Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Rahul Dholakia to make a film on Mumbai firefighter

After the 2017 crime-drama, ‘Raees’, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar are once again joining hands with Rahul Dholakia for an action-thriller which is expected to roll early next year. Set in Mumbai, this close-to-life story revolves around a fire-fighter named Tukaram and how he motivates his team to tackle various SOS calls.

The project is not a biopic of any one person but will weave in several real-life incidents, along with an emotional father-son story, with an antagonist thrown in to create friction. The National Award-winning director, Rahul Dholakia dabbled with a lot of ideas before zeroing in on this story and points out that with the exception of Ravi Chopra’s ‘The Burning Train'( 1980), the subject of the fire hasn’t been tackled in Hindi mainstream cinema in a big way.

While talking about the same, Rahul Dholakia shared, “But a series of fires in the city of late makes me believe that it’s time for a film that celebrates these unsung heroes. For me, the firefighters are on par with cops and soldiers, but their heroics have gone largely unacknowledged even in a city of skyscrapers. They put their lives on the line every other day to put out and save us from fires which sometimes spark off from our own carelessness and violation of safety norms. They are also called to pull a child out of a borewell, rescue a kitten from the roof, clear an uprooted tree from the road and help during a building collapse or a deluge. Even during the 26/11 attacks they played a significant role in the rescues but went unheralded.”

Rahul has always been fascinated by firefighters and during his research, has met many in person, visited fire stations and even been on few trails with Randeep Hooda; the face of the Mumbai Fire Brigade and the brand ambassador of fire services in India.

“A film like this offers plenty of scope for emotions and drama, action and visual thrills, with a larger-than-life protagonist at the centre, the surroundings and story-telling technique bringing in the realism,” Rahul points out.

National Award-winning dialogue writer, Vijay Maurya will be collaborating with Rahul for the film’s dialogues.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjwQWZdnef8/?hl=en&taken-by=ritesh_sid

The director also shares, “Farhan has contributed a lot of inputs to the script and Ritesh is a brilliant producer. This is a big film and will cost a lot. It requires sensitive makers because while being visually dramatic, it needs to be an ‘experience’ for the audience to see and feel. Having worked with Farhan and Ritesh on ‘Raees’, I can’t think of anyone better to take this film forward with me.”

Rahul Dholakia will have a final narration with the producer duo in a couple of days after which they will start on the casting.

Now we are wondering if Randeep Hooda will be a part of this film or if the makers rope in some other star. Watch this space for more such interesting updates.

Also Read: Sneak Peek: Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra and Zaira begin prep for ‘The Sky Is Pink’

Pooja Sharma

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