While Shootout at Wadala raked in sizeable box office collections, it will be a while before the next film in the installment hits the screens. This is because director Sanjay Gupta is pouring all his time and energy into Mumbai Saga, which he plans to turn into a trilogy. “Mumbai Saga is Sanjay’s magnum opus and he intends to convert it into a franchise. It will be characterised by high drama and action and Sanjay’s team is putting together enough content to warrant a trilogy. The first in the series will go on the floors in early-2014 and the rest will follow soon. This means that plans for another Shootout film are on hold,” one well-placed source told us. This is surprising since Shootout at Wadala brought producers Balaji and Sanjay good dividends. “But then we don’t have a story yet for another Shootout,” said Sanjay. “With two great successes behind you, the pressure to deliver another hit is immense. We will be back, but for now, it is the Mumbai Saga trilogy that will keep me occupied for the next three years.” Incidentally, there was a gap of six years between Shootout at Lokhandwala and Shootout at Wadala. “There will be a much smaller gap between Shootout At Wadala and the next Shootout,” said Sanjay. “Ekta (Kapoor) and I are not the kind to blindly capitalise on a successful franchise. The right script is most important.” A source from Balaji told us, “We have our line-up set for 2014 and 2015. There are 12 films already in the pipeline with six for each year. For the next Shootout, we need a terrific script to justify the franchise. We are ready to wait till 2016 for that. There is no hurry.”
