Advertisement

The latest trend in Bollywood is the race of making a successful biopic. In the last few years, Bollywood has seen many biopics being made and a dozen filmmakers are in the process of making many more of them. A biopic is normally made on the life of an influential person who has impacted society with their work.

As per the trade analysts, biopics if told honestly onscreen are bound to be well received by audiences. While most filmmakers who have played it safe with biopics have made a lot of money at the box office, there have been several biopics that have been made on politicians, criminals, sports personalities, influencers, businessmen and even on Bollywood stars. Some of these biopics have done well even when the protagonist was an anti-hero or had a few controversies attached to them even though they were public figures.

Let us look into some of the biopics that have been made or are being made on controversial public figures who even after having dark truths attached to them make for an interesting tale to witness.

Advertisement

Shakeela

Shakeela

Fukrey’s Bholi Punjaban, Richa Chadha has some interesting projects lined up this year. Other than Amazon Prime’s original series Inside Edge season 2, Richa will be also be seen in Anubhav Sinha’s Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui. She has also recently started shooting for Indrajit Lankesh’s Shakeela Khan, a biopic on the immensely popular Malayalam adult film superstar. Shakeela was considered as one of the most controversial figures in the south film industry. She started off her film career at an early age and went on to becoming stiff competition for many popular Malayalam superstars, because nobody could compete with her. The film is controversial not just because of her foray into adult films but her choices in life, the difficulties she had to face, the producers and actors who have either belittled her or misused her and how she triumphed through it all. Richa is currently shooting for the film in the remote village of Karnataka and the film is slated to release mid-2019.

Manto

Manto

Actor and director Nandita Das’ upcoming biopic on the life and works of Urdu’s most celebrated poet and writer Saadat Hasan Manto is one the most awaited films of the year. The title character Manto enacted by versatile actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his wife Safiya Manto enacted by Rasika Dugal is one of the biggest reasons audiences have been keenly awaiting the release of the film. Manto’s life and writing have always been into controversy. His writings were so controversial that he was forced to leave the country. His stories were deemed obscene by the courts and he spent his last years fighting legal battles to defend his right to write.