Parmeet Sethi's film was shelved after Salman Khan announced 'Sultan'
What's the story
Parmeet Sethi, known for acting in films and television till 2010, transitioned into writing. His first script was a love story set against India-Pakistan ties, something that never materialized.
He then wrote the successful film Badmaash Company, produced by Aditya Chopra.
However, Sethi's next project—a biopic on Indian wrestler Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt, aka The Great Gama—faced many hurdles. The biggest one was Salman Khan's competing project announcement.
Script struggles
Sethi's script for 'The Great Gama' faced roadblocks
After penning the script for his biopic on The Great Gama, Sethi approached Chopra for backing. However, the filmmaker couldn't extend his support as he was already working on a wrestling project with Khan.
The story would have ended there, but Sethi approached John Abraham, who initially supported the film, but the project was shelved after Khan announced a similar project.
Left with no option, Sethi shelved his film.
Career gap
Sethi's return to acting and career gap explained
In an interview with SCREEN, Sethi detailed the "struggle" behind the gap in his career.
He said that his The Great Gama film was shelved because of Khan's competing project, Sultan.
"The problem was that the film I had written was on The Great Gama. Just a week before, Aditya had approved a similar script, called Sultan, which they eventually made with Salman Khan," he revealed.
After these struggles, he went on a hiatus from 2010-2015.
Future plans
Sethi's shift to smaller films and future plans
Despite all these setbacks, Sethi is adamant not to give up on his writing career. He intends to write smaller films that can be made on a shoestring budget and with newcomers.
He explained, "Bollywood has about 10 stars, and each star is being chased by at least 100 producers. My problem was that every script that I wrote, I wrote it on a bigger scale."
"Now, I have decided to write smaller films where I can use newcomers."