Kunal Kohli announces film on the Bombay Textile Mill strike titled Vartak Nagar

Moving away from frothy romances, Kunal Kohli, who directed romantic films like Hum Tum and Fanaa, has decided to change track and make a film titled Vartak Nagar that would be based on a serious subject- the Great Bombay Textile Mill Strike that shook Mumbai in 1982. The film to be directed by debutant Atul Taishete will star Jimmy Shergill and Raghu Ram (of Roadies fame) in central roles. While Shergill plays the character of a powerful underworld don, Raghu plays a union leader fighting to obtain wage increments for his workers. Set in the early 80's, Vartak Nagar will be shot around the Central suburbs of Mumbai. It will portray the now defunct textile mills in the vicinity to represent the death of an era. Confirming the same, Kohli said in a statement, "It is a subject I have never attempted before. The film is essentially about the loss of childhood - how the strike affects the children who were raised at the point in time." While eyebrows may rise whether Raghu's character has been inspired by the life of union leader Datta Samant who led textile mill workers on the year-long strike, Kohli completely trashed the matter.