John Abraham, Anil Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayi in Dubai: Shootout At Wadala stars in town

Handling one Bollywood star at a time is doable. But handling half a dozen at the same time can be tricky. How do we know this? We were subject to it recently after the Shootout At Wadala (SAW) team — John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayi, Tusshar Kapoor, Sunny Leone and Sophie Chaudhry — flew into Dubai last Thursday to promote their film.

At a press conference that lasted nearly an hour, certain conclusions were inevitably drawn.

For instance, Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor can be charming and gregarious but can get antsy if a tiny technical glitch doesn’t allow his film’s trailer to be showcased in all its thundering splendour.

“Come on Dubai, you are technologically advanced and have all that expertise. So one-on-ones [interviews] will happen after you get that sorted for me. Tu mujhe yein dein aur mein tujhe woh dhoonga [You give me that and I will give you what you want],” quipped Kapoor in a menacing growl.

But he didn’t dwell on it for long as he goaded his peers to entertain the press by delivering a one-liner from their gangster drama. Directed by Sanjay Gupta of Zinda fame and produced by Balaji Telefilms Ltd, SAW chronicles the controversial 1982 Mumbai police operation that led to the gunning down of gangster Manye Surve, played by Abraham.

Meanwhile, Bollywood hunk Abraham seemed a tad distracted. When he failed to grasp a question put forward by a journalist, he covered it well with humour: “I am a model, I am dumb”.

His snarky, self-effacing comment evoked nervous laughter in the room, but the credit has to go to singer-actress Chaudhry for putting everyone at ease. In the gangster flick based on author Hussain Zaidi’s bestseller novel From Dongri to Dubai, Chaudhry features in a racy number titled Ala Re Ala alongside Abraham.

“I desperately tried to see if there were any item songs mentioned in the book, but I couldn’t find anything,” she said when the other actors were questioned about their roles.

Chaudhry’s song-dance cameo was essentially inserted to add glamour and showcase the wild gangsters lifestyle filled with women and drinks. The brief given to the actors didn’t end with a looking smoking hot.

To play the 1980s underworld king, Abraham had to draw upon his imagination and experience.

“We had just two photographs to go with. One was a passport size one and the other was a photo taken post-encounter and that one was riddled with bullets. But I met a lot of his relatives and also the gentleman who killed him in the encounter. In terms of physicality, he was a tough one. Cops were wary of getting in his arm’s length because he used to suffocate them. He was like a body builder who operated alone,” said Abraham of his role.

Kapoor, who plays law enforcement officer ACP Ishaque Bagwan, had a more tangible reference point. He spent time with the real-life Bagwan, who masterminded the controversial operation, luring the gangster into a police den and shooting him on sight.

“For the first time in my career, I am playing a Muslim. I am a namazi [who says his prayers], loves his family, his job, his country. I play an officer in Mumbai at a time when gangsterism was at its peak in the 1980s. It was exciting to go back to that period… And the gentleman Bagwan is still alive and meeting him helped me prepare for my role,” said Kapoor.

In the trailer, the 53-year-old actor is seen chasing the bad guys with a speed that’s age-defying. Of course, his target is a shirtless, ripped Abraham and his side-kick and confidante, the hardened criminal Shaikh Muneer, played by Tusshar Kapoor.

“I am introduced with the dialogue that says I committed my first theft at 11 and went to jail at 13. He meets Manye Surve in jail who advises him to leave sharafat [good deeds] and adopt crime as his main profession. He tells me: ‘If you don’t kill, you will get killed. So better you kill than get killed’. They begin their journey as friends and gang members then,” said Kapoor who claims that Surve has a method to his madness. The ensemble cast for SAW also includes the critics’ darling Bajpayee. After hits such as Special Chabbis and Gangs Of Wasseypur, Bajpayee has come to symbolise content-rich films.

“It’s my first time in this genre of film. The name of my character is Zubair. He’s flamboyant. He doesn’t take no for an answer and hates to be challenged,” said Bajpayee, who is known to deliver in any role. He took up the project primarily because he hung out with director Gupta and had immense faith in him. When quizzed about whether they got insecure about their roles and whether they will be lost among the army of actors, Kapoor jumped in with: “I was insecure when the song Laila was being shot. I became very insecure sitting at home imagining John dancing with Sunny, Tusshar dancing with Sunny. I was so jealous.” He went on to lament about how his age doesn’t allow him to romance girls half his age.

“They don’t write them anymore,” he said with a wink. Kapoor was alluding to the item song Laila featuring the controversial starlet Leone.

Their collective camaraderie was palpable as Abraham gently patted Kapoor on his back and shared an interesting anecdote.

“The producer and distributors were not present during the shoot of the film but when Laila was being shot, suddenly it was a packed house that day. They all wanted to know its progress,” joked Abraham. It was clear that petty stuff like the length of their role didn’t enter their group dynamic. According to them, they learnt a lot from each other.

“John gave us a lot of fitness tips. He taught us there is nothing called a binge day and eating fatty food is like putting RDX [high explosives] into your body,” said Tusshar Kapoor. However, when it comes to stamina and looking eternally young, they looked up to Anil Kapoor.

“Anilji and I work out in the same gym. He is the one who goads everyone to run faster and he just goes on and on,” said Chaudhry. “We were obsessed about food and fitness.”