TV actor Manish Goel will play the controversial gangster Vikas Dubey in a new feature film. Titled “Hanak”, the film is based on the book “Main Kanpur Wala” written by Mridul Kapil. The project will be directed by Manish Vatssalya. “The society has to always be a mirror reflecting the mindset of its inhabitants. Unfortunately, we as the film fraternity have started glorifying evil and have started affecting impressionable minds of the viewers taking them closer to vices. I felt it was my duty to present crime in its most naked and gruesome form, so that viewers are repelled by it,” said the director.

UK-based producer Mohaan Nadaar has bought the book rights of the “Main Kanpur Wala”, which is based on the life of the controversial gangster from Kanpur.

Nadaar said: “I am looking for scripts that break the mould with their exciting narrative. ‘Hanak’ is a gripping story of an evil man who shook up a lot of powerful people in his state and his ultimate downfall.”

Ketki Pandit, creative producer of The Production Headquarters, added: “Vikas Dubey’s life had several twists and turns that make for interesting cinema. But we are clear that we want to show him for what he was, without glorifying him or his actions to make him look like a hero which he certainly wasn’t.”

Dubey was recently in news after eight policemen were killed in the Bikru village on July 3 by him and his men. Dubey was killed on the morning of July 10 when he was allegedly trying to escape, following an accident involving the vehicle in which he was being taken to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

Principle filming of the project is expected to begin from November 27 in Madhya Pradesh and the makers aim for a March 2021 release.