Behind 'Bambai Meri Jaan': Director Shujaat on Crafting an Authentic Crime Drama
- IndiaGlitz, [Saturday,September 16 2023]
Prime Video launched its web series âBambai Meri Jaanâ on Monday, September 14, 2023, with a series of ten episodes and a cast that includes Kay Kay Menon, Kritika Kamra, and Avinash Tiwary in the lead roles. Directed by Shujaat Saudagar, the series is inspired by the writings of the master storyteller S Hussain Zaidi, especially his magnum opus âDongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia.â
While Zaidiâs book takes one into the lives and rise of Mumbai gangsters like Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, Chhota Rajan, Abu Salem, and mostly Dawood Ibrahim, âBambai Meri Jaanâ is not specifically about Dawood. In an exclusive interview, director Shujaat said that the series digs deep into Bombayâs underbelly in the 1970s, focusing on criminal laws and the experiences Zaidi gathered during his vast career as a crime reporter.
Shujaat indicated that every little thing, starting from a productionâs design to their costumes, had been looked after in an attempt to form the believable worlds of the decades staged by the series: the 60s, 70s, and 80s. He was quite precise about the fact that the story is completely new and any telephone calls placed by Dawood Ibrahim with Muniba did not fall under anything from real-life events.
The director also confessed that the pre-production took nearly two years. He was happy to work with Kay Kay Menon, whom he thinks is the right actor for this character, and he has always wanted to work with Menon.
'Bambai Meri Jaan' provides the viewer with a glimpse into the world of crime and criminals in Bombay and its labyrinthine network of laws and characters based on Zaidiâs experience and research into crime reporting.