Sharing John Abraham's look from Mumbai Saga, filmmaker Sanjay Gupta discusses how styling team arrived at his gangster avatar for actioner set in the '80s
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; January 22, 2020)

If his movies are any indication, Sanjay Gupta pays as much attention to the styling as he does to the script. The filmmaker, who is currently giving finishing touches to Mumbai Saga, says that he spent weeks zeroing in on leading man John Abraham's gangster look. "The idea was to show John in a different light. The film is set in the '80s, and we have stayed true to the era. John's character ages from mid-20s to the late-30s," says the director, who has given Abraham four distinct looks in the movie that also features Emraan Hashmi, and traces the shutdown of mills in Bombay in the '80s.

Sharing an exclusive still with mid-day, Gupta elaborates, "This is one of the looks where he is seen wearing a polyester kurta with wide lapels and chappals, and is sporting a teeka on the forehead. I remember, when John entered the set, Bhushan [Kumar, producer] told me that he thought a real gangster had walked in."

Their last collaboration, Shootout At Wadala (2013) had Abraham essaying the role of a gangster. Naturally then, the challenge was to create an on-screen avatar that shared no similarity with his look in the 2013 actioner. Believing that a fresh pair of eyes would do a world of good, Gupta roped in costume designer Naahid Shah for this venture.

"Initially, when John and I sat with the costume team, we weren't convinced with the look [that they had created]. So, we got Naahid on board, who did extensive research on the era. She and I handpicked all the materials and accessories from various parts of the city."

Abraham, on his part, is excited to reunite with the filmmaker. "This is my third collaboration with Sanjay. We have created a different language for this gangster drama," he says.