An account of the gangster Maya Dolas and his gang which terrorized Mumbai City, and the ensuing standoff between Mumbai Police and the gang on 16 November 1991.
On a calm summer day in 1991, in the bustling Lokhandwala Complex, five criminals including Maya and Dilip were counting 70 lakhs in flat no. 32 B, when 286 policemen, headed by ACP Khan, took strategic positions around their building. A gunfire ensued and the entire nation witnessed the most talked about daylight encounter lasting 6 hours that transformed suburban Mumbai into a virtual war zone. Shootout At Lokhandwala is the story of a seasoned cop, Khan, who chased Khalistani extremists, handpicked cops like Inspector Kaviraj Patil and Constable Javed Shaikh, and dared to engage trigger-happy gangsters in a residential locality of Mumbai. Khan's fight went beyond the encounter as he faced inquisition from his own department and legal charges of human rights violations. Shootout At Lokhandwala is the story of an upcoming underworld gangster, Maya, and his highly skilled partner, Dilip. The two made extortion the buzzword in the early 90s and dared to disobey the big bhai of the underworld, drawing the attention of Khan and his newly formed ATS squad. Both Khan and Maya were men obsessed, so devoted to their professions that their personal lives were a disaster.—Becca
Shamsher S. Khan lives a wealthy lifestyle in Bombay along with his wife, Rohini, and school-going daughter, Heena, and is employed as the A.C.P. with Bombay Police. Encouraged by the Police Commissioner he forms the ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) during 1990, which is based on U.S.A.'s SWAT team, recruits Inspectors Kaviraj Patil and Javed Khan, as well as 27 other fit members from different Police Stations. After Operation Blue Star many Sikh terrorists fled to different parts of Bombay, including Antop Hill, Charkop, and Bhandup, and then began a reign of terror by abducting children from wealthy Sikh families, demanding high ransoms, and instilling fear amongst witnesses who never dared to report them to the Police. Then one day S.I. Abhishek Mhatre witnesses them carrying automatic weapons, challenges them, and is killed. Shamsher asks Mita Mattu, a TVN Reporter, to take live shots of himself and his team as they hunt down and kill Baldev Singh and his gang at Antop Hill. This media coverage makes him a hero overnight, and instills considerable fear in the underworld. But Shamsher and his team have a much bigger challenge ahead when two gangsters, Maya Dolas and Dilip Buva, owing allegiance to their Dubai-based boss, unite to extort money from wealthy businessmen, including Sidhwani and Wadhwani. Shamsher's efforts to force the duo to come into the open by pressurizing their respective families prove deadly as the duo end up threatening him, his family, as well as Javed's and Kaviraj himself. Shamsher is unable to apprehend the duo as they keep on changing their hideouts, but gets his break when he finds out that the duo, along with their associates, are holed up in Flat No.302, at the A Wing of Swati Building in Lokhwandwala Complex, in Andheri West off of Char Bungla. Hoping to trap and kill them, Shamsher enlists approximately 400 armed police officers - little knowing that his efforts to kill them will be hampered as the gangsters have a hostage, are armed with automatic weapons, including a rocket launcher, and that JCP Tripathi, will soon be reaching the site to instruct Shamsher to withdraw the entire operation, amidst allegations that Shamsher himself may have connections with Maya's Dubai-based boss.—rAjOo ([email protected])
Mumbai. Organized Crime and gang violence are on an all-time high through the 1980s. Police and allied agencies are constantly finding it difficult to deal with the menace of new rising criminal operatives, prominent amongst them being Maya Dolas and Dilip Buwa. Answerable directly to their bosses in Dubai, Maya and Buwa are well armed, well financed and brutally adamant on reigning over Mumbai together. Enter ACP Shamsher Khan. Determined to bring down the entire armed crimes nexus, Khan, inspired by LAPD's SWAT division, creates the Anti-Terrorist Squad, assisted by his trusted lieutenants sharp shooter Inspector Kaviraj Patil and informants network specialist Head Constable Javed Sheikh. Slowly and steadily, ATS eliminates most of Maya's and Buwa's accomplices, leading to personal confrontations between the officers and their targets. It all comes to a head on 16th November, 1991 at Swati Building in Lokhandwala where Maya and Buwa have camped. Tipped off by informants, ATS takes strategic positions around Swati Building. Now it's the last opportunity for the ATS to eliminate Maya, since it's already under the knife of Human Rights organizations and failure would mean Maya and Buwa's continued reign of terror.—ankit-singh92
Based on the shootout in Lokhhandwala 1992, when commissioner of police, Aftaab Ahmed Khan, shot Dawood Ibrahim's aides including Maya Dolas and Dilip Bua. This caused massive controversy after it was rumored that Dawood asked for the shootings to take revenge on his aides who has fallen out with him.—Kelli Eyres
The film opens with shots of brooms and dustpans cleaning dried blood and cartridge casings in and around Swati building at the Lokhandwala Complex. TVN reporter Meeta Matu (Diya Mirza) reports that some 3000 rounds of ammunition were discharged by a large police squad at a previously peaceful residential area.
