Titles include Sushant, Sushant Singh Rajput – Biography, and The Unsolved Murder Mystery – Rajput
Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; August 24, 2020)

From Galwan Valley to coronavirus, filmmakers have been registering film titles on all the current developments. Now, they are registering titles related to the Sushant Singh Rajput case, too. Even as the CBI is probing the case in Mumbai, the late actor’s life and untimely death have inspired filmmakers, who are lining up to block titles related to his name.

The film registration offices have received several film titles related to the SSR case. A source from a producers’ association informs, “We’ve received applications for three film titles related to Sushant Singh Rajput. The requests that we have received are for Sushant Singh Rajput — Biography, Sushant, and The Unsolved Murder Mystery — Rajput.”
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‘REJECTED TWO TITLES BASED ON VIKAS DUBEY’

People called Vikas Dubey’s death in an encounter by the UP Police filmi, and now, producers are planning films and web series on him. A source from a producers’ association says, “The titles we’ve received are Most Wanted Vikas Dubey, Do Nail Vikas Dubey,Vikas Dubey Kanpuria, and Baahubali Vikas Dubey.” T P Aggarwal, President, IMPPA (Indian Motion Picture Producers Association) confirms receiving titles on Dubey. He says, “We’ve received two applications for film titles related to Vikas Dubey, and we’ve rejected both.”

Hansal Mehta to helm web series on the alleged encounter of UP's ganglord; intends to explore the 'nexus of politics, crime and lawmakers'
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; August 10, 2020)

A large section of the population raised questions over the alleged encounter of Vikas Dubey on July 10. Even as the Supreme Court has ordered a three-member panel to investigate the matter, in Bollywood, the incident has caught the attention of filmmaker Hansal Mehta. The director is set to helm a web series on the notorious gangster, who had earned the moniker 'Gabbar of Bikru'.

A day after he was arrested in Ujjain on July 9, Dubey was shot dead while allegedly trying to flee from the custody of the Uttar Pradesh Police after the Special Task Force (STF) convoy met with an accident on the outskirts of Kanpur.

Producer Shailesh Singh, who has acquired the rights to tell his story, says, "I had been following the events closely and thought, why not tell this story to the entire nation and bring out the facts?" It took some convincing for Vikas Dubey's family to agree to part with the story. "It's a recent event, and they are still coping with it. Many people had approached them, but we managed to convince them after much persuasion. They want his story to be depicted with authenticity."

In the 30 years since his first criminal case in 1990, the history-sheeter faced as many as 61 FIRs. He found the national spotlight on him when he killed BJP leader Santosh Shukla inside the Shivli police station in 2001. Dubey's death on July 10 ended the eight-day chase that began on July 2 when his men killed eight UP police officers who had gone to Bikru to arrest him.

Mehta, who has previously offered compelling dramas in Shahid, Aligarh and Omerta, believes there is more to the episode than meets the eye. "It is an important story, which is a reflection of our times where politics, crime and lawmakers form a curious nexus. I see an edgy political thriller emerging from this [material]." The director has yet to zero in on the cast. "I have some thoughts [on who I want to rope in], but let the writing happen first."

“Filmi” is what everyone said on hearing of the Kanpur encounter. Encounters happen in secluded spaces, of course, out of our sight, but cinema has played out the episode of the encounter so often that it becomes an immediate reference point
Rachana Dubey, Niharika Lal and Divya Kaushik (BOMBAY TIMES; July 11, 2020)

WE HAVE CREATED A FORMULA FOR SHOOTOUT FILMS — CLOSE TO FACTS WITH CINEMATIC LIBERTIES: SANJAY GUPTA
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who has helmed Shootout At Wadala and written Shootout At Lokhandwala, says, “In my entire career, I don’t think I have come across a single genuine encounter. What has happened recently is ludicrous. There are so many loopholes in the story. The Lokhandwala encounter (on which the movie Shootout At Lokhandwala was based) had witnesses, but what happened on the staircase and inside the house, no one saw. We have created a formula, at least, for the Shootout films — a true, shocking story, as close to facts as possible with cinematic liberties. That’s what makes them stand out. It is non-fiction, but has the star cast and the trappings of a masala film and it takes a stand on the right and wrong.

While making a film, once we have the story in place, we start talking to survivors, witnesses and people who were connected with, let’s say, an incident, including the journalist who has reported stories around it. Author S Hussain Zaidi was a great reference for Shootout At Wadala. For Shootout At Lokhandwala, we had A A Khan (former IPS officer) and a lot of the witnesses from the building. Now, talking about the Vikas Dubey encounter, it will lend itself one hundred per cent to a movie and I have no doubt about that.”



ENCOUNTER MOVIES ARE BASED ON POLICE VERSIONS: DILIP SHUKLA, DABANGG WRITER
In encounters, there are no witnesses. Police’s word is final. What we are seeing in Vikas Dubey’s case, there are no witnesses, what police is saying is the final version. If a filmmaker tomorrow makes a film on Vikas Dubey, he’ll make it based on the statement the police gives today.

Whether what the police is saying is right or wrong is something a filmmaker can’t find out. When a film is based on a real incident, like Ab Tak Chhappan and Shootout At Lokhandwala, the police’s version is what writers and directors have.


PEOPLE TEXTED ME FRIDAY MORNING SAYING ‘YEH ENCOUNTER TOH AAPKI FILM BULLETT RAJA KE SCENE JAISA HAI’: TIGMANSHU DHULIA
Tigmanshu Dhulia, who has directed films like Bullett Raja and the Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster franchise, says, “I was really happy when I read that Vikas Dubey was arrested. Interestingly, I have information about UP criminals, but I never heard about Mr Dubey. When I read about the encounter on Friday morning, I found it amusing. I also got messages from three people saying,‘Yeh encounter toh aapki film Bullett Raja jaisa hai.’ I was amused as there was a similar sequence in Bullett Raja, in which Saif Ali Khan’s character is fleeing when police catches him in the fields, and then comes a twist. But this encounter was too similar to that scene. When I read about the encounter, I felt good that I thought of such a situation earlier in one of my films. This encounter is actually close to what we would imagine for our films.

We hear stories of UP encounters and gangsters and in films, we fictionalize it — we imagine and create scenes, and sometimes in life fiction becomes reality.

It has happened with me often. In my first film, Haasil, I didn’t mention the university or Allahabad in the film, but people knew it was based there. The situation of Allahabad University was not as bad as it was shown in the film, but after one year it reflected the film. It was shown on many TV channels what was happening in the film and what was happening at Allahabad University at that time.”
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RAEES (2017)
Raees, a local gangster, is unknowingly implicated in smuggling explosives that lead to serial blasts in the country and aware that he will be killed, Raees surrenders to the police. He is later taken to a deserted spot and killed in a staged encounter by police officer Majmudar.


SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA (2007)
Shootout At Lokhandwala is based on the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout, a real-life gun battle between gangsters and Mumbai Police. In the film an ‘encounter squad’ is created to eliminate terrorists and gangsters.


ARTICLE 15 (2019)
The Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer delves into the issue of caste divide. In the film, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub plays the role of a local youth leader, who is killed in a staged encounter for opposing a political alliance.


AB TAK CHHAPPAN (2004)
Ab Tak Chhappan, inspired by real-life Mumbai police officer Daya Nayak, is the story of encounter specialist Sadhu, played by Nana Patekar. Responsible for handling the underworld, Sadhu holds the record of having killed 56 people in encounters.


ENCOUNTER: THE KILLING (2002)
The film is about a police inspector, played by Naseeruddin Shah, who is trying to find the parents of a young mobster he accidentally killed during a chase.