Javed Shaikh

Shootout at Lokhandwala

Shootout at Lokhandwala is a 2007 Hindi feature film directed by Apoorva Lakhia. It is based upon the real-life gunbattle between gangsters and Mumbai Police.

Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Aftab Ahmed Khan Head of the ATS attacked the Lokhandwala Complex on November 16, 1991 , with a force of around 100 armed Policemen. Dreaded gangster Maya Dolas was hiding in the complex. The leading protagonists in the film have slightly different names than their real-life counterparts and the film caption is "based on true rumours." The film was released on May 25, 2007.

Plot

The film opens with shots of brooms and dustpans cleaning dried blood and bullet casings in and around Swati building at Lokhandwala Complex TVN reporter Meeta Matu (Diya Mirza) reports that some 3000 rounds of ammunition were discharged by a large Police squad at a previously peaceful residential locality.

The film moves to the offices of former chief justice turned private prosecutor Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan) where he interviews the three leading members of the Mumbai Police Encounter Squad , Assistant Commissioner of Police Shamsher Khan (referring to A A Khan, played by Sanjay Dutt), Inspector Kaviraj Patil (Sunil Shetty) and Sub-Inspector Javed Sheikh (Arbaaz Khan). The main film timeline is the extended interview of the three officers by Dhingra; as the officers answer Dhingra's questions, the film flashes back to show the incidents.

Dhingra asks about the Encounter Squad. Khan explains that he hand-picked 27 of Mumbai Police's best enlisted men and officers. He borrowed the concept from the LAPD SWAT Special Weapons And Tactics team to help combat crime in the city. The film flashes back to show Khan selecting his men and putting them through intensive physical and mental training to be "fast, efficient and deadly". Dhingra is hardly impressed: he points out that if Khan chooses to "shoot to kill" then Khan is no different from the gangsters he seeks to destroy.

Dhingra asks why Khan felt he had do this. Khan explains that following Operation Bluestar in 1984, several Sikh terrorists fled to Mumbai and began establishing a base in the city. They engaged in violence, extortion and other subversive tactics to grow their operations. The film flashes back to show Police Sub Inspector (PSI) Abhishek Mhatre (Abhishek Bachchan) , a very brave officer and disciple of Khan , pursuing and subsequently getting shot down by a group of Sikh terrorists. Khan is deeply frustrated when the Mumbai Police, mired in internal bureaucracy and corruption, fails to act. He obtains clearance from the police commissioner Krishnamurthy (played by the real A A Khan) and sets out after the militants. Khan asks Meeta Matu (Diya Mirza) to cover the incident so as to deter future terrorists. True to Khan's words, he successfully "encounters" (a practice mistakenly considered unique to Indian Police; it indicates summarily gunning down criminals; 'extra judicial killings' is the term accepted internationally) the terrorists who had shot PSI Mhatre. As per Aftab Ahmed Khan the encounter with Khalistani Extremist was more dangerous and tough than Shootout at Lokhandwala.

At this point the film segues into the life of Maya (referring to Mumbai gangster Mahindra Dolas though the film never mentions "Dolas" specifically; played by Vivek Oberoi). Maya is the second-in-command of the "big boss" in Dubai (a clear reference to Dawood Ibrahim though the film does not mention his name at all) and runs Dawood's criminal activities in Mumbai. Maya recruits Bhua (referring to Dilip Buwa, played by Tusshar Kapoor) after successfully hatching a plot to eliminate Bhua's old gang led by Ashok Joshi. At this point, Maya and Bhua are at the top of Mumbai's underworld, reporting directly to the big boss in Dubai.

Things heat up when Khan recognizes, through his network of spies and informers, that Maya is responsible for several criminal and possibly terrorist activities. Around this time, Maya's ambitions, fueled by his Aai's (Amrita Singh) insistence, grow to the point where he wishes to assert his independence from Dubai and take over Mumbai himself.