The film moves to the offices of former chief justice turned private prosecutor Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan) where he interviews the three leading members of the Mumbai Encounter Squad: Additional Commissioner of Police Shamsher S. Khan (Additional CP S.S. Khan) (referring to A. A. Khan, played by Sanjay Dutt), Inspector Kaviraj Patil (Sunil Shetty) and Inspector Javed Sheikh (Arbaaz Khan). The main film time-line is the extended interview of the three officers by Dhingra; as the officers' answer Dhingra's questions, the film flashes back to show the incidents.
Dhingra asks about the Encounter Squad. Khan explains that he hand-picked 27 of Mumbai police's best enlisted men and officers. He borrowed the concept from the LAPD SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team to help combat crime. The film flashes back to show Khan selecting his men and putting them through intensive physical and mental training to be "fast, efficient and deadly." Dhingra is hardly impressed: He points out that if Khan "shoots to kill" he is no different from the gangsters he seeks to destroy.
Dhingra asks why Khan felt he had done this. Khan explains that following Operation Blue Star in 1984, several Sikh terrorists fled to Mumbai and began establishing a base in the city. They engaged in violence, extortion, and other subversive tactics to grow their operations. The film flashes back to show Sub Inspector Mhatre (Abhishek Bachchan), a very brave officer and disciple of Khan, pursuing and subsequently getting shot down by a group of Sikh terrorists.
Khan is deeply frustrated when the Mumbai police, mired in internal bureaucracy and corruption, fail to act. He obtains clearance from the police commissioner Krishnamurthy (played by the real A. A. Khan) and sets out after the militants. Khan asks Meeta Matu (Diya Mirza) to cover the incident so as to deter future terrorists. True to Khan's words, he successfully "encounters" (it indicates summarily gunning down criminals; extrajudicial killings is the term accepted internationally) the terrorists who shot PSI Mhatre. As per Aftab Ahmed Khan the encounter with Khalistani Extremist was more dangerous and tough than Shootout at Lokhandwala.
The film segues into the life of Maya (referring to Mumbai gangster Mahindra Dolas though the film never mentions Dolas specifically; played by Vivek Oberoi). Maya is the second-in-command of the "big boss" in Dubai (a clear reference to Dawood Ibrahim though the film does not mention his name) and runs Dawood's criminal activities in Mumbai. Maya recruits Bhua (referring to Dilip Buwa, played by Tusshar Kapoor) after successfully hatching a plot to eliminate Bhua's old gang led by Ashok Joshi. At this point, Maya and Bhua are at the top of Mumbai's underworld, reporting directly to the big boss in Dubai.
Things heat up when Khan recognizes, through his network of spies and informers, that Maya is responsible for several criminal and possibly terrorist activities. Around this time, Maya's ambitions, fueled by his Aai's (Amrita Singh) insistence, grow to the point where he wishes to assert his independence from Dubai and take over Mumbai himself.
Khan's ATS now focuses on eliminating Maya and Bhua and begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game where neither side shows any overt aggression but tries to disable the adversary by tactical maneuver. Khan launches "visits" to the criminals' families to try to "persuade" them to counsel the criminals to surrender. In turn, Maya and his men return the "visit" by approaching the cops at social situations. Maya visits Khan at a restaurant where Khan is having dinner with his family. Maya quietly tells Khan: "This is between your men and mine. Leave the families out of it." Khan retorts: "I did this to give you an opportunity to come clean. But now it appears that any resolution hangs off the barrel of a gun."
Maya's rage intensifies when he gets thrown out by prominent city builder Wadhwani (based on real life builder and politician Gopal Rajwani, owner of the building that the movie was set in). Maya had demanded 4 million protection money; Wadhwani claimed to deal directly with Dubai. Maya kidnaps Wadhwani's sniveling, overweight kid. When Wadhwani complains, the big boss asks Maya to cut it out and return the child immediately. Maya quietly informs the boss that he has upped his demands and that he wants to reign supreme in Mumbai.
The film also explores the personal lives of the protagonists. Khan's wife Rohini (Neha Dhupia) is unable to bear his constant neglect of his family life. She files for divorce. Patil's divorce is nearly upon him, too. In the enemy camp, Buwa has shacked up with a bar dancer Tanu (Aarti Chhabria) and is unable to spend any quality time with her. Fellow criminals Phatu (estranged from his parents) and RC (plagued by ghost-like visions of an innocent family he gunned down) have similar troubles.
It all comes to a head in November 1991. The five criminals including Maya and Buwa secure themselves, while holding Wadhwani's kid, in a flat at Swati building in Lokhandwala. Khan is tipped off of the location by an informant. (In Dhingra's questioning, Khan allegedly also received a call from the big boss in Dubai. Khan vehemently denies this.) Khan assembles a large squad of cops and lays siege to the location. He announces over the bullhorn that residents are advised to stay indoors and bolt their windows.
A long and devastating gun battle begins. The criminals launch rocket propelled grenades from their flat and try to escape. But they are overwhelmed by police fire, and all five criminals are eventually slain. The battle lays waste to the building: Film shots show the staircases, hallways and several civilian flats completely pulverized by gunfire. Reporter Meeta Matu covers the action live.
Up to this point, Dhingra has been negative and denigrating of Khan and his efforts with the ATS. He cites press reports and civilian complaints that condemn Khan (and the ATS) of unilateral and unwarranted excessive force in a residential locality. Charges are brought against Khan and the ATS. But when Dhingra rises to defend them as their appointed counsel, he, in a surprising twist, presents an unconventional argument as defense.The film ends with Khan and the ATS being acquitted.
