Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 31, 2018)

Mirror (October 7) was the first to report that after bagging three National Awards — best direction, best editing and best sound mixing — Rajesh Mapuskar’s Marathi comedy-drama Ventilator, is set to be adapted into Gujarati by filmmakers Falguni Patel and Lawrence D’Souza. We have now learnt that the makers have roped in Jackie Shroff to portray the lead, which was played by Ashutosh Gowariker in the original. “Finally, I have been cast in a film in my mother tongue. I hope I will live up to it,” Jackie, who loved the Marathi film, exulted.

Director Umang Vyas, who has begun prep for the film, added that the team had been looking for an actor to step into Gowariker’s shoes for a while. “We wanted someone who would understand the language and the culture. When we zeroed in on Jaggu, there was no looking further. He is a brilliant actor and immediately came on-board when we narrated the story idea to him. He is really fluent in Gujarati and will be playing a Hindi film actor in this one,” Umang informed.

The adaptation is being penned by acclaimed scriptwriter Niren Bhatt, who has previously written the National Award-winning thriller-drama Wrong Side Raju, Umesh Shukla’s Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan starrer All Is Well as well as the Salman Khan-produced Loveratri, that marks his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma’s Bollywood debut. “Niren is currently writing the script and we will retain the original’s satirical tone. It will be set in Gujarat and will roll in March,” Umang revealed.

Meanwhile, producer Falguni is looking forward to collaborate with “Gujarati Bhidu Jackie Shroff”. “In this interesting phase of changing cinema, we are simultaneously working on scripts that are high on content and will cater to a wider range of audience,” she promised.

Ventilator director Mapuskar will also be involved as a creative director on the film.