Anurag Kashyap revealed that his film Kennedy was inspired by a real-life cop named Uday Shetty, whose eerie reputation once haunted Mumbai’s underbelly. The script, starring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone, was written by Kashyap in a single night
L-Anurag Kashyap; R-still from Kennedy
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has often drawn inspiration from the dark, complicated corners of human nature. His recently released film Kennedy, starring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone, is no different. During a conversation on mid-day’s Sit With Hitlist, Kashyap revealed that the origins of the film trace back to a real-life character and a screenplay he once began writing for filmmaker Sudhir Mishra.
The real Uday Shetty
Kashyap shared that the basis of the character came from a real man named Uday Shetty, the character that Rahul Bhat eventually played in Kennedy.
When asked why Sudhir Mishra was thanked in his film Kennedy, Kashyap said, “He was making a film with Tejaswini Kolhapure and Sanjay Dutt, which was a lot based on this character called 'Uday Shetty'. It was based on a real character, a real person called Uday Shetty. He was a cop who used to live with his ghosts and was ruthless.”
The filmmaker recalled the eerie legend surrounding the man and how his reputation had become part of Mumbai’s underbelly folklore.
“He (Uday Shetty) would just roam around Bandra at that time. There was a Sea Rock Hotel, and couples didn’t have a space back then, so they would hang around Bandra. He would go and put a gun and say, ‘Aayega toh jaayega.' Those things are not fictional; it's all real".
According to Kashyap, the character was known for doing the police force’s dirtiest work.
The project was briefly shot with Sanjay Dutt and Tejaswini Kolhapure before being shelved.
The night Kennedy was born
Over the years, Kashyap tried to make a film around Uday Shetty. He even narrated the character brief to actor Mohanlal for a film directed by Rajiv Ravi. However, it never materialised. Years later, the idea resurfaced, surprisingly. Kashyap revealed that the script for Kennedy came together in a single night at home.
He described the almost trance-like state he was in as he began writing.
“I was roaming around the house playing Tchaikovsky, and I was having my favourite whisky. I was just sitting in my library on my writing table, and there were empty pages, and I started writing.”
Interestingly, the film’s title came from a completely different idea.
“I did not know what I was writing. What is the name of the character? So I wrote the name 'Kennedy Project' because somebody had said that Vikram wanted me to write a script for him. The actor's real name is Kennedy."
As the writing continued, the past resurfaced unexpectedly. “I started with the name of the character Kennedy, and I kept writing, and suddenly Uday Shetty came. The film was written that night. I wrote till morning while Tchaikovsky was playing.”
Music eventually became an integral part of the film’s sonic landscape. Kashyap even recorded the composer’s work with a full orchestra abroad.
He mailed the script to 5-6 of his close associates, and the rest is history.
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