It was recently reported that Ashu Trikha’s untitled film is based on coal mafias and features Suniel Shetty and Vinod Khanna in principal roles. While the latter will play a member of the mafia, Suniel will play the senior government official. From what we hear, Suniel’s character will bear similarities to that of Durga Shakti Nagpal — the bureaucrat who made news for her stance against the sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh. Trikha said, “Honest officers are alike and will do what is right. Suniel plays an honest officer. As for Durga, she’s an inspiration to many.” Since the original script was written two years ago, Trikha had to tweak it to make it more topical, so it could bear resemblance to Durga’s case. In fact, he had also contemplated having a female protagonist. “Yes, the film was written with the male character in mind but I did try to convert it into a female one because I think it lends quite an impact to watch a woman playing something as daring. However that would have changed the script a lot and ended up being a huge problem for us,” he admits adding, “Whether it is a male or a female actor enacting the part, ultimately it is the character that will emerge the strongest.”
