Mahesh Bhatt has scripted his next, Ab Raat Guzarnewali Hai, assisted by Suhrita Sengupta. The film that will be directed by Bhatt’s protege Guroudev Bhalla, is being produced by Dhaval Jayantilal Gada and presented by Zee. Bhatt had finished his script in May 2015 and what has shocked the filmmaker are the similarities between Indrani -Sheena story and one that grew out of his imagination.
Late on Tuesday, when report of Peter Mukerjea’s wife Indrani’s arrest spread for murder of her sister (it later turned out that she was actually her daughter), Sheena Bora, left filmmaker jolted by remarkable similarities, he says, “I empathise with the living hell Peter is going through and this is not a pathetic attempt to ride on his unspeakable tragedy. But bizarre as it may sound, fact is that this is a case of life imitating fiction rather than fiction imitating life.”
The film’s story is of crime and passion, drenched in blood, revolving around a mother and daughter. While Bhatt refuses to get into details, he admits that it plays itself out in a media space with characters high on fame and power, flushed with money and caught in multi-partner relationships. He further adds, “The story grew out of my imagination. I never imagined that it could be unfolding for real in a highrise in our backyard where the rich and powerful reside. The coincidence between a pure work of fiction and real life staggers me, it makes me shudder.”
When further asked him with the Indrani-Sheena story in the headlines, will he add their real-life story into his reel-life story, “No, my work is done, I only wrote this story for my protege. The film should roll in December. I never imagined that it would explode for real as the mother of all crime stories,” says Bhatt.
