antara was originally set to play the lead in this only to be replaced last minute by isha koppikar. wld have loved to see antara in this, but hopefully isha will do a good job

and judging by the story, this films looks like it has all the makings of another underworld classic by ramu...


'SHABRI' SHOOTING BEGINS

Director Lalit Marathe commenced shooting of SHABRI from December 1. Produced by Ramgopal Verma, Shabri [played by Ishaa Koppikar] runs a flour mill to make ends meet. The film is about how she becomes a gangster following a chain of events that changes her life.

Shot in real locations across Mumbai, the film takes a peep into the matka gambling dens and the everyday lives of those living on the edge. The film stars Isha Koppikar, Raj Arjun, Manish Wadhwa, Pradip Rawat, Zakir Hussain and Vijay Khadejkar.

Cinematography: Amit Roy. Story, screenplay, dialogues, direction: Lalit Marathe. The film is slated for release in mid-2006.

this is looking cool

The synopsis above inspires me narrate the below from my own life.

Going to a missionary-run, well respected school in Mumbai suburbs, I once had a classmate who suddenly joined our school in class 8. We dont know where he arrived from but he always wore impeccably cut clothes. He was always the first one in class to see new movie releases. All I knew was that he did not have a father(passed on) and that he lived with his mother and brother. There were hushed rumours that his mother ran a matka-den and that his school admission had been secured thanks to some serious political influence. I will call this guy simply D(sorry no smart aleckness intended, his name too began with the alphabet).

After we graduated from school and went to college it was further rumoured that this classmate of ours had become the dada of a college in a nearby suburb (not where our school was located). And several more years later I also heard that this guy had become a sharp shooter with a gang. Many, many years later at a school reunion I heard that he had been shot dead in an encounter. It was quite shocking to hear of it.

Harking back to our childhood days I cannot help but ponder on our days of acquaintance. D was a great artiste (his drawing once won our house an award in a competition). He was a great cricket player. But he also appeared to be struggling with his conscience to a certain extent. One day one of my text books went missing (in which I used to make a ton of annotations). D gave me a replacement text book saying he had a spare one. I was bummed that I had lost my original in which I had important notes but nevertheless took it. Several months later, inexplicably D handed me my original text book saying he had helped himself to it on a whim and that he would like for me to have it back. We never spoke about it again.

I wonder if this movie's tale is inspired by this character's mother who it is said was quite a tough lady.

well according to an article written a while ago…

“The movie is presently titled 'Shabri'. The movie will be directed by Lalit Marathe who wrote the story of Verma's horror film 'Bhoot'. It is said that a woman named Jena Bai Daruwali was famous in Mumbai during the eighties. Industry circles wonder if 'Shabri' is inspired the character of Daruwali of eighties.”

"Daruwali" There's your " D "........ Aarkayne! By the way "Il Postino" Subtle humor takes your breathe away, enjoyable, yet leaves you feeling the sense of loss and frustration for Il Postino!

Eighties is the right period. 'Daruwali' is probably because she was into botlegging of liqour in the movie. I am going to do some more reasearch into this story. It might very well be about my classmate's mother, who knows. It will be incredible if it is, since I know so little about his true story.