Journalist Flynn Remedios pens script on late Goa CM

Journalist Flynn Remedios pens script on late Goa CM and former DM Manohar Parrikar for well-known Bollywood director

Senior freelance journalist Flynn Remedios who is currently based in Goa, has started research for a film on the life of the late ex-Defence Minister and Goa CM Manohar Parrikar for a film script on the life of the late leader.

Confirming the news, Remedios told this reporter: "Yes, it's true. I have signed a contract after being approached by a highly reputed Bollywood film director to start research for a script on the life of the late Manohar Parrikar. I am not at liberty to reveal any details or the name of the director or the production house, but both are very well-known and have done several films on the life of various political leaders. My contract even prohibits me from speaking to the press in this regard," said Remedios.

Is it Ram Gopal Verma who has done films like the Sarkar series based on the life of Bal Thackeray, or is it Mahesh Bhatt, we ask Remedios? 

"I cannot say anything, you will know in due course," he quips, adding that the the concerned director is among the top 10 Bollywood directors today.  

Remedios who has been a journalist for the last 26-plus years has worked with publications like the Times of India, The Economic Times, The Indian Express and the Asian Age to name a few. He has extensively covered crime, politics and Bollywood and covered the last four assembly elections in Goa over the last 12-15-odd years. 

But isn't he associated with a rival political party, we ask him? Yes I am associated with a political party, but I am also an independent journalist and writer and I will give my best to this project. We are researching Parrikar's rise in the ranks as an RSS leader and his involvement in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which catapulted him on the national political stage and made him the darling of the BJP high command. 

Will the film be a biopic, we venture to ask? "That is for the director and producer to decide he says, adding that he has to complete the script within two months, which is a very short period of time. We have set up a team of 5 researchers in Goa who report to me. The shoot is expected to start around end-May or June. The director and casting team are working on identifying the actors who will play the particular roles including that of Parrikar. It will be a mainline Bollywood film with a gigantic budget," he reveals, refusing to name the exact figure.