Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 28, 2018)

Last year, news of Salman Khan’s first TV production on the life of wrestler Ghulam Mohammed aka the Great Gama had surfaced. Now, Mirror has learnt the show will go on floors in the next few months with Sohail Khan playing the protagonist and TV star Mohammad Nazim of the daily soap Saath Nibhaana Saathiya fame as his brother Imam Baksh.

Gama was born in the village of Jabbowal in Punjab into an ethnic Kashmiri family of wrestlers. He was noticed at the age of 10 when he entered a strongman competition held in Jodhpur. The contest was attended by more than 400 wrestlers and Gama, who was among the last 15, was named the winner by the Maharaja of Jodhpur because he was the youngest. He was subsequently trained by the Maharaja of Datia. He arrived in the UK in April 1910 with two other wrestlers, Ahmed Bux and Gama to participate in the European catch wrestling tournaments.

In a career spanning five decades, he was undefeated. A source associated with the project reveals that it is expected to be a big budget finite series and Puneet Issar is writing and directing the show. “The team shot the pilot last year in Patiala and the Star Plus loved it. Now, the show’s team is sorting out the actors’ dates and working out the logistics. They plan to shoot it like a film in Punjab, on a set in Mumbai and at some stadiums in London,” adds the source.