday, also faces death in 'reel' life--and is hanged.
The Mumbai terror attack forms the backdrop of the film 'Ashok Chakra' which will be released on May 28. The promos of the film will be out this Sunday.
Rajan Verma, a newcomer, who bears a striking resemblance to the lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai carnage, plays the role of 22-year-old Kasab, a Lashkar -e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist.
The film will feature Rajan in a near nude scene accepting his guilt in the terror attack in a monologue before being hanged.
"The promos will release on May 9 and the hanging of Kasab in the film mirrors the public sentiment. Months before the (Mumbai) trial ended, we had decided that Kasab will be hanged to death in the film," said Verma.
A fast track court yesterday awarded death penalty to Kasab, holding him guilty of massacre of 166 people and waging war against the nation in the Mumbai terror attacks case.
The film which was earlier titled 'Total Ten' has been directed by S P Munishwar and produced by Hari Om Sharma under the banner of Sapna Films Production.
The Rs 2.5 crore film based on media reports of the carnage and accounts of police officials and survivors pieces together the 60-hour ordeal the city went through.
Other actors in the movie include Homi Wadia (Hemant Karkare), Ashok Kulkarni (Ashok Kamte) and Ashish Vidyarthi (Tukaram Ombale). The film also has a host of small-time actors playing Kasab's Pakistani handlers.
Apparently trying to cash in on the November 26, 2008 terror attacks filmmakers had registered titles like 'Operation 5-Star Mumbai', 'Bird's Point of View: Taj Terror', '26/11-Mumbai Under Terror', 'Dahshat Ka Halla' and 'Shootout at Oberoi', but only a few projects has taken off.
Bhojpuri star Kamal Rashid Khan's upcoming sequel to 'Deshdrohi' also centres on the "sacrifices made by ATS officers" during the terror attacks.
"My film got delayed because of the new developments in the case. Now that Kasab has been convicted and sentencing expected we are planning to begin shooting soon and the film will be released in February next year," said Khan, who is also the producer of the film.
Khan claimed that he has already signed on Anupam Kher, Siddharth Koirala, Ashmit Patel and Payal Rohatgi for the film.
Mainstream filmmakers had stayed away from making a film on the carnage after Ram Gopal Varma's visit to the terror-struck Taj hotel faollowing the attack had triggered a controversy.
Movies that have been made on real-life terror incidents include Anurag Kashyup's 'Black Friday' (2004), based on the 1993 serial blasts, Apoorva Lakhia's 'Shootout At Lokhandwala' (2007) on a 1991 underworld encounter, and Nishikant Kamat's 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' (2008) on the serial train blasts of July 7, 2006. PTI
