Will he, won't he? For months now producer-director Sanjay Gupta and actor Manoj Bajpayee was at loggerheads over Bajpai's fee for and inclusion in Gupta's new film Shootout At Wadala.
The standoff had apparently ruined the dosti between the 2 former best-friends, with both parties sticking to their points of view regarding Manoj's fee.
The stalemate between the 2 finally culminated in a compromise last week where Gupta, impatient to get his full cast in place, pointblank asked his buddy-actor if he's doing the film.
Apparently, Manoj demanded a fee on a par with the film's other leading men John Abraham and Anil Kapoor.
Says a source, "Gupta tried to reason with Manoj However, since Gupta wanted Manoj for the a part of Dawood Ibrahim's brother Sabir Kaskar, Gupta finally gave in and agreed to Manoj's price."
When contacted Manoj dodged the problem of the conflict with Gupta and said he was looking ahead to playing Sabir Kaskar.
However, Gupta admitted to the argument over the remuneration. Says Gupta, "It was long due. I had written the role with Manoj in mind. I needed to get a yes or no out of Manoj since we begin shooting next week and the remainder of the solid is in place. Manoj has agreed at his price."
Having got his pound of flesh (read: desired remuneration) Manoj now goes into intense preparation for his part.
Says Gupta, "I've given him hordes of reference pictures of Sabir. The nature was very flashy flamboyant and in-your-face. Manoj has already started growing his hair in some way that was trendy within the 1970s. I'm glad he's doing the role I NEEDED him for. This can be his first serious gangster's role since Satya."
And yes, Manoj must placed on those dancing shoes again. Remember him dancing wildly within the song 'Sapne Mein Milti Hai' with Shefali Shah in Satya? In Shootout At Wadala, Manoj must perform a full-fledged Mujra.
Explains Gupta, "Manoj's character has a mistress named Chitra who's a tawaif. Manoj must break right into a full Mujra together with her".
Manoj is seemingly getting Saroj Khan to show him some steps for the Mujra.
