Aftab Ahmed "A. A." Khan, head of the ATS, attacked the Lokhandwala Complex on 16 November 1991, with a force of around 400 armed policemen. Dreaded gangster Maya Dolas was hiding in the complex. The leading protagonists in the film have slightly different names than their real-life counterparts, and the film caption is "based on true rumours."
Plot
In 1992, former chief justice Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan) interviews the three leading members of Bombay's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) — Additional Commissioner of Police Shamsher S. Khan (Sanjay Dutt), Inspector Kaviraj Patil (Sunil Shetty) and Constable Javed Sheikh (Arbaaz Khan) — to defend them in their upcoming inquiry. Khan explains to Dhingra that he hand-picked 27 of Mumbai police's best-enlisted men and officers to help combat crime, borrowing the concept from the LAPDSWAT team. Following Operation Blue Star in 1984, several Sikh extremists fled to Bombay and began establishing a base in the city, engaging in violence, extortion, and other subversive tactics. The death of his best officer at the hands of the extremists prompts Khan to obtain clearance from police commissioner Krishnamurthy (A. A. Khan) to encounter those responsible for the officer's death. Khan asks Meeta Matu (Diya Mirza) to cover the incident so as to deter future incidents.
Maya (Vivek Oberoi), the second-in-command of the 'boss in Dubai', runs the latter's criminal activities in Bombay with his gang. Maya's ambitions are fuelled by his mother (Amrita Singh), growing to the point where he wishes to assert his independence from Dubai and take over Bombay himself. Khan's ATS focusses on Maya's gang after a police informant connects them to a string of murders in the city. The ATS encounters one of Maya's gang members, causing Maya to retaliate by killing the informant's relative. The ATS contacts the gang members' families to try and convince them to surrender, but the gang threatens and attempts to bribe the members of the ATS in return. Maya, meeting Khan, tells him to keep their families out of it.
When prominent city builder Wadhwani (based on Gopal Rajwani, owner of the building that the movie was set in) refuses to pay Maya Rs. 40 million in protection money, claiming to deal directly with Dubai, Maya kidnaps Wadhwani's son. Wadhwani complains to the boss, who asks Maya to return the child immediately. Maya refuses, stating that he has upped his demands and that he wants control of Bombay. Tipped off by an informant (who, Dhingra alleges, called from Dubai), Khan learns that Maya's gang is located in a flat at Swati building in Lokhandwala. In November 1991, the ATS lays siege on the building with a large force of police. The police kill Wadhwani's son, allowed to leave by Maya to see if any from his flat will be allowed to surrender. During the subsequent shootout, Maya's gang tries to escape by various means, contacting Dubai, bribing a senior officer to intervene on their behalf, and even firing a rocket-propelled grenade, but fail. Maya and each member of his gang is eventually killed.
While critical of Khan and the ATS throughout the interview, during their inquiry, Dhingra defends them in court by pointing out that the likes of Khan are necessary to safeguard the public against criminals. Khan and the ATS are acquitted.
Many scenes were shot on actual locations at the Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai. There was a chase sequence with Sunil Shetty and Arbaaz Khan playing cops, and Ravi Gosain (Aslam Kesai) through Lokhandwala. It would have been difficult to shoot this sequence with the public around. Hidden cameras were used at five places, and the two actors ran 200 meters at the real location to can the scene.
Controversy
The film sparked much controversy regarding the fictionalised portrayal of the incident.[3][4] Sikh groups complained about the wrongful portrayal of Sikhs as extremists.[5] This led to Sikh groups wanting the film banned and "bitterly" opposing the film.[6][7]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Shootout at Lokhandwala was released during April 2007 by T-Series.[8]
