Russel Crowe all set to play Headley in movie adaptation of Hussain Zaidi's Headley & I

The deed is done. Producer Sunil Bohra has acquired the movie rights of author Hussain Zaidi’s Headley & I, Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul Bhatt’s account of his unlikely friendship with alleged terror mastermind David Headley. And if all goes well, Russell Crowe will be playing David Headley in the movie version. Though Bohra is tightlipped about the casting I’ve learnt from sources close to the enterprising producer that Crowe has already been approached for the needful. The deal, cracked last week, apparently cost Bohra an amount never paid for in Indian cinema. While refusing to divulge the amount that was paid to Zaidi for the movie-making rights Bohra said, “I can only say, it is the kind of money never paid by an Indian producer for any movie’s rights. I didn’t even think twice before paying the amount that Hussain Zaidi asked for. The book is a whammy. The story of Mahesh Bhatt Saab’s son’s friendship with Headley had me gripped from the first page. It is absolute movie material.” Bohra intends to make the Headley-Rahul Bhatt bio-pic for an international market. He intends to cast one of Hollywood’s A-listers such as Russel Crowe or George Clooney as Headley. “It will be made for an international market with an international star cast. Besides being the story of the friendship between Rahul Bhatt and Headley it is also the story of a father and a son who never felt close to his father. I want to tap the emotional quotient of Hussain Zaidi’s book,” ended Bohra.