A controversy erupted after the release of the teaser of Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo, where the daughter of gangster Hussain Shaikh aka Hussain Ustara sent a notice to the makers for not seeking permission before making a film on her father’s life. Ustara’s daughter, Sanober Shaikh also accused them of misrepresenting his story and had objected to the love track between a character based on his father and that of Triptii Dimri.
O’Romeo is based on a story in S Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai which centres around Sapna Didi and gangster Hussain Ustara’s plan to assassinate Dawood Ibrahim.
During the trailer launch of the film in Mumbai on Wednesday, Vishal, while responding to a journalist’s question, addressed the issue.
"Actually, as I said, there is a book called Mafia Queens of Mumbai, which has been written by Hussain Zaidi. I wrote a foreword for it and at the time took the rights to that story and, based on those rights, made a film on it," he said.
Explaining why he did not seek permission from the family, the director added, "I didn't think about taking permission because the story is taken from there and the characters are based on that. However, there is a lot of fiction in it as well. As for permissions, that is something Hussain Zaidi may have taken or should have taken. I didn't feel that I needed to take any permission, because it is based on a story which is part of a book."
Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, O’Romeo stars Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri. It also has an ensemble of Nana Patekar, Avinash Tiwary, Tamannaah Bhatia and Farida Jalal, with special appearances by Vikrant Massey and Disha Patani.
The film is slated to release on February 13.