'TV actor ko kyu lia?': Manish Goel reveals upcoming biopic on gangster Vikas Dubey was rejected by Netflix

Manish Goel, last seen in Star Plus' Anupamaa, recently got in an exclusive chat with India Forums and spoke about shooting for a biopic on gangster Vikas Dubey post the COVID 19 pandemic. Speaking to us, the actor revealed how difficult it has been for him and the team of the film to find a platform for release.

The actor opened up on gaining 11 kgs for the film and revealed how difficult it was for him. Manish says, ''So the film is currently in post-production. But it's already been three years since we started it. Three years. About a year and a quarter of that was during the COVID period, when we did most of the shooting. Then we had to stop because of COVID and everything that came with it. After that, it went into post-production. It’s been a beautiful journey shooting it, especially because we had discussed the physical transformation the role required. I gained 11 kilos for this film. It wasn’t easy for me. Believe me. When your body is used to a certain weight and your system is set for a fixed calorie count, changing that is not simple. I had to increase my calorie intake almost six times. Even then, my weight wasn’t going up. I was confused, like, what do I even do now? I tried a lot of things, and finally, I managed to increase around 10.5 or 10.7 kg.''

''And the double chin I developed, it wasn’t here (points below the chin), it was here (points to the side) I even have a picture. I had sent it to Poonam. She told me, 'Suno, you better come home only after losing this weight','' says Manish.

Then revealing shooting for a biopic of late Vikas Dubey, the actor says, ''It's a biopic, based on a gangster from UP. We studied him in depth. He’s no more. I think it’s safe to say now, it’s based on Vikas Dubey.'' Manish also reveals chewing Rajnigandha to get in the skin of his character and said, ''He used to chew Rajnigandha, from what we found out. So for two and a half years, I ate Rajnigandha. That’s how I maintained the weight gain. Because of that, I didn’t do any television for those two and a half years. My face wasn’t the same.''

Further opening up about the film, Manish says, ''So now all that’s done. The film has been shot and it has come out really well. It’s in post-production now because when 6–8 months go by and the film doesn’t get picked up by a platform at the right time, the team has to revive it. So they’re doing things like colour grading, editing, my producer is working on all that.''

- Manish Goel

Ask the actor about the film's release date and he calls out the OTT giant Netflix for rejecting it. ''The saddest part is - we literally poured our blood and soul into this film. And I’m not exaggerating. I put on all that weight, gave it my all, and during a very difficult time like COVID, the whole unit of 150 people gave it their best. The producer invested money even when there was no hope of returns, because nothing was working. The director worked hard, the whole team did and then the first mail we got was from Netflix. I’ll say it openly — it was from Netflix. They told our producer, “Why did you cast a television actor in the lead role?” and my producer was speechless. He said, “At least watch the trailer.” They hadn’t even seen the trailer. They didn’t see it. This sort of thing happened with us with two or three platforms,'' reveals Manish