The story of a gangster

Portraying a gangster-turned-politician, actor Arjun Rampal says that he and the director, Ashim Ahluwalia has essayed Arun Gawli in an unbiased way.

Arjun, who has also produced the film, says, "We did not want to show Arun Gawli's point of view in the film but instead, wanted to depict what the people around him thought of him. Our intention was to keep a balance in the film's narrative."

Releasing on September 8, Daddy is the life story of Arun Gawli, who was convicted by the court in 2012 for the murder of Shiv Sena leader, Kamlakar Jamsandekar, and is still passing his sentence. This is the first movie that's been made on a living person after taking his approval; depicting every angle of his life.

When asked to give personal opinions on the controversial gangster, the 44-year-old actor said, "He is just a normal person who faced a lot of challenges in his life and has bravely tackled each one of them. I believe one can learn from him about how to face the storms in life with courage."

"He is a man of his word. We started shooting for this film without any written consent from Arun Gawli since he was not getting parole. It was just his word that we relied upon to go ahead with the production. Daddy would not have been made had I not decided to believe his words" added Arjun who was looking a bit thin after losing 11 kilograms to play this character.

So is it fine to portray a gangster as a protagonist in a film?

"The answer is no. I am not interested in making an aspiring movie about a gangster. I am more interested in Arun Gawli as a person and the hurdles that he faced," said Ashim, adding, "When we took a thought to make a film on him, Arjun and I decided to show every facade of that man; the good and the bad. And that's what makes this film different from all the other

gangster films. At no instance in the movie you would feel as if we are attempting to glorify him or create a hero out of him."

Adding to what Ashim said, Arjun explained, "The truth is, if you know Arun Gawli and go to Dagdi Chawl in Mumbai, you will find that he is already a hero for his people. He has done lots of good deeds for them; be it providing clean water to them within 24 hours or any other simple municipality work. He came out to fight the elections which he ultimately won. Considering the fact that he is already glorigied in his region, it was difficult for us to balance things because if we show only the positive side of this person, people who don't know him might consider it as a propaganda film."

Arjun says Daddy depicts the "real story" of India, one which is seldom shown in commercial movies.