After giving Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan company, it?s time for Bollywood to be inspired by Abu Salem and Monica Bedi. While Ram Gopal Varma and his Factory workers continue to manufacture products of the underworld, it?s time now for the Bhatts and Vishesh Films to jump on to the gang bandwagon with a film simply titled Gangster.

While the ?haan haan, na na? between the Bhatts and Shoaib Akhtar for the title role of Gangster has become the latest obsession for the media of the neighbouring countries, the other fascinating details about the film have been blanked out. No one seems to bother that the film marks the return of director Anurag Basu, who has successfully fought off a very advanced stage of cancer to come back with all guns blazing.

After delivering one of the biggest hits of 2004 with Murder, Anurag could only direct a portion of the Dia Mirza-Emraan Hashmi starrer Tumsa Nahin Dekha having been diagnosed with cancer during one of the shooting schedules. The film went on to be completed by Bhatt and Mohit Suri (who had his solo directorial debut in Zeher) while Anurag recuperated and returned stronger than ever before.

While he did dabble in a couple of ideas, including a Bengali film, it finally had to be Gangster, a romantic thriller about an on-the-run gangster who cannot let go of his lady love. ?It is inspired from the Abu Salem-Monica Bedi episode but is fictionalised thereafter,? says Anurag. ?The main aspect of the relationship that I want to capture is how his love turns out to be a problem for this underworld don. The international police is after him and she is turning out to be a burden for him. Yet, he doesn?t want to let her go.?

When Anurag had narrated the idea to Metro a couple of months back, he was very clear about his cast ? Sanjay Dutt as the gangster and Mallika Sherawat as the love interest. ?But Sanjay cannot give dates till January and that?s getting too late for me,? Anurag reveals. ?Then we thought of Shoaib Akhtar. The role fits him like a glove. I don?t need to put in any special effort to make Shoaib look like the character.?

And then started the yes-no yo-yo. ?He hasn?t said no yet,? claims Anurag. ?In fact in his emails to us, he has expressed interest in the role, even given us hope that he would be able to do it in between his county assignments in July and August. He had some issues with the money. That was being sorted out. I think all these reports in Pakistan that Shoaib has said no, is his effort to keep the Pakistan Cricket Board happy. He is just playing safe. If he decides and lets us know, we can go ahead and finalise the cast.?

If it?s a no from the Rawalpindi Express, then John Abraham can be pushed up the batting order. ?I need someone with that kind of body and personality,? explains Anurag. ?I want to start the film as soon as I can. Mallika has said yes to the project. We only need to finalise the gangster.?

Anurag?s also aware that if Shoaib agrees to don the greasepaints, then the film would definitely have an international appeal with a post-Cannes Mallika returning to her breakthrough Bhatt camp. So before Mira Nair starts on Gangsta MD, the Hollywood version of Munnabhai MBBS, it may be Anurag?s Gangster which may create ripples in the global market.

As the Bengali boy awaits the final word from Pakistan, he is already working on another script. ?While this Bhatt project will be commercial I am planning something very realistic with Bobby Pushkarna, the producer of Page 3. It will be about the urban lifestyle ? how it has changed and how it affects everyone these days.?