John Abraham beats three other filmmakers for ‘Pokhran’
When it comes to investing into films, John Abraham is unwilling to compromise. The star is looking forward to present the story of India’s first nuclear bomb test, a subject that has piqued the curiosity of several filmmakers. Interestingly, Abraham had to outrun three industry pillars to present his film first, leaving behind contenders Shoojit Sircar, Ritesh Sidhwani and Ashutosh Gowariker.
Sircar, with whom the actor-producer has collaborated on previous productions, was apparently upset over Abraham’s decision to interfere with a subject he was involved in, reports Mid Day. A source told the media, “Before John decided to make the film; three other filmmakers were already eyeing the subject. But they decided to shelve their work after learning of Abraham’s production. John was aware that Shoojit was planning a film on Pokhran, and had even conducted extensive research. When Shoojit learnt that John had decided to go ahead with the same subject, he was upset.”
It is heard that Sircar had approached Amitabh Bachchan to play the role of former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, who had supervised the operation as chief of the Defense Research and Development Organisation.
Given that Abraham has already kicked-off his film, Gowariker, whose production was in the initial stages of development, decided to step away from the subject. A source close to the director says, “Ashutosh had a chat with John and graciously decided to back off.”
Abraham certainly had a smooth sail when it came to negotiating with Sircar and Gowariker, but his third contender, Sidhwani, wasn’t ready to go down without a fight. A source close to the filmmaker informs that he wasn’t pleased to hear of Abraham’s involvement in a subject of his choice, and was hence unwilling to part with the title, the rights to which he had acquired. “Ritesh refused to give up the title, so John’s film was named Parmanu.” In what appears to be an act of getting back at the director, Abraham, decided that his film would release on 8th December to coincide with the releasing of Sidhwani’s ‘Fukrey 2.’
Pokhran-I was the assigned code name of India’s first successful nuclear bomb test conducted on 18th May 1974. The bomb was detonated on the army base, Pokhran Test Range (PTR), in Rajasthan under the supervision of key Indian generals. Pokhran-I was the first nuclear weapon test that was conducted by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
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