Actor and director Parmeet Sethi has opened up about the abrupt end of a highly anticipated biopic on wrestling legend Gama Pehlwan, following an unexpected move from Salman Khan. Sethi, who had been working closely with John Abraham on the project under the JA Entertainment banner, revealed that the film was shelved after Salman Khan announced his own wrestling-centric movie, creating concerns among studios about market saturation and the risk of producing similar films simultaneously.
According to Sethi, the project initially gained momentum when he approached Aditya Chopra with an original script. However, adversity struck when Chopra disclosed that he had already approved a similar film, eventually known as Sultan, featuring Salman Khan.
“I wanted to make that film and I went to Aditya Chopra with the script. Just a week before, Aditya had approved a similar script, called Sultan, which they eventually made with Salman Khan. Aditya was like, ‘I can’t make two films about wrestlers,’”
Sethi recalled.
Despite this setback, Sethi did not give up. With encouragement from Chopra, he sought out other opportunities and soon found support from John Abraham, who was enthusiastic about starring in and producing the film.
“He loved the script. He was ready to both star and produce the film. We were both happy and started to work on it,”
Sethi explained. However, after Salman Khan publicly announced his own wrestling film, support from studios quickly faded.
“So our studio said there are two films coming on the same subject, Salman Khan has announced the film, we cannot take this forward,”
Sethi recounted, highlighting how the announcement with Salman Khan at its center led to the collapse of the project.
Sethi described the experience as heartbreaking, expressing that both he and Abraham were deeply disappointed, believing that the story deserved to be told. Industry insiders point to the competitive landscape and the significant influence that Salman Khan holds in the Bollywood industry, especially regarding major projects. With Sultan releasing in 2016 and achieving commercial success, the impact of Salman Khan’s involvement on the fate of The Great Gama biopic was undeniable. This episode underscores how powerful actors like Salman Khan can dramatically shift the direction of a film project, potentially altering the course of creative endeavors within the industry, and setting a precedent for how high-profile announcements can affect competing projects.
