'India's Most Wanted' turns 2: Tribute to India's unsung heroes
India's Most Wanted released in 2019 on this day. It had Prabhat Kumar (Arjun Kapoor) and his team embark on a tough journey to find India's Most Wanted man, a deadly terrorist named Yusuf (Sudev Nair). Did you know, in this film, there's no romance angle? On its second anniversary, let's relive lesser-known and interesting facts like these about the Raj Kumar Gupta venture.
What was 'India's Most Wanted' all about?
The movie focuses on Prabhat, who leads a team of five unlikely patriots, to capture 'India's Osama.' What's more impressive is the fact that they nab him without any civil unrest or firing a single bullet. The film sheds light on these faceless heroes, while also highlighting the difficulties of being an agent. To note, its trailer had called the arrest 'India's Proudest Moment.'
Movie inspired by real-life events, Yusuf based on Yasin Bhatkal
Yusuf was based on Yasin Bhatkal, Indian Mujahideen founder. Bhatkal is responsible for planning 52 bombings between 2007 and 2013, including Delhi bombings (2008) and Varanasi blasts (2010). These resulted in over 220 deaths, prompting the NIA to put him at the top of their Most Wanted list. There was also a Rs. 3cr reward money for his capture, which finally happened in 2013.
'A story of five people who saved a billion lives'
To get into the character, Kapoor had met real-life Intelligence Bureau officers. He also learned how these officers had to be like a chameleon, while extracting information. "It's a movie about the unsung heroes of our country...This is a story of five people who saved a billion lives, whom no one gave a chance to, yet they walked into such a perilous situation."
Possible reasons for failure? No romantic angle or songs
Interestingly, India's Most Wanted didn't have a lead female actor and no romantic angle. While Kapoor liked this fact, he admitted that the movie was a bit risky as it didn't have any songs. Unfortunately, he was right! The movie, whose story is set on a time frame of merely 48 hours, only made a paltry Rs. 11.9 crore at the box office.
