Gzb don killing in film, three cops want credit(india)

Director of 'Zilla Ghaziabad' gets calls from three UP cops claiming that they killed Mahender Fauji; they want a mention in his film

Director Anand Kumar is as baffled as he is amused by certain calls that he has been getting from in and around Ghaziabad these days. Kumar, who has earlier made films like "Delhii Heights" and "Jugaad", is currently working on a gangster-flick titled "Zilla Ghaziabad". The film, which stars Vivek Oberoi, Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi, is apparently inspired by the lives of two of Ghaziabad's most notorious mafia dons - Mahender Fauji and Satbir Gujjar. Arshad Warsi plays Fauji, who was shot dead in an encounter, and in the past couple of days, Kumar has got calls from three UP policemen, all of whom claimed to be the killers of Fauji, and requested the director to feature them in his film!

Kumar told us, "Three different cops have called me and have claimed that they killed Mahender Fauji. They told me that I should mention them in the movie since they have not been mentioned in any historical records. This is bizarre. When we started the movie, we were told that Fauji left behind no family. Now, there are eight-nine people who have called me claiming that they are his family. They all want to get mileage from the movie."

But what's more bizarre for Kumar is the fact that several panchayat heads in Ghaziabad got together on Wednesday to discuss the movie, and have decided to move court against the director and stop him from making the film. But Kumar told us that he is not worried at all, and added, "I'm not making Fauji's jeevni. Zilla Ghaziabad is a notorious place where criminals were born, and that has been explored in the movie, but it's not about the life of one dead person. We have Sanjay Dutt playing the role of a UP cop - Pritam Singh. I am trying to glorify UP cops through the movie when most people in the country would not. I don't understand why people have an objection to that!"
In fact, Kumar insists that his movie is an out-and-out action flick, and says that he recently shot the theme song for it with 400 dancers. He says, "It's a completely commercial movie. For instance, we recently shot this song called "Yeh Hai Zilla Ghaziabad" in Wai with 400 dancers holding guns and swords, choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. It's a masala movie. I'll probably put a disclaimer saying that the story is a work of fiction. Perhaps people will believe me then."