Khan's ATS now focuses on eliminating Maya and Bhua, and begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game where neither side shows any overt aggression but tries to disable the adversary by tactical maneouver. Khan launches "visits" to the criminals' families to try and "persuade" them to counsel the criminals to surrender. In turn, Maya and his men return the "visit" by approaching the cops at social situations. Maya visits Khan at a restaurant where Khan is having dinner with his family. Maya quietly tells Khan: "This is between your men and mine. Leave the families out of it." Khan retorts: "I did this to give you an opportunity to come clean. But now it appears that any resolution hangs off the barrel of a gun."

Maya's rage intensifies when he gets thrown out by prominent city builder Wadhwani (based on real life builder and politician Gopal Rajwani, owner of the building that the movie was set in). Maya had demanded 40 lakhs protection money; Wadhwani claimed to deal directly with Dubai. Maya kidnaps Wadhwani's sniveling and overweight kid. When Wadhwani complains, the big boss asks Maya to cut it out and return the kid immediately. Maya quietly informs the boss that he has upped his demands and that he wants to reign supreme in Mumbai.

The film also explores the personal lives of the protagonists. Khan's wife Rohini (Neha Dhupia) is unable to bear his constant neglect of his family life. She files for divorce. Patil's divorce is nearly upon him, too. In the enemy camp, Buwa has shacked up with a bar dancer Tanu (Aarti Chhabria) but is unable to spend any quality time with her. Fellow criminals Phatu (estranged from his parents) and RC (plagued by ghost-like visions of an innocent family he gunned down) have similar troubles.

It all comes to a head in November 1991. The five criminals including Maya and Buwa secure themselves, while holding Wadhwani's kid, in a flat at Swati building in Lokhandwala. Khan is tipped off of the location by an informant. (In Dhingra's questioning, Khan allegedly also received a call from the big boss in Dubai. Khan vehemently denies this.) Khan assembles a large squad of cops and lays siege to the location. He announces over the bullhorn that residents are advised to stay indoors and bolt their windows.

A long and devastating gun battle begins. The criminals launch RPG (rocket propelled grenade) from their flat and try to escape. But they are overwhelmed by police fire and all five criminals are eventually slain. The battle lays waste to the entire building: film shots show the staircases, hallways and several civilian flats completely pulverized by gunfire. Reporter Meeta Matu covers the action live.

Up to this point, Dhingra has been negative and denigrating of Khan and his efforts with the ATS. He cites press reports and civilian complaints that condemn Khan (and the ATS) of unilateral and unwarranted excessive force in a residential locality. Charges are brought against Khan and the ATS. But when Dhingra rises to defend them as their appointed counsel, he, in a surprising twist, presents an unconventional argument as defense.

The film ends with Khan and the ATS being acquitted.

Locations

A lot of scenes were shot on actual locations at Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai. There was the chase sequence with Sunil Shetty and Arbaaz Khan (playing cops) through Lokhandwala.

It would have been difficult to shoot this sequence with the public around.Hidden cameras were used at five places and the two actors ran 200 meters at the real location to can the scene.

Cast

Actor	Role
Amitabh Bachchan	Advocate Dhingra
Sanjay Dutt	ACP Shamsher Khan / Aftab Ahmed Khan
Suniel Shetty	Inspector Kaviraj Patil / Abdul Qavi
Vivek Oberoi	Maya Dolas
Arbaaz Khan	Constable Javed Shaikh
Tusshar Kapoor	Dilip Buwa
Abhishek Bachchan	Abhishek Mhatre (Special Appearance)/ PSI Raju Jadhav
Aftab Ahmed Khan	Commissioner Krishnamurthy / Ramamurathy
Rohit Roy	Fattu Fatim
Amrita Singh	Aai (Maya's mother)
Shabbir Ahluwalia	RC
Aditya Lakhia	Doubling
Ravi Gosain	Aslam Chikna
Dia Mirza	Meeta Mattoo
Neha Dhupia	Rohini (ACP Shamsher Khan's Wife)
Aarti Chhabria	Tarannum
Rakhi Sawant	Pooja Bedi
Akhilendra Mishra	JCP Tripathi / Ram Deo Tyagi

