Mumbai: From revolutionising Bollywood’s gangster genre with cult blockbusters like Kaante, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Shootout at Wadala, K...
Mumbai: From revolutionising Bollywood’s gangster
genre with cult blockbusters like Kaante, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Shootout at
Wadala, Kaabil, and Aatish to creating some of Hindi cinema’s most stylized
action dramas, filmmaker Sanjay Gupta brought his trademark unfiltered honesty
to a fiery episode of Incontroversial by Pooja Chaudhri. In a brutally candid
conversation, Gupta spoke about real-life underworld backlash over Shootout at
Wadala, Bollywood’s alarming “star crisis," the rise of Dhurandhar, working
with Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt, the decline of theatrical cinema in the
OTT era, and why today’s filmmakers have forgotten the art of creating
larger-than-life heroes that once defined the golden era of Hindi cinema.
In a conversation packed with explosive anecdotes,
industry truths and nostalgia from the golden era of gangster dramas, Gupta
also reflected on the rise of Dhurandhar, his bond with Sanjay Dutt, working
with Hrithik Roshan in Kaabil, and how OTT platforms have fundamentally altered
Hindi cinema.
Talking about the reaction from the real underworld
after Shootout at Wadala, Gupta revealed that gangsters were furious with the
way Manya Surve was portrayed onscreen.
“I got into trouble with the actual underworld when
Shootout at Wadala happened, and they were very upset. Their biggest complaint
was, ‘Why the hell have you made Manya Surve a hero? We used to call him
'Chappal Chor.’ But I told them, however heroic they may look in the film, they
all die a dog’s death in the end.”
Gupta also recalled how the iconic Shootout at
Lokhandwala was born from a random in-flight magazine article that completely
consumed him.
“I saw this image of A.A. Khan walking through the
compound with dead bodies lying around, and I was hooked. I thought, what
happens inside that flat when five shooters know 300 policemen have come to
kill them, not arrest them? That was the genesis of Shootout at Lokhandwala.”
The filmmaker, known for stylized action dramas
like Kaante, Aatish, Zinda, and the Shootout franchise, blamed Bollywood’s
creative shift on filmmakers trying too hard to impress critics instead of
audiences.
“The Gen Z directors have grown up on the three
Khans playing love stories. We grew up on heroes. Dharamji, Amitabh Bachchan,
Vinod Khanna, Sunny Deol, and Sanjay Dutt. Men who walked into a room and owned
it.”
Gupta also made a striking observation on how South
Indian cinema preserved the larger-than-life hero template once popularized by
Amitabh Bachchan.
“Most of Mr. Bachchan’s films were remade in the
South with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. Bollywood moved away from that cinema,
trying to impress critics, while the South kept making audience-driven mass
films.”
Speaking about the frenzy around Dhurandhar and
director Aditya Dhar, Gupta revealed that the project was considered an
enormous gamble internally.
“Nobody in their right mind would put that kind of
money on a director who had done one film and an actor who was at an all-time
career low. But they believed in it and backed it.”
He also praised the scale and ambition of the film.
“Rakesh ji told me they shot for 150 days and made
an eight-hour film. As soon as you see it, a thousand crores are made just like
that.”
Opening up about Kaabil and working with Hrithik
Roshan, Gupta admitted the film went completely against industry expectations.
“People expected me and Hrithik to make a glossy
commercial entertainer. But I quietly made Kaabil the way I wanted to. If I had
followed the math, I would have cast Rajkummar Rao instead. But Hrithik’s
conviction made that film what it became.”
The director also spoke emotionally about Sanjay
Dutt and why he believes Bollywood has failed to fully utilize the superstar in
recent years.
“Before Dhurandhar, I feel Sanju was grossly
wasted. Filmmakers didn’t know how to present him properly. I grew up with him,
so I understand his strengths instinctively.”
Gupta confirmed that early groundwork for Kaante 2
is now underway, teasing a dream cast featuring Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan,
Manoj Bajpayee, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma and Ali Fazal.
Despite the industry turmoil, Gupta remained
unapologetically outspoken till the very end, perfectly summing up the legacy
that made him one of Bollywood’s most controversial voices.
"I can’t bullshit for the life of me. If I love
something, I’ll say it. If I don’t, I just stay quiet.”
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