FROM underworld figures and political activists to famous artists and star athletes, Bollywood is going biographical with a series of films based on, or inspired by, real lives.

The first to hit screens is Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, a thriller set in the 1970s about a power struggle between two gangsters, complete with big hair, even bigger moustaches, wing-collar shirts and flares.

But the film starring Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi has already run into controversy, with an attempt by the adopted son of smuggling don Haji Mastan Mirza to block its release until he has seen a preview.

Sunder Shekhar said: “The film’s publicity by the makers saying that it was based on Mastan’s life, showing him to be a gangster, was defaming.

“Mastan was a social worker and looked up to as a godfather by the needy and a financial benefactor to many families.”

The Bombay High Court this week ruled against him but ordered the film’s producers to issue a statement saying it was “purely a work of fiction and the characters in the film are fictional”.

Director Milan Luthria had previously said the biopic genre - whether wholly, partially-based on or inspired by real characters - had its potential pitfalls.

“A person’s entire character depends on you. You can make or break a person with your imagery and that is very tricky,” he said.

The chief creative officer at UTV Motion Pictures, which is producing three biopics, also said it was a risky venture, particularly with surviving family members or other interested parties who may take issue with the portrayal.

“You also have to make sure you’ve done extensive research on the person because mistakes are very easily caught,” said Vikas Behl.

Other films set for release in the coming months include Baag Milkha Baag, based on the life of India’s most successful track athlete Milkha “The Flying Sikh” Singh.

Paan Singh Tomar starring A Mighty Heart and Slumdog Millionaire actor Irrfan Khan, is due out later this year, charting how a successful Indian army athlete turned deadly gang member.

Maverick director Ram Gopal Varma is making a film on the slain political leader Paritala Ravi, while a number of figures from Bollywood’s “golden age” in the 1950s are also being lined up to have their lives laid bare.

They include Kishore Kumar, a famous movie singer of the 1960s and 1970s, and the actor-producer-director once referred to as “India’s Orson Welles”, Guru Dutt.