Crew

Director: Apoorva Lakhia
Screenplay: Apoorva Lakhia & Suresh Nair
Story: Apoorva Lakhia & Suresh Nair
Dialogue: Raj Vasant
Producers: Sanjay Gupta
Music: Strings, Euphoria, Biddu Appaiah, Shibani Kashyap, Anand Raj Anand And Mika Mehndi
Cinematography: Gururaj S. Jois
Sound Design: Baylon Fonseca
Production Designer: Sunil Misvekar
Lyrics: Virag Misra

Soundtrack

The Soundtrack for 'Shooutout at Lokhandwala' was released during April, 2007 by T-Series. The track listing is as follows (Names in brackets are the corresponding track names only, in Hindi):

Sunidhi Chauhan & Anand Raaj Anand - Mere Yaar (मेरे यार)
Strings - Aakhri Alvida (आखरी अलविदा)(Urdu: آخری الودا)
Mika & Anchal - Ganpat (गन्पत)
Sukhwinder Singh, Mika & Anand Raj Anand - Unke Nashe Mein (उन्के नशे मे)
Biddu - Live By The Gun
Dr.Palash Sen - Sone De Maa (सोने दे माँ)
Mika & Anchal - Ganpat Rap (गन्पत rap)
Strings - Aakhri Alvida [Club Mix] (आखरी अलविदा (club mix)) (Urdu: آخری الودا (club mix))
Sukhwinder Singh, Mika & Anand Raj Anand - Unke Nashe Mein [Club Mix] (उन्के नशे मे (club mix))

Trivia

The real A. A. Khan is visible in the movie and acts as Sanjay Dutt's commissioner and he plays the role of Krishnamurthy.
During an action scene where Tusshar gets punched by Suneil, Tusshar gave Suneil a lecture on how the shot should be done realistically. So when the cameras rolled, Suneil actually punched Tusshar in the face.
The leading ladies of the film, Esha Deol and Urmila Matondkar opted out of the film due to date problems, as did Arjun Rampal They were replaced by Aarti Chabria, Neha Dhupia and Sunil Shetty respectively.
This is the fifth film to feature father and son Amitabh and Abhishek in a film together although in this film they do not have any scenes together.
The character of Rakhi Sawant in real life was played by Pooja Bedi who was doing a shoot near Lokhandwala complex.
Vivek Oberoi's character publicly kills an informant in Dagdi Chawl through a Curb stomp.
The Rendezvous between Vivek Oberoi's character and Sanjay Dutt's character in a restaurant is influenced by the scene from the movie Heat featuring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Goofs

During a scene where Sunil Shetty makes a call to someone anonymous from a telephone Booth, a time stamp is shown dated 1990, just then we see a Tata Indigo passing by. Tata Indigo was not launched until 2002.
During a scene where Rakhi Sawant gives an interview, a Pepsi 2 liter Pet Bottle is visible, even though Pepsi had not launched its Pet bottles until late 2001. As a matter of fact, Rakhi Sawant herself came into limelight only in 2005.
The Song "Ganpat" in its second verse has a mention of Bipasha (Bipasha Basu), Mallika (Mallika Sherawat) & Aishwarya (Aishwarya Rai). All of these actresses joined the industry after 1995 where as the song is supposedly belonging to mid 1991.
The scene where Buva goes to save Tarannum in the shopping store, there's a Sony Viao poster in the background. Vaio was started by sony after 1996.
In reality, no RPG was fired by any terrorist, while it was shown in the movie.
Considering the handguns used by Khan and Dolas were semi-automatic handguns, they would have known that they depleted the magazines by the position of the slide and not have to fire them to realize that they are out.
During the shootout, when Sunil Shetty enters the building, and Vivek throws a gas cylinder at him, successive shots show an alteration in the direction in which the cylinder was thrown.

Box Office

Shootout at Lokhandwala got some hard reviews. However, as of June 9th 2007 it was the second highest opening of the year so far. The film was also released with another Bachchan starrer, Cheeni Kum. Both films have been declared 'Average', but after some time business of Shootout at Lokhandwala soared rapidly, and the film was declared as a big hit.