‘Heartbroken' Parmeet Sethi had to shelve film after Salman Khan announced competing project: ‘John Abraham was hurt, studios backed out'

Indian Express

08-05-2025

Parmeet Sethi, who marked his acting debut with the Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol-starrer Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), worked relentlessly as an actor until 2010. He appeared both in television and films, until he decided one day that he was going to be a writer instead. He wrote a love story set against India-Pakistan ties, which never saw the light of the day due to several obstacles. He then wrote Badmaash Company, which was produced by Aditya Chopra and became one of the most successful films of that year.
After Badmaash Company, Parmeet wrote another larger-than-life story on Indian wrestler Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt, aka The Great Gama. After writing the script, Parmeet approached Aditya Chopra. This time, the producer couldn't back the actor as he was putting together a competing project featuring Salman Khan. Parmeet then approached John Abraham, who was set to back his film. But he was forced to shelve the film as Salman Khan announced another project on the same subject. This led to a long lull in Parmeet's career, who was forced to return to acting. ' Kitchen chalane ke liye kuch toh karna padega ', said the actor.
In an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Parmeet said 'struggle' was the only reason behind the gap in his career. He shared, 'The problem was the film I had written was on The Great Gama. I wanted to make that film and I went to Aditya Chopra with the script. Just a week before, Aditya had approved a similar script, called Sultan, which they eventually made with Salman Khan. Aditya was like, 'I can't make two films about wrestlers.''
This upset Parmeet. But on the suggestion of Aditya Chopra, he stepped outside Yash Raj Productions to approach other producers. 'He was very sweet. He told me, you go out and approach others, I can help you in that. I stepped out of Yash Raj and I approached John Abraham. He loved the script. He was ready to both star and produce the film. We were both happy and started to work on it. Unfortunately, a month later, Salman Khan announced a project on the same subject. So our studio said there are two films coming on the same subject, Salman Khan has announced the film, we cannot take this forward.'
Watch the full interview here:
With Salman Khan having announcing the project, Parmeet and John had no other option but to shelve their film. 'I was heartbroken. Even John was hurt. The script was mind-blowing, and even if picked up today, it will turn out to be a great film. So the gap that you see from 2010 to 2015, it was because of these struggles. Eventually, I returned to acting.'
Parmeet explained that getting his projects green-lit would've required huge stars. '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 in the bigger scale. The Great Gama was larger than life and required a big budget. Now, when a huge budget comes in play, you can't make it with a smaller star or a newcomer. And if you will desire to have a bigger star, they are already surrounded by these producers. It is a task to make these bigger stars say yes to your film. This is the reason I couldn't make a film because I didn't have a star. Now, I have decided to write smaller films where I can use smaller stars or newcomers.'
After the success of Sultan, there were reports of Salman Khan producing a show on The Great Gama. It was also reported that the television series will star his younger brother Sohail Khan in the titular role. There have been no official updates about the series yet.