When he's not making movies, he's either a sous chef in a restaurant or jumping off airplanes and relishing his sky-diving lessons. So far, he has recorded 123 solo jumps which he is happy to flaunt. He likes the slow pace of work - an average of one film in three years. Apoorva Lakhia, who admittedly has a long-running affair with crime-action films, particularly those dealing with gangsters, is back after a four-year gap with another one in a space he's familiar with: Mumbai's underbelly. The only difference this time is that Haseena Parkar is not about a Bhai, it's about Aapa. We take you through the filmmaker's journey with 'Haseena' in his own words. Excerpts...

THE HASEENA I KNOW...
Haseena Parkar was one of the 12 children born to Ibrahim Kaskar, a constable in the police force. Her formative years were spent in a tiny quarter with 11 siblings. She was extremely close to Sabir and Dawood, and the only member of the Kaskar family who stayed back in Mumbai after her marriage and the bombings. There was no evidence of her involvement in the case. It's a tragic character - she lost her husband young, she lost her son and watched her brother Sabir perish in a gang war. She became a godmother to many and remained a gangster for some. With 88 cases against her, she has been to court just once. She was supposed to go to the court for anticipatory bail. To avoid being arrested, she came with four other women in burkhas and no one could figure which one of them was her. She played it really smart. When her husband was shot 17 times, she carried him on her shoulders and put him in a taxi, which proves that she was a strong-willed woman.

THE WAITING GAME...
Although I was offered to do Dawood's biopic, in the course of my research, I felt Haseena Parkar's story was far more interesting and hadn't been tapped. When I was shooting Zanjeer at Film City, I was expected to meet Haseena and her family at someone's place in Malad at 7 pm. I reached the venue at 9 pm. Kadir, who was always with her, told me, 'Aapko maalum hai aapne kisko intezar karwaya hai?' I went into the house. Haseena was in the next room but she also made us wait for two hours. Meantime, I dozed off on the couch in my shorts because I was drained after the shoot. In the meeting, she didn't talk much, people around her did. My writer Chintan Gandhi, she and I were the only people seated in the room while everyone else remained standing. She was hesitant when I told her that I wanted to make a movie about her life. But eventually, she agreed and also opened up with us in our subsequent meetings.

NOT HASEENA'S SHOWREEL
We had a clear understanding that we were not venturing out to make a resume or a show reel for her. Like every other film of mine, I knew even this one will be scrutinized. I had told her that after talking to her, I will be talking to several others and on the basis of what I lay my hands on, I will draft the narrative. We will put in everything that can be corroborated which her family and she agreed to. I met several cops, including Meera Borwankar, who was in charge of her interrogation. I realised the police department loves India and left to their devices, they would eradicate everything anti-national. They are not happy to hear Dawood's name and feel that he is India's no 1 enemy. It's such a dichotomy: she was Nagpada's godmother and a gangster in the eyes of the law. The judge, during her hearing had noted that it's difficult for anyone to say if she's a victim of circumstances or the smartest woman on earth. And whether her problems are because of her brother or was he shielding her. Nothing could be proven; she got an anticipatory bail.

ANGRY TO BE CALLED DAWOOD'S FRIEND
In the last four years, I was offered several gangster and action films. Maybe I attract them or I get attracted to this kind of films pretty easily. But it's amusing how people speak about it. I was shooting with Shraddha Kapoor and Ankur Bhatia in Pune where a cinema hall owner told his kid, 'Yeh Dawood ka best friend hai. Yeh ussi pe picture banata hai.' That line angered me, but I didn't lose my cool on it because I didn't want to lose focus of my shoot.

TOUGH START FOR HASEENA
The industry weighs you on your last Friday's outcome. Suddenly, after two flops, people look at you as the dark horse which they can't place their bets on. They conveniently forget that you have worked before this. Even relatively newer people question your ability to pull it off. This is a director's medium. A director may not be as big as the star but he will take the fall for the film. Although I was advised to change my path and explore other genres, I stuck to what I knew best. In these four years, my film was nearly written off a few times. I am not saying this is a great subject and I am making path-breaking cinema. This film was up my alley. The only thing I was unsure about was how I would work with an actress who had to play my hero.

NO REAL LOCATIONS
It's impossible to shoot at real locations in Mumbai. I couldn't even get an exterior shot of Nagpada because there are hoardings and tall buildings in the neighbourhood which didn't exist during those days. We shot exteriors in Pune because it has the old world charm of Nagpada.

NO FINANCE DESPITE BEING A WOMAN-CENTRIC FILM
No one backed my film financially for a very long time. It was very difficult to get a studio on board, because I was not making a Mary Kom. It wasn't a patriotic film where everyone could stand up and clap at the end of the film with our flag flying high. I was making a film about a woman in a grey area. I am criticized for making such films, but look at the subject matter I had. Here's a woman with 88 cases with not one proven by a massive judiciary. I just saw the material for what it is and presented both sides of the coin.

THE PARKARS HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM
At the onset, I categorically told Haseena Parkar that I won't give her a narration. I had told her that she's known as a gangster and I won't mess with facts. Like her father was arrested for corruption charges which she didn't agree with, but there is an FIR to prove that. I told her I would include such facts in the film which can be substantiated. After the first draft, we went over to ask for the NOC, but she and her folks wanted a narration. I refused and left. Four days later, I met her alone. She again asked for the script. I showed her what I had in my hand and she signed the deal, maybe because she was morally bound by her word. To this day, I haven't shown the film to her family and neither were they allowed on my set every day.

