New Delhi, Aug 11 - Bollywood seems all set to revisit Gandhigiri. But this time it's debutant director Amit Rai narrating a part-fact-part-fiction story on Mahatma Gandhi's principles through his 'Road To Sangam' while telling the story of how a Muslim man restored the vintage Ford truck that carried Gandhi's ashes in 1948.

The director says he took inspiration from a news story about the Ford V8 engine's restoration by Allahabhad-based mechanic Hashmat Ullah. He has roped in veteran actors Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Pavan Malhotra apart from Gandhi's grandson Tushar, who plays himself in the film.

'I got the idea for the film from a news story that came on NDTV two-and-a-half years ago. It showed that the vehicle that carried Gandhi's ashes in 1948 had been reduced to junk and was restored by a Muslim guy,' Rai told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.

'It made me curious and I started working on a story around it. While I was researching, I found out that of the 22 urns carrying Gandhi's ashes that were sent across India to be immersed in different rivers, one was found kept in the Orissa State Bank of India locker.

'I tried to arrange the facts in chronological order so that it becomes a story. I tried to weave a story that talks about the principles of Gandhi in the midst of the whole restoration process and the procession to Sangam,' he added.

The vintage vehicle was lying in a state of disrepair at a museum in Allahabad until Hashmat Ullah restored it. The remains of Gandhi's ashes, which had been kept in the locker in Orissa, were carried on the same vehicle and immersed in the sea in Mumbai on his death anniversary Jan 30, 2008.

In the film, the main protagonist played by Paresh Rawal is called Hashmat Ullah. The director says he wrote the story before meeting the mechanic in person.

'I met Hashmat Ullah in person only after I finished writing the story to take his confirmation to use his name for the mechanic's character. Initially I had planned Mohammed Hafiz as the character's name, but then I felt I should replace it with Hashmat's name as he is the one who did it,' Rai said.