- Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, known for Kaante and Shootout at Lokhandwala, has died
- Kaante (2002) was made during a low point, featuring an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan
- The film was inspired by a real robbery case, not a remake of Reservoir Dogs as often claimed
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, known for directing films such as Kaante, Musafir and Shootout at Lokhandwala, has died. His death marks the end of a career spanning nearly three decades, during which he explored crime dramas, gangster stories and the darker side of the underworld.
Among his most talked-about films remains Kaante (2002), a project that came together when the filmmaker was going through one of the lowest phases of his professional life.
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta was going through one of the most difficult phases of his career when he decided to make Kaante. Having gone five years without signing a film, with two of his previous projects failing at the box office and two others stuck in production, Gupta was struggling to find his footing in the industry.
Little did he know that the film he envisioned during this period would eventually become one of the most talked-about projects of his career.
Released in 2002, Kaante brought together an unusual ensemble of Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Kumar Gaurav, Lucky Ali and Mahesh Manjrekar. Centred on six men who plan a bank robbery in Los Angeles, the film combined crime, betrayal and unexpected twists with a distinct visual style.
Its narrative drew comparisons with Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, although Gupta has maintained that the idea for the film came from a different place.
More than two decades after its release, Kaante continues to enjoy a cult following. From its unconventional casting choices and memorable dialogues to its music and behind-the-scenes stories, the film has remained an important part of Gupta's filmography.
In a conversation with Indian Express, the filmmaker opened up about the circumstances that led him to make Kaante, how he brought together its ensemble cast and the challenges of shooting the film in Los Angeles. Here's how a project conceived during a low point in his career eventually became a landmark film.
Sanjay Gupta Conceived Kaante When Nobody Wanted To Work With Him
For Gupta, Kaante was not born out of a desire to make a stylish gangster film. It came from a period of professional frustration when he was finding it difficult to get projects off the ground.
Recalling his state of mind at the time, the filmmaker said, "I was f***ed. I hadn't signed a film for five years, two of my films had bombed, and the other two weren't getting completed. Nobody was touching me with a barge pole. I didn't know what to do next; I was very frustrated with the whole system. I was working with producers who didn't understand filmmaking."
The initial idea was considerably different from what eventually reached theatres. Gupta wanted to make a film about six young men from Mumbai's Dagdi Chawl who pull off an extraordinary robbery, only to find themselves surrounded by the police after returning home.
He traced the idea to the Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri & Sons jewellery robbery case, which also served as an inspiration for the 2013 film Special 26.
Gupta initially approached actor and writer Makrand Deshpande to develop the story as a play. He later narrated the idea to Sanjay Dutt, whom he wanted to associate with the project as a presenter. However, Dutt was interested in playing Ajju, one of the central characters.
The filmmaker initially hesitated because the project was supposed to feature newcomers. He believed that casting Dutt would mean finding five other actors of comparable stature. With no producer on board, Dutt suggested that they join hands and launch their own production company.
This eventually led to the formation of White Feather Films, which was initially called Our Kind of Films.
Was Kaante Inspired By Reservoir Dogs? Sanjay Gupta Explains Its Origins
One of the biggest talking points surrounding Kaante has been its resemblance to Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs. Both films revolve around a group of criminals and a heist that takes an unexpected turn. However, Gupta has repeatedly disputed the idea that his film was simply a remake.
The shift in the film's setting came after Los Angeles-based producer Raju Patel expressed an interest in making a Hindi film in the US. Gupta then began exploring the possibility of placing his characters in Los Angeles instead of Mumbai.
He explained that The Usual Suspects also influenced his thinking, particularly its premise of strangers coming together in a lock-up. Ringo Lam's City on Fire was another reference point, while Gupta also mentioned Vinod Khanna's Gaddaar as a film with a similar storyline.
Addressing the comparisons with Reservoir Dogs, he said, "The whole world thinks Kaante is Reservoir Dogs, no it isn't. there are a few similarities in the second half of the film but the genesis of Kaante was the Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri & Sons Jewellers robbery case, which was later made into the film Special 26. Till today that's unsolved."
Gupta also pointed out a structural difference between the two films, explaining that the warehouse sequence in Kaante begins much later in the narrative, unlike Reservoir Dogs, which opens with the characters already inside the warehouse.
He further revealed that Tarantino had appreciated Kaante and the backstory Gupta had shared about its making.
Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt And Suniel Shetty Agreed To Waive Their Fees
Getting the cast together was surprisingly not a difficult task for Gupta. According to him, everyone came on board during the first narration, although one of his initial casting choices did not work out.
The filmmaker had originally approached Akshaye Khanna for the role eventually played by Lucky Ali. However, after multiple narrations, Khanna remained unconvinced about whether his character was a hero or a villain.
Gupta subsequently considered Lucky Ali for the part. He was already interacting with the singer-actor in connection with the film's music, and the casting suggestion received an immediate response from Sanjay Dutt. Ali agreed to come on board.
Amitabh Bachchan's casting also happened rather unexpectedly. Gupta recalled that Dutt called the veteran actor, who appeared to have agreed to the film even before a detailed narration.
However, one of the most significant moments during the making of Kaante came when the production ran into financial trouble in Los Angeles.
On the fourth day of filming, the shoot had to be stopped after union members intervened because the team was attempting to work outside the union system. The resulting complications pushed the budget up, leaving the makers uncertain about how to proceed.
It was then that the actors stepped in to help keep the project alive. Gupta revealed that five of the six principal actors, except Kumar Gaurav, gave up their remuneration.
Recalling the gesture, he said, "It was Mr Bachchan who came forward and said, 'I don't want any money, but let's make the film happen.' Then Sanjay and Suniel said no, and theirs was the big amount. Mahesh and Lucky's amount was lesser."
Kumar Gaurav's remuneration was handled separately by producer Raju Patel, who was also his brother-in-law. Gupta described the actors' decision to let go of their fees as unconditional support that helped the film overcome a major production hurdle.
Kaante Was Shot In 33 Days, But Its Post-Production Took Much Longer
Despite the challenges, Kaante was completed on an unusually quick shooting schedule. The entire film was shot in Los Angeles in just 33 days, making it Gupta's fastest production.
The post-production, however, took considerably longer. The filmmaker described the project as his most eventful filmmaking experience, with several incidents making the shoot particularly memorable.
One such incident was the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. The team had begun shooting in the first week of September 2001, and Gupta was driving to the location on September 11 when he heard about the first aircraft hitting one of the World Trade Centre towers.
By the time he reached the set, the crew watched the second plane crash into the other tower on a small television. The shoot was immediately halted, and the production faced further difficulties as several locations became unavailable.
The situation was particularly worrying for the team because Gupta's first assistant director had a brother who was inside one of the buildings.
The production eventually resumed after a difficult four-day break.
Amitabh Bachchan Had One Condition About The Film's Abusive Dialogues
Another interesting aspect of Kaante was its language. The film featured several characters who frequently exchanged abuses, which became an important part of its gritty atmosphere.
Gupta recalled that Bachchan had initially made it clear that he was not comfortable using abusive language on screen. The actor, however, had no objection to the other characters doing so.
Remembering their conversation, Gupta said, "Once, Mr Bachchan took me aside and said, 'Sanjay I won't abuse, that's one thing I've never done, so I won't do it. If someone else is abusing, then I've no problem'."
Gupta agreed to the condition. However, Bachchan eventually delivered one of the film's memorable lines containing an expletive.
The filmmaker also recalled the exchange between Sanjay Dutt and Bachchan's characters, which included the dialogue, "Major saara din tu bhokegaa ya katega bhi".
The scene was among the portions that invited comparisons with Reservoir Dogs, particularly because of the latter film's famous dialogue about barking and biting.
Sanjay Gupta Missed Kaante's Success After A Near-Fatal Accident
While Kaante went on to become one of the biggest successes of Gupta's career, the filmmaker could not fully experience the excitement surrounding its release.
The film arrived in theatres on December 20, 2002. Just seven days later, on December 27, Gupta met with a serious accident while returning from Khandala. His driver crashed the car, leaving the filmmaker critically injured.
Gupta was admitted to the intensive care unit, where he remained for 11 weeks. The accident happened at a time when the film was generating considerable attention, meaning he missed much of the celebrations and activity surrounding its release.
Looking back at the experience, Gupta described it as one of the biggest ironies of his life. A film that had taken him through years of frustration, an eventful shoot and a challenging production had finally reached audiences, but he was fighting for his life when its success unfolded.
Today, Kaante remains one of the defining films of Gupta's career. What began as an idea during a difficult professional phase eventually brought together some of Hindi cinema's biggest names and developed into a cult crime drama.