Arun Gawli inspires Arjun Rampal to write

Arjun Rampal

With a spell of duds at the box office, Arjun Rampal is placing all his bets on his upcoming film, 'Daddy', a biopic on gangster-politician Arun Gawli. Besides co-producing the project, Rampal has also forayed into scriptwriting with this movie. He has been credited for co-writing the screenplay along with director Ashim Ahluwalia.

Explaining the new role, Rampal says, "Three years ago, someone approached me to play Gawli. I was taken aback because I didn't understand how they thought I'd fit the bill. They gave me a script that was far removed from Gawli's actual life. So, I refused to do it. But the idea stayed with me and I began researching about him. I was intrigued that he is called 'Daddy' and not 'Bhai' or 'Dada'. I started meeting people who knew him and decided to put pen and paper together. I locked myself in a hotel room for almost two months and started writing."

Rampal as Arun Gawli in the upcoming biopic

Rampal isn't new to writing although he has done it in personal capacity, writing poetry and short stories. "This was a completely different experience; it was the first time I wrote a screenplay. I had to make sure that it didn't turn out to be a propaganda film, where we showed him as a good samaritan, neither could he have been an out-and-out anti hero."

Rampal is planning to organise a screening for the residents of Byculla's Dagdi Chawl, Gawli's stronghold and a gated community where his family continues to live. It was from here that a mill worker transformed into a member of the local mafia, and finally a politician in the 1990s.

"We are still a month away from the release. I plan to show them the film, which is based on a man they love and admire," he says.