Expressing his disappointment over director Ali Abbas Zafar’s move to remake his iconic Mr. India film, Shekhar Kapur said that he is examining legal options to stop the production of the film. He said that it is time to test this legally. The cult film which had Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Amrish Puri in the lead was a box office hit in the 1980s.
Shekhar posted a clipping of late actor Amrish Puri from Mr. India, in which Puri had played the villain role of Mogambo. Reacting on how Mogambo would have reacted to the news of the film's remake if he was alive, Shekhar tweeted: “Kya Kaha? Mr. India 2? Is duniya mein koi aur Mogambo bhi hai?”
Kapur also found it disrespectful on the part of the filmmakers to not grant him the creative rights for the remake. He said,” We sit with writers from day one, but are not the writers. Help actors hone performances but are not actors. Develop and create visual language of film. Slave hours over editing consoles. Directors lead and inspire every aspect of a film and have no creative rights? #MrIndia.”
Announcing the remake Zafar had tweeted: Excited to partner with @ZeeStudios_ for epic trilogy #MrIndia! It is a huge responsibility to carry forward an iconic character loved by everyone. Currently, working on the script, no actor has been locked till now. Once we lock the first draft of the script, casting begins!
Incidentally actress Sonam Kapoor whose father had featured in the original also expressed her unhappiness on social media. She wrote: “A lot of people have been me asking me about the "Mr India remake". Honestly, my father didn't even know that the film was being remade, we found about it through social media when Ali Abbas Zafar tweeted. It's quite disrespectful and underhanded, if it is true, since no one bothered to consult my father or Shekhar uncle – two people who played a major role in making the film what it was and is.”
