The war of will between directors Feroz Khan and Joy Augustine has hotted up to a scorching flashpoint. Who among the two will get to make the coveted film based on the troubled relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal? Playwright Feroz Khan, who directed a stage version of the story, first got Yash Raj Films and now Anil Kapoor to produce his film.

But director Joy Augustine reacts sharply to the rival?s dream. ?I?ve nurtured the dream for more than eight years now. No one can take it away from me. If Feroz Khan and Anil insist on making the film, they?ll be in serious legal trouble. I?ve finished the final script of the film.?

Augustine has already got the project together. He intends to make the film in close collaboration with the Gandhi family. ?I?m not interest in raking up ugly controversies about Mahatma Gandhi?s family. I?m in constant touch with the surviving members of the family. I was shocked to read Anil Kapoor claiming that he?s in contact with the Gandhi family. Can he specify whom he has contacted? They don?t seem to be aware of his interest in their lives.?

Curbing his annoyance, Augustine continues, ?I?ve met the Mahatma?s great grandchildren Neelam Parekh and Urmiben (Desai). They?re such lovely people. They?re true Gandhians. I also met the lady Binduben, who carried Gandhiji?s son Harilal?s body. I?ve got two-and-a-half hours of taped reminiscences from her. Once I met them I abandoned all plans of taking the controversial route in the script. I can?t do any harm to the Gandhi family.?

Feroz Khan?s play focused on the dark side of the Mahatma?s family life and his troubled relationship with his son Harilal. ?My film won?t be about the friction. It?ll be about the sacrifices,? asserts Augustine. The adamant director is determined not to let the Gandhi family down. He has procured the rights of several literary works on the subject. ?Even the legal copyright of the play, Mahatma Versus Gandhi, are with me now. The makers of the other project are in serious trouble. What they?re doing is nothing but cloning. This is my baby.?

There seems to be some truth in Augustine?s prognosis. Recently, the unit of Anil Kapoor and Feroz Khan?s film had to return from their location in South Africa without shooting when theatre actor Dilip Shankar, chosen to play Mahatma Gandhi, lost his mother back home. Earlier, Feroz Khan had signed up with Yash Raj Films to make the film. Recalls Yash Chopra, ?Yes, Feroz Khan was supposed to make the film on the relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son for us. But then the picture began to look very messy?there was a legal notice, etc. We pulled out, although a lot of our money had already gone into the project. Better to lose money than sleep. We like to work in a positive environment. Now I believe Anil Kapoor is producing the film. All the best to him.?

Augustine is in the process of completing his pre-production plans. He?s planning to make the film entitled, Mahatma Versus Gandhi, in English and Hindi with a completely different starcast in each. A Hollywood actor will play the principal leads in the English version. Augustine too plans to shoot in South Africa for 17 days, then 60 days in various parts of India ? Calcutta, Mumbai, Rajkot, Porbunder and Hyderadad. The film?s estimated budget will be $25 million.

?I?m in the process of executing contracts,? reveals Augustine. Ideally, he would like to cast Jaya Bachchan as Kasturba, Naseeruddin Shah as Mahatma Gandhi and Abhishek Bachchan as his son Harilal. Says Augustine, ?My script is registered with the US Congress, the Writer?s Guild. I?ve covered all my bases. I believe in certain ethics and I trust the others who are planning to pre-empt me would eventually tap their conscience.?

GANDHI SHOT BY SHOT

The Play: Is based on a Gujarati novel, Prakash Na Parchaaya, by Dinkar Joshi. It was written in Marathi by Ajit Dalvi and translated into English by Mukta Rajadhyaksha.

The Theme: Mahatma Versus Gandhi, is a sensitive portrayal of the complex father-son relationship between Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his wayward son Harilal Mohandas Gandhi.

The Playwright: Feroz Khan, one of the contenders (the other is Joy Augustine) who wants to make this into a film.

The Role: Naseeruddin Shah in the role of Mahatma Gandhi and K.K. Menon portraying the son, Harilal, excel in the stage version.

The Film: First, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) had shown interest in filming the movie version of the play Mahatma Versus Gandhi. The project never took off.

• Yash Raj Productions and Bobby Bedi later signed up Feroz Khan to film the play that Feroz Khan has successfully directed on stage.

• Aamir Khan wanted to make a film on this subject as well, before Lagaan, and wanted to play the role of Harilal, Mahatma?s son.

• Even Sanjay Leela Bhansali attempted to acquire the filmmaking rights but failed.

• Yash Raj backed out when Joy Augustine served a legal caveat saying that the rights of the film belonged to him, which he had acquired from the novelist Dinkar Joshi.

• Joy Augustine had kept the filmmaking rights while Naseeruddin Shah had the rights for making the play.

• Actor Anil Kapoor stepped in to produce the film. Kapoor and Khan were served a legal caveat by Augustine again who had said then, ?I could die without making the film but I won?t let anyone else make it.?

• On the other hand Kapoor and Khan went ahead claiming that they hold rights to the play?s original source material ? Chandulal Dalal?s biography, Gandhi Ek Dukhat Aatma.