"Gang war" between Vishal Bhardwaj and Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Years ago Vishal Bhardwaj had gone to Sanjay Leela Bhansali with a script about reincarnation which he wanted Bhansali to direct. That film never happened. But now both the distinguished filmmakers’ destinies are joined in a strange way. They both are all set to direct films on two different female gangsters based on the same source material. Both the filmmakers have secured filmmaking rights from chapters out of S Hussain Zaidi’s bestseller about female gangsters Mafia Queens Of Mumbai. While Vishal Bhardwaj would soon be making a film based on Zaidi’s account of Ashraf Khan alias Sapna, the gangster whose only mission in life is to eliminate her husband’s killer Dawood, Sanjay Leela Bhansali would be directing a film based on the life and crimes of female gangster Gangubai Kothewali, the dreaded female crimelord who is known as ‘The Madame Of Kamathipura’. Interestingly both the films on female gangsters by Bhansali and Bharadwaj are expected to go on the floors at the same time next year (2014). Says our source, “Bhansali is as fascinated by Gangubai’s life as Bharadwaj is by Ashraf Khan. The important thing is the principal casting. Both the directors have gone into other projects before taking on Hussain Zaidi’s female gangsters’ stories because they’re still searching for the right actress. In the next couple of months they would crack the casting.” In the meanwhile another filmmaker Shashi Ranjan is already halfway through his biopic on another female gangster Archana Sharma. Ranjan confirms he is shooting Sharma’s story with Mahima Chowdhary in the lead.