Rohit Shetty is going to use all his experience of building the cop universe to tell possibly his career’s most crucial story. In 2021, the filmmaker announced that he’s making the biopic of Rakesh Maria, the celebrated former Commissioner of Mumbai Police. Now, in an interview on The Lallantop, Rohit has explained why it’s becoming a “problem” to cast the biopic. (Also Read: Indian Police Force review: Rohit Shetty goes long, but not higher in debut web series with Sidharth Malhotra)
What Rohit said
When asked if the casting for the Rakesh Maria biopic has been done, Rohit said, “Abhi tak nahi ki. Karni hai. Kyunki kahani unki 1985 se Taj attack tak hai. So ek young boy se leke 50 years ka aadmi, wahan tak ki life ki kahani hai. Toh uski casting mein thodi si problem aa rahi hai (We haven’t locked the casting, we’re yet to do it. Because his story goes from 1985 till the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. So his life story travels from a young boy to a 50-year-old man. So we’re facing a slight problem in his casting,” Rohit explained in the interview.
He also added that he’ll start shooting the biopic once he’s finished his next cop universe movie, Singham Again, which is slated to release this Independence Day.
About Rakesh Maria
Rakesh Maria, an IPS officer from 1981 batch, cracked the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He later served as DCP (Crime), Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) and was appointed the Commissioner of Mumbai Police in 2014. In 2015, he was promoted as the Director General of Home Guards. Rakesh retired in 2017.
During his tenure, Rakesh also solved the 2003 Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar twin blasts case. He was also given the responsibility of investigating the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008 and interrogated Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive.
The biopic is an adaptation of his 2020 autobiography Let Me Say It Now.