Apoorva Lakhia had been approached to make a film on Dawood Ibrahim and met the don's family as a part of the prep. During his conversations with his sister, Haseena Parkar, he learnt how they had lived in a 12-ft x12-ft chawl, their childhood and her relationship with her brothers. “I found her story more interesting and asked if I can make a film on her. She agreed after a week to 10 days. This was three-and-a-half years ago,“ reminisces Apoorva admitting that he'd struggled to find a studio to back the biopic but once he had the producer and his heroine, Shraddha Kapoor, on board, he finished the film in 42 days.

Quiz him on why he zeroed in on Shraddha who looks nothing like Haseena and he points out that after the first poster and promo this debate quickly died down. “I had seen her in Haider and knew she was my Haseena,“ asserts the maker who did three months of extensive rehearsals with the actress, which included costume trials, body suits and prosthetic tests. “We even hired an acting coach, Samar Singh, who analyses scripts, goes into the back stories of characters and develops them with the actors. Siddhanth Kapoor and Ankur Bhatia spent a month-and-a-half with him and Shraddha did a two-week extensive rehearsal with him and me. In those three months, we really got the character going.“

He adds that Siddhanth and Shraddha's sibling chemistry really helped the film, maintaining that in Hindi cinema, and maybe not even in Hollywood, a brother-sister duo has replayed their real-life roles. “Siddhanth's very protective about Shraddha while she looks up to him and that comes across on screen,“ says Apoorva, reminiscing about a scene in which Haseena and Dawood's father beats the latter with a belt in front of the family. “The noise of the fake belt sounded very real and Shraddha began crying. And in the scene where he meets her at night before leaving the country the lines are so emotional both Siddhanth and she started sobbing and we had to empty the set till they were composed.“

Sonakshi Sinha was initially supposed to play Haseena and the film was to roll last September. But John Abraham's injury pushed Force 2 forward. “So, one day Sonakshi and I sat down and decided she and I would do something else together in the future,“ says Apoorva.

Even though the film is yet to release, there's been talk of him glorifying Dawood and Haseena. He dismisses it saying it's easy to post something on the social media. “The film may be titled Haseena but it's not a one-sided view. There were 88 cases registered against her. I have done my research, met crime branch officers, lawyers and police commissioners, I have copies of the FIRs. But more than all this, the film is about a happily married girl with four kids whose life was affected by the shadow of her brother's personality. It's about what lead to her becoming Haseena Parkar,“ he says.

Flashback to 2013 and his last directorial, the Zanjeer remake, with Telugu superstar Ram Charan and Priyanka Chopra playing modern-day Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri. Where did he go wrong with that? “There were so many court cases that the budget just ballooned and it was impossible to make money. Also, people didn't like it anyway,“ Apoorva says.

When he's not making movies he goes globe-trotting and jumps out of planes. “My latest hobby is sky-diving. I've done 112-solo jumps,“ he beams. “Cooking is another passion. I took a year off after Mission Istaanbul to get a chef's degree from a French culinary institute in US. I also like playing cricket and play for two teams.“ So, what's next? “A long holiday for now,“ he laughs.

Bollywood has always had a fascination for gangster movies and crime dramas in this genre seem to be the flavour of the month. While Arun Gawli's life forms the basis of the Arjun Rampal-starrer Daddy, the gangster-turned-politician's character also plays an important role in Apoorva Lakhia's upcoming underworld saga, Haseena Parkar, which stars Shraddha Kapoor in the titular role.

Apoorva says, “The films are interrelated because Daddy kills Haseena's husband. It's a good thing because people will know more about Arun Gawli and his character. They will also be familiar with his role in the gang war between the dons before my film releases. I think that Daddy will be good homework for the audience who will see Haseena Parkar. I don't think Haseena's character is part of Daddy, but Arun Gawli is a part of my film.“

Earlier Apoorva had delved into the world of gangsters with Shootout At Lokhandwala (2007), which brought to life the story of the dreaded gangster Maya Dolas. Vivek Oberoi who essayed the character of the don on screen, played it with swag and in an attempt to add commercial elements, the outlaw was portrayed in a larger-than-life style. Ask Apoorva if he has glorified Haseena's character in the film and the director is quick to add, “My attempt as a director was to tell the story the way it is. When we were researching for the film, if we found instances that glorified her, we have put that across. If there were instances where she was crucified, then we have included that as well. In a biopic, one has to go with facts. Haseena's family is alive and I know them very well. So, not only do I have to do justice to her portrayal but the Indian justice system as well. It was important for us to show both sides of the coin.“

Elaborating further on Haseena, Apoorva adds, “She was like any other lower middle class girl in Nagpada or Dongri and was looking forward to a life with four kids. But once the gang war and enmity started, her husband was shot dead in broad daylight by Gawli's gang. The film examines how her brother's actions influenced her in either a positive or negative way.“

What's interesting to note is that, while Gawli was a gangster, for the inhabitants of Dagdi Chawl (where his family stays), he was their Daddy. Similarly, on one hand, Haseena was also referred to as a gangster but people whom she helped, referred to her as their Godmother.