Actor Salman Khan will reportedly produce a biopic on Somen Banerjee, the Indian-American who co-founded a male striptease group Chippendales. According to a DNA report, Salman’s production house would bankroll the biopic, the shooting of which will begin in Kolkata and then move to Los Angeles and Europe, as Banerjee had his businesses in London, Hamburg, Philadelphia and Florida.
Speaking to Bombay Times, Salman Khan confirmed that he will be producing the film. “A Bengali man, who moved from India to America in the late 60s, struggled and created one of America’s most iconic brands. We are going to tell the story of Somen Banerjee, a man driven by fierce ambition, on celluloid,” he was quoted saying. The film will delve into Banerjee’s illustrious life and career choices.
Courtesy: Kerrerahousepress.com
Born in Mumbai, Banerjee moved to America after a brief stint in Kolkata, and bought a failed nightclub named “Destiny II” in Los Angeles, and transformed it into a first of its kind nightclub that featured female mud wrestling and a “Female Exotic Dancing Night”. Soon enough, he collaborated with two other people to form a club featuring male dancers and strippers. The club and concept became an overnight success in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Chippendales toured and performed in a number of states and countries, but also faced innumerable lawsuits. Banerjee was later charged with having enlisted the aid of Ray Colon, in 1990 and 1991, to help carry out a plot to kill Michael Fullington, a former Chippendales dancer and choreographer, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, who Banerjee felt were competition to the Chippendales franchise. He was also indicted for allegedly orchestrating the 1987 murder of his former choreographer/partner Nick De Noia.
Banerjee was found dead in his prison cell in 1994. He was usually called by his alias Steve Banerjee. His life and death had been the subject of few TV shows including The Chippendales Murder (2000) starring Navin Andrews and ‘Backstage Murder’ from the FBI Files.
Currently, the production house is working on the script and the plan is two-fold – to produce a feature film and to develop it as a mini-series as well.
