Akshay Kumar Rustom Derailed Soni Razdan Directorial Nanawati Murder Case

A decade ago, Soni Razdan was in the process of making her sophomore directorial, Love Affair. While her 2005 directorial debut Nazar was written by her husband and veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, and produced by his brother Mukesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films, Love Affair was being co-produced by Mahesh’s eldest daughter Pooja Bhatt, from his first marriage with Kiran Bhatt. Pooja was backing the film, along with Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, under her banner Fish Eye Network Private Limited. However, that film never saw light of the day.

Soni Razdan had even started pre-production of Love Affair in Ooty. Based on the infamous 1959 Nanavati murder case, it starred Ali Fazal as Nanawati, Kalki Koechlin as his wife, and Chandan Roy Sanyal as lawyer Ram Jethmalani, along with Gulshan Devaiah, Hansika Motwani, and Soni herself. “Unfortunately, that happens with films,” a disappointed Soni tells SCREEN in an exlusive interview.

“I was three weeks away from shooting, and things went haywire with the budget for some reason or the other, which obviously I can’t talk about. Then it didn’t happen, and Rustom came out. When they did Rustom, I said this wasn’t the right time,” recalls Soni, referring to Tinu Suresh Desai’s hit period crime thriller, also based on the Nanavati murder case. It starred Akshay Kumar in the titular role, inspired by KM Nanavati, which also fetched him his maiden National Award for Best Actor.

While Soni Razdan hasn’t directed anything after Love Affair was shelved, she’s still hopeful of making that dream a reality one day. “I still want to make that film because it was a very, very good perspective from the woman’s story, from the wife’s story. It was a film about three people, and we followed the story very closely. And one day, when the time is right, it’ll happen,” says Soni.

The Nanawati murder case entailed a naval officer killing the lover of his wife. It has been a ripe source for several films and shows over the years. RK Nayyar’s Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963) starred Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt, and Leela Naidu. Gulzar’s Achanak (1973), based on a story on by Khawaja Ahmed Abbas inspired from the case, featured Vinod Khanna, Om Shivpuri, and Lily Chakravarty.

A decade later, PN Menon made Asthram, a Malayalam film loosely based on the same case, starring Bharath Gopi, Mammootty, and Jyothi. After the success of Rustom, Ekta Kapoor created a series on ALTBalaji and ZEE5 — The Verdict – State vs Nanavati, which is the first adaptation to use real names. It starred Manav Kaul as Nanawati, Elli AvRam as his wife, and Viraf Patel as her lover. Interestingly, it also starred Soni Razdan as Mehra Nanawati.