Mumbai: Veteran actor Suniel Shetty is all set to explore a powerful new creative path. The actor is currently in discussions to acquire the adaptation rights of the recently published true-crime book Black Scorpion: To Hell and Back. It is intended to make the real-life narrative a long-format web series, and as things fall into place, Shetty can even don the role of the protagonist, Shyam Kishore Garikapati.
The book chronicles the dramatic journey of Garikapati, a feared figure in Mumbai’s underworld during the late 1980s and 1990s, who later turned his life around and became a businessman. This thrilling crime, redemption, and transformation story has been so captivating that Suniel Shetty, legendarily known as an actor with diverse roles in action and drama movies, has taken it up.
Suniel Shetty Keen to Play the Role Himself
Mid-Day reported that Suniel Shetty has been reading the book with a lot of attention and he is greatly attracted to the story in the book. His interest is not limited to adapting the story for the screen. The actor is also considering playing the titular role of Garikapati, marking a return to a gritty crime drama space that fans have long associated him with.
A source quoted by the portal revealed that Suniel feels the story has immense potential to become a thrilling web series. He was fascinated most by the emotional and moral transformation of Garikapati, the so-called Black Scorpion in the police world. Life took a radical turn when he led a meeting with former top cop Kiran Bedi in the Tihar Jail, an experience that led him out of the crime route and into the world of business.
A True Crime Story Rooted in Mumbai’s Underworld
Black Scorpion: To Hell and Back is authored by veteran crime journalists Vijay Shekhar, Raju Santhanam, and Calvin Joshua. The book also revisits the life experiences of Garikapati in the gang wars and his intimate association with some of the largest personalities in the Mumbai underworld, such as Dawood Ibrahim and Arun Gawli. It provides an in-depth examination of the harsh realities of that period and the mental changes which caused his subsequent redemption.
Co-author Calvin Joshua confirmed the development, sharing that Suniel Shetty was instantly fascinated after reading the synopsis. He not only agreed to unveil the book but also expressed a strong desire to pursue the adaptation rights for a web series. In the meantime, Vijay Shekhar stated that Shetty has been his mentor since the former met in the year 1993, during the shooting of a film known as Waqt Hamara Hai.
Talks Ongoing, Official Confirmation Awaited
At present, discussions are still underway, and neither Suniel Shetty nor his team has officially confirmed the acquisition of rights or final casting decisions. Details regarding the platform, collaborators, and production timeline are expected to be revealed once the negotiations are complete.
This project is timed when Suniel Shetty himself is busy juggling on acting and behind-the-scene creativity. He has been eager to have meaningful stories that go against the classic storytelling, and this true crime series seems the perfect fit to the vision.
If finalized, Black Scorpion would be one of the most emotional and dramatic performances by Shetty in recent years that would provide viewers with a rough, emotional, and captivating insight into a dark but redeeming period in the history of crime in Mumbai.
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