Akshay Kumar to play KM Nanavati

When he discovered his wife cheating on him with his best friend, naval commander K M Nanavati had four options: He could’ve killed his wife. He could’ve killed her lover. He could have killed himself. Or he could’ve killed all three.

Nanavati chose the second option. He gunned down his wife’s lover who was also his best friend. The crime of passion rocked Mumbai in 1959. It even inspired the 1963 drama Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke with Sunil Dutt in the naval officer’s role. The film, directed by R.K. Nayyar (the late Sadhana’s husband) somehow failed to create the passion and drama of the real crime.

Now, 53 years later, Akshay Kumar is all set to recreate the crime in Rustom.

And though the film’s content is at present being kept under wraps (there is a reason for that, suspense!) Akshay is definitely the most capable A-lister to convey the possessive jealousy that prompted Nanavati to commit the crime.

Though he is still doing the occasional broad comedy (Housefull 3) Akshay is now on the prowl searching for roles that take him into the realm of the real. His recent roles reflect that search for truth in his characters, whether it is in Baby or Airlift.

Rustom will give Akshay a chance to explore the darker side of heroism. What happens when pure unalloyed, wholehearted love encounters betrayal of an unbearable proportion

The last time we saw an envious husband snuff out his wife’s life was in Gulzar’s Achanak.

Rustom is likely to be Akshay Kumar’s most passionate role to date. And there is a reason why he is not talking about it. Soni Razdan is also making a film based on the same real life crime with Arjun Rampal in the naval officer’s role.

In Soni Razdan’s film Love Affair which Pooja Bhatt is producing, Arjun Rampal plays the naval officer. Though Rustom started much later, it is most likely to release long before Love Affair. Looks like real life crime never had it this good!