Sanjay Gupta: Was taken by Fardeen Khan's transformation

Khan. Pic/Yogen Shah. (right) Deshmukh stars as the parallel lead

Two years ago, Sanjay Gupta's agents in Los Angeles sent him the link of the Venezuelan film, Rock, Paper, Scissors (2012), which was the country's official entry for the Oscars that year. The remake rights were up for grabs. After watching the drama, Gupta knew that it was the perfect recipe for a slick Bollywood thriller. That's how he started his journey for Visfot, the Fardeen Khan and Riteish Deshmukh starrer that goes on floors today. "During the first lockdown, we commissioned writers Hussain and Abbas Dalal to [adapt] the film," begins Gupta.

The film will mark Khan's return to Bollywood after 11 years. While Deshmukh was his first choice for one of the leads, Khan's casting happened by chance. "When we were still looking to cast the other lead, I met Fardeen and was taken by his transformation. He is so hungry to get back to the saddle, and has worked hard to lose oodles of weight. Riteish watched the film first, post which he read the script. He felt the script was better."

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Sanjay Gupta

The filmmaker has handed the directorial baton to Kookie Gulati, who helmed The Big Bull earlier this year. "The Big Bull made me marvel at his skill of handling the subject in two hours. I reached out to congratulate him, and sent him Visfot's script."

Gulati is thrilled to bring his interpretation to the remake. "It's a story of how things can go crazy over a day. It will be fun filming on the streets of the city," he says. The movie will be shot in Bandra, Andheri, Girgaon and Dongri. Bhushan Kumar, who is backing the project with Gupta, says, "Kookie has a sense of emotions, and can ground the story while creating a big-screen extravaganza."

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