Mystery serial killer of the '80s to feature in due-for-release film
Mystery serial killer of the '80s to feature in due-for-release film
ADVERTISEMENT
Writer-director Manish Gupta has recreated the Patthar-maar terror that stalked the streets of Mumbai in the early '80s in his film, The Stoneman Murders, which releases on February 13.
It took the filmmaker over a year and a half to complete the project that stars Kay Kay Menon, Arbaaz Khan, Rukhsar and Vikram Gokhale.
His extensive research took him to several places in the city but not to the police stations. "Anyway, it is a case that remains unsolved by the police force," he says.
In the papers
It was a newspaper article that led Manish to writing the Stoneman Murders script. "A while back, there was this case of the Beer Man who left a can of beer near his victim. One of the articles mentioned in passing earlier serial killers like Charles Sobhraj, Billa-Ranga, Raman Raghav and Patthar-mar.
All the rest except the Pattharmar had been caught, so I took it as a challenge to recreate his terror trail. Though I was in school when he stalked the city. I still remember that all of us were told to be wary of him"
For almost two months, Manish and his team researched the subject that took him to the Asiatic Library, the government archives at Elphinstone College as well as the archive departments of several newspaper offices in the city.
"I read every line that had been written about him. We procured photocopies of whatever was published. Then I visited the sites where he had struck, trying to cull information on why he selected Matunga and Sion. I then put together the script."
Unlike real life, Manish has shown the face of the killer in the film. "That's the big mystery in the film. There were reports that the Pattharmaar had resurfaced in Kolkata in 1987. I have shown it as a hypothesis. But it is clear that it was a cover-up of the investigating forces that did not lead to even a single arrest."
Manish has been a writer for several Ram Gopal Varma's films including Sarkar, James, D and Darna Zaroori Hai (in which he also directed one of the stories). But after differences over the scripting of Sarkar Raj, Ramu and he had a fallout.
The reason why Manish chose the subject of the Pattharmar was "because it is still an intriguing subject with a big question mark attached to it," says the writer-director who managed to get Bobby Bedi as producer.
"The earlier films he produced Shekhar Kapoor's Bandit Queen (1994) and Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool (2003) are my favourites. I knew he liked real subjects. I was glad he agreed."
Who was the Stoneman?
The Stoneman struck Bombay in September, 1983. In factm the fear psychosis was so high, that people were afraid to venture out of their homes at night.
Most of the Pattharmar's victims were pavement dwellers from Sion and Matunga. The killer left behind his mark a stone near the head of the victim.
Sometimes the same stone had been used to crush the head. The killings stopped just as mysteriously as they had begun.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
