From ‘Daddy’ to ‘Haseena Parkar’ - movies based on real-life Mumbai gangsters

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has ordered the premature release of gangsterturnedpolitician Arun Gawli who was serving his life sentence in Nagpur Central Jail In August 2012 a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA court sentenced Gawli to life imprisonment for the murder of the Shiv Sena corporator in March 2008 Gangsters in Mumbai arenrsquot an old folks tale These individuals live and breathe the same air as any other citizen Herersquos a look at their lives encapsulated in the form of filmsDaddyIn lsquoDaddyrsquo Arjun Rampal plays the role of gangsterturnedpolitician Arun Gawli Set in the early 70s the film shows the poor condition of mill and factory workers who slowly move towards the underworld Three residents of Dagdi Chawl in Mumbai form a gang BRA and soon become one of the most dreaded groups in Mumbai Rampal is seen in the signature Maharashtrian attire and speaking with a perfect Marathi accentHaseena ParkarIn lsquoHaseena Parkarrsquo Shraddha Kapoor plays the role of the dreaded Aapa as Haseena Parkar was called who became an underworld lsquoMafia Queenrsquo after she was tried and persecuted because she was Dawood Ibrahims sister Parkar who had 88 cases registered against her but was taken to court only once in her life was rumoured to have singlehandedly run her brothers Rs1000crore underworld empire in the city The film shows Haseenarsquos journey from a 17yearold teenager to a 43yearold Shraddha underwent drastically different looks using prosthetics body suits and heavy makeup for thisShootout At LokhandwalaIn the 2007 multistarrer action thriller Shootout At Lokhandwala Vivek Anand Oberoi played the role of Maya Dolas who used to work for Dawood Ibrahim He was killed in an encounter during the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout Besides Viveks villainous character the movies music became a super hit The song Ganpat with Vivek and his gangster buddies from the movie became a massive hit and is played at parties and discosGangubai KathiawadiHelmed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali Gangubai Kathiawadi revolves around a maiden sold by a suitor into prostitution and how she becomes a prominent and celebrated figure in the underworld and Kamathipua redlight district Alias stellar performance in the film helped her bag a National Film Award Ajay Devgn played the role of Rahim Lala based on Karim Lala one of the famous mafia dons in MumbaiShootout at WadalaThe film is based on the book Dongri to Dubai Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia by Hussain Zaidi and the film stars John Abraham as Manya Surve Manya was a regular student who lands in prison after he kills a gangster who attacked his brother Manya escapes jail and forms his gang to avenge his brothers death The film traces his journey and how he was killed in an encounter by the Mumbai police The encounter took place at the junction adjacent to Dr Ambedkar College Wadala in 1982Once Upon a Time in MumbaaiHelmed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ektaa Kapoor lsquoOnce Upon a Time in Mumbaairsquo also starred Prachi Desai and Randeep Hooda in pivotal roles Set against the backdrop of the Mumbai underworld the film garnered critical acclaim and commercial success In the movie Ajay portrayed the role of Sultan Mirza a gangster whereas Emraan played the role of Shoaib who Sultan Mirza and his style inspired but later turned into his rival The film is also loved for its amazing songs like lsquoI am in Loversquo lsquoPee Loonrsquo and lsquoTum Jo Aaye Zindagi MeinrsquoVaastavWhile talking about Sanjay Duttrsquos remarkable career lsquoVaastavrsquo cannot be missed Mahesh Manjrekarrsquos directorial debut featured Namrata Shirodkar Sanjay Narvekar Mohnish Behl Paresh Rawal Reema Lagoo and Shivaji Satam His critically acclaimed character of Raghu helped him win the firstever Best Actor award at the Filmfare Awards The film is reportedly based on Mumbais underworld gangster Chhota RajanWith inputs from ANI