Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS): Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt is shocked by the similarities between the Sheena Bora murder case and a story that grew out of his imagination, which he had penned back in May for his film "Ab Raat Guzarnewali Hai".

After Bhatt saw the news of former CEO of INX Media, Peter Mukherjea’s wife Indrani Mukherjea, who is accused of murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, the filmmaker was shocked by the striking similarities to a script he had written for his protege Guroudev Bhalla.

"I empathise with the living hell Peter is going through and this is not a pathetic attempt to ride on his unspeakable tragedy. But bizarre as it may sound, fact is that this is a case of life imitating fiction rather than fiction imitating life," Bhatt said in a statement.

The story that Bhatt has penned was completed in May and will be produced by Dhaval Jayantilal Gada. It is a story of crime and passion, soaked in blood, revolving around a mother and daughter.

While Bhatt refuses to get into details, he says it plays itself out in a media space with characters intoxicated by fame and power, flush with money and caught in multi-partner, bi-sexual relationships.

"The story grew out of my imagination. I never imagined that it could be unfolding for real in a high rise in our backyard where the rich and powerful reside. The coincidence between a pure work of fiction and real life staggers me, it makes me shudder," he said.

Now, with the Indrani-Sheena story grabbing headlines, will some of their real life story creep into his reel-life story?

Bhatt said: "No, my work is done. I only wrote this story for my protege. The film should roll in December. I never imagined that it would explode for real as the mother of all crime stories."