In a recent interview, Hansal Mehta revealed that he was all set to direct ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. The director, who has been behind films like ‘Aligarh’ and ‘Shahid’ and shows like ‘Scam 1992’ and ‘Scoop’, revealed that he couldn’t find people to help him make it and that’s when Anurag Kashyap came on board. He also revealed what he asked Kashyap.

Talking about ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, Hansal Mehta said mid afternoon“Zeishan Quadri came to me with that story, and we worked on it for a few months. I spoke to Manoj, who was not doing anything at that time. We had just started talking; we had broken up for many years. I spoke to Manoj, and I said, ‘what will you do?’ (Will you do that?) And he said, ‘yes, I will do it, I will invest some money also (Yes, let’s do it, I will also invest some money in it)’.”

Zeeshan Quadri also played the role of Definite in the film.

However, they could not pursue the film. Mehta admitted, “I did not know how to take it forward, because nobody had faith in me.” During this time, Quadri met Anurag Kashyap, who instantly liked the project and approached Mehta.

Mehta said, “Anurag called me and asked, ‘Sir, If you are making it, I will not make it ‘If you are really doing this, I will back off.’ But I had no producer; it was an impractical dream. I told them I had only one request, that they should hire Manoj because I had promised to cast him in it.’

Initially, Manoj Bajpayee was supposed to play the role of Faizal, but later the role was given to Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Bajpayee played the role of Sardar Khan and it became a career-defining film for the actor.

Kashyap developed the film in two parts instead of one as previously planned. The screenplay was also substantially rewritten.