AA Khan shoots at Lokhandwala again

Page

Scarlet Glow

@Scarlet_Glow

Rocker

+ 4

Posted: 19 years ago

hey guys! how r u all?

AA Khan shoots at Lokhandwala again

The super-cop will act in the film based on the 1991 encounter; Sanjay Dutt will play Khan

Kunal M Shah

* Super-cop turns actor

Whenever a filmmaker begins casting for his film, he always tries to do it judiciously, casting those who will do complete justice to the role. So, for the Apoorva Lakhia-directed and Sanjay Gupta-produced Shootout At Lokhandwala, who better than super-cop Aftab Ahmed Khan to play a role in the film.

In the real-life version, Khan played a crucial part in the 1991 Lokhandwala shootout, the film's core inspiration. Khan was the cop who orchestrated the encounter with dreaded underworld don Maya Dolas. Post superannuation, Khan wrote a book called Surrender, where he dedicated an entire chapter to this shootout. For the film however, Khan will play the character of then commissioner S Ramamurthy and Sanjay Dutt will play Khan's character. Besides acting, Khan is involved with the film in the capacity of a consultant.

When contacted Khan said, "Sanjay Gupta came to me about a year ago expressing his desire to make a film on the Lokhandwala episode. I was thrilled with the idea and gave him all the news clippings I had. We then started discussing the entire episode and tried to make the depiction as real as possible. In fact, a couple of days ago we met again to clarify certain issues."

That was when Lakhia approached him to play the role, something to which Khan consented.

"It is heart-warming to see people appreciating a cop's job and it would be very interesting to see the way the film shapes up," he said. The magnitude of the 1991 episode and its effects were so great that it has not been forgotten and continues to be a talking point among people.

Recollecting the incident, Khan said, "I do not think I will forget the incident. The way the police force handled it and the amount of pride they derived from the job was truly commendable. At that time, the encounter dealt such a severe blow to the underworld that several criminals ran away and settled in Dubai and different parts of the world. We had a trouble-free period for a long time after that."

After he took voluntary retirement from the police forces, Khan had a brief stint with politics about seven years ago. "That was a sorry chapter in my life. I am not cut out for politics and right now am busy with my anti piracy company Resource Management Services."

As for his acting debut, Khan is excited. "Cops have been grossly misrepresented in Bollywood in the past," added Khan. "Either they are shown as absolute crooks or cartoon characters. It's the wrong impression given to the people."

• Cops have been misrepresented in Bollywood in the past. Either they are shown as crooks or cartoons
– Khan

The Lokhandwala Encounter (1991)

The 1991 Lokhandwala encounter was a historical one because it lasted for six long hours. At that time, Khan, was the chief of the Anti Terrorist Squad and a DIG. He received a tip-off from one of his sources about Dawood's henchman, dreaded criminal Maya Dolas, who, along with five others had taken refuge in a flat at Lokhandwala, Andheri. The flat was owned by Gopal Rajwani, also a Dawood aide. Acting on this tip-off, Khan and his squad landed there. A round of firing ensued. All six criminals were killed and no police officer died. The entire encounter was recorded by the BBC. The encounter was not without controversy – an enquiry was conducted against the squad. But they emerged unscathed.