Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Ghamasaan takes him back to well-trodden territory: the world of dacoits. Dhulia was a casting director on Shekhar Kapur’s Phoolan Devi biopic Bandit Queen (1994). Dhulia directed his own film about a fugitive folk hero, the acclaimed Paan Singh Tomar (2012). Ghamasaan (Fierce) is very different from Paan Singh Tomar: it’s divided equally between the hunter and the hunted.
The Hindi film stars Pratik Gandhi as the chief of a special task force that is pursuing the brigand Maharaj (Arshad Warsi) in Bundelkhand. The cast includes Rajpal Yadav in a key role and Ishita Dutta.
Dhulia’s screenplay, based on a story by Piiyush Singh and Ram Yash Singh and inspired by an actual dacoit, is structured like a Western, which happens to be one of his favourite genres, Dhulia told Scroll.
Ghamasaan was completed in 2023 and premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2024. The action drama, which doubles as a character study, will finally see light of day on the Zee5 streaming platform over the coming weeks.
Delays, production challenges and runaway producers have all been regular features for 59-year-old Dhulia.
After acquiring a degree in theatre from the National School of Drama, Dhulia assisted various filmmakers and worked in television. He made his feature debut in 2003 with Haasil, which boosted the careers of…