@Khan reminded me that A&E has a new series about this story and it astounds me how often it has been re-told.  For a fairly simple murder-for-hire story whose culprit was caught quickly, this tale has been recycled more times than Kandi Muse's wig on Rupaul's Drag Race

I recall the 2000 USA network version with Victor Webster.  E! did a Murders and Mystery episode in the early 2000s.  20/20 had a recent episode about the case.  There was a multi-part podcast "Welcome to Your Fantasy".  There was documentary called "Just Can't Get Enough" as well as "The Curse of the Chippendales" on Amazon.  And Dev Patel is signed to star in another movie version of the same story.

Now, I like looking at a guy in collar, cuffs, and spandex pants as much as possible, but at this rate this plot has been told more often than the origin story of Spiderman!

 

Edited March 15, 20223 yr by j swift

When I saw a post about it in the Cancelled Soaps thread, the movie with Dev Patel immediately came to mind. Many people are scratching their heads about his involvement in this but it's likely a chance to transform himself into a complex figure. I can see how, as an actor he would be drawn to the challenge of playing someone who cuts against the grain of the example of what a Desi-American success story is supposed to be.

I just don't think the story is compelling enough to warrant this many versions in a variety of fiction and nonfiction formats.

Also, I would hazard to guess that the missing variable in the story is drug use. 

Whenever someone is accused of a violent crime without sufficient motive, I always suspect that the common denominator is drugs.  Certainly the late disco scene in Manhattan and Santa Monica was partially driven by easy access to cocaine. So, it would not surprise me if that was a part of the story that has been ignored.  Writers might try to make it seem incredible or unique, but the reality is that it was about a man who may have suffered from addiction, as many others do, they just don't have the means or opportunity to enact their worst impulses that were warped by desperation and dependency.

On 3/15/2022 at 4:46 PM, j swift said:

I just don't think the story is compelling enough to warrant this many versions in a variety of fiction and nonfiction formats.

Also, I would hazard to guess that the missing variable in the story is drug use. 

Then you're probably going to dislike the idea of a biopic of Somen Banerjee that  Salman Khan is producing.

Edited March 18, 20223 yr by DramatistDreamer
Salman, not Shah Rukh

To be honest, I have never watched one single program about this topic. Based on the mention of former As The World Turns actor Brian Starcher, a former dancer in another thread, I decided to check this limited docuseries out, just out of curiosity. I have kept the stated limitations in mind, so I am definitely not expecting a Ken Burns type documentary series.