Gangster's mom sues 'Shootout..' director Sanjay Gupta

Sanjay Gupta's "Shootout At Lokhandwala" has opened up a Pandora's box. The mother of the slain gangster Maya Dolas, played by Viveik Oberoi in the film, is up in arms against the film and has sent a legal notice to the producers.

Reacting to an interview given to a city tabloid by Amrita Singh, who plays Maya's mother, the real-life Maya Dolas's mom has sent Gupta's production house White Feather an elaborate legal notice challenging Amrita's contention that Maya was encouraged and abated by his mother to become a gangster.

Gupta doesn't deny the latest development vis-a-vis his volatile film, which is based on a true-life story of a group of gangsters who were gunned down by the Mumbai police force in 1991.

"It's a fact that the real Maya Dolas's mother has sent us a lengthy legal notice. She has reacted adversely to Amrita's interview especially to the part that says she encouraged Maya to become the person that he was," Gupta told IANS.

"My legal department is looking into her legal notice. I'd like to say in my film's defence that the lady hasn't seen the film," added Gupta.

A funny thing happened to Viveik a few days ago when he decided to take a large group of TV journalists and camera crew to meet the real Maya's mom. On the way the actor's eyes fell on Amrita's interview and he immediately decided to turn back.

"He knew there was going to be trouble from Maya's mom. And that's exactly what happened," said Gupta.

Does Gupta deny the fact that a lot of the events described are from the real-life gangsters' characters?

"I don't deny that at all. Certainly, we have taken extensively from real-life incidents surrounding the actual shootout in 1991. But we've built on the real events and taken them into hypothetical situations.

"For instance, the cop in-charge S.S. Khan (played by Sanjay Dutt) is shown to be having a marital problem. The way we look at his life, the couple are on the verge of a break-up. Obviously no such thing happened in real life.

We certainly don't want the real Mrs. Khan to slap us with a legal notice."

Incidentally, if true, "Shootout..." wouldn't be the first film to show a mother supporting her son's gangster-ism. Gupta's first directorial venture "Aatish" did the same many years ago.