Script the hero of GOW: Zeishan Quadri
22 Jun 2012 2:50 AM GMT
Just days ahead of the release of Gangs of Wasseypur (GOW), which opened to rave reviews at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival, writer Zeishan Quadri laughs off rumours of being threatened by the coal mafia from his hometown. ‘These reports made it out of proportion. I got a call from a person who claimed to be a goon from Dhanbad and said that the film will spoil his business,’ Zeishan told Millennium Post from Mumbai. ‘He then told me that people from Dhanbad and Wasseypur will not welcome you,’ adds Quadri.
‘I said I don’t know if I am coming to Dhanbad at all,’ says Quadri, laughing. Wasseypur, in which GOW is based, is a small village 1km away from Dhanbad railway station.
‘The film starts from 1941 and goes up to 2009. Anurag [Kashyap] came to my place in Wasseypur, liked the name and wanted that to be the name of the movie,’ Quadri says.
GOW, says Quadri, is not just based in Dhanbad but mirrors the lingo, atmosphere and corruption of the place. ‘There is no hero in the film. The script is the hero. A powerful guy also gets beaten. GOW showcases what happens in reality,’ he says.
The movie is based on real life incidents. ‘GOW is all about one family’s revenge spanning three generations. The backdrop is the corruption in coal mines, scrap dealing,’ says the writer-actor.
Quadri is also acting in the movie. ‘I am there in the second part. My character, Definite, wants to be the biggest goon of Dhanbad. He is sort of like Salman Khan. Nothing is predictable about him. I based it on Sallu. The clothes, body language... it’s all subconsciously Salman,’ he says.
Did he expect the kind of reaction GOW got at Cannes? Quadri says he was confident of the adulation when he met Kashyap. ‘I had said Cannes mein toh bawaal macha denge. I knew what kind of films work at Cannes. I didn’t think of the audience reaction though. For about 40 minutes people kept clapping. I felt stoned,’ says Quadri.
‘I said I don’t know if I am coming to Dhanbad at all,’ says Quadri, laughing. Wasseypur, in which GOW is based, is a small village 1km away from Dhanbad railway station.
‘The film starts from 1941 and goes up to 2009. Anurag [Kashyap] came to my place in Wasseypur, liked the name and wanted that to be the name of the movie,’ Quadri says.
GOW, says Quadri, is not just based in Dhanbad but mirrors the lingo, atmosphere and corruption of the place. ‘There is no hero in the film. The script is the hero. A powerful guy also gets beaten. GOW showcases what happens in reality,’ he says.
The movie is based on real life incidents. ‘GOW is all about one family’s revenge spanning three generations. The backdrop is the corruption in coal mines, scrap dealing,’ says the writer-actor.
Quadri is also acting in the movie. ‘I am there in the second part. My character, Definite, wants to be the biggest goon of Dhanbad. He is sort of like Salman Khan. Nothing is predictable about him. I based it on Sallu. The clothes, body language... it’s all subconsciously Salman,’ he says.
Did he expect the kind of reaction GOW got at Cannes? Quadri says he was confident of the adulation when he met Kashyap. ‘I had said Cannes mein toh bawaal macha denge. I knew what kind of films work at Cannes. I didn’t think of the audience reaction though. For about 40 minutes people kept clapping. I felt stoned,’ says Quadri.
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