Sanjay Gupta is a talented director, who the industry forgot for some reason. He has got the nod from Quentin Tarantino. The Hollywood director, who most industrywallahs think of as God, has gone on record to say that Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante was better than his original (it’s on youtube.com). Gupta has proved his mettle again with Shootout At Wadala. His phone has started ringing. Every actor in the top league wants to work with him now. You can’t keep a talented man down. There is speculation about which actor will be in his next film. In a candid interview with dna, the filmmaker talks about his next film, patching-up with his SAW leading lady Kangana Ranaut, never working with Vivek Oberoi, his promise to his old buddy Sanjay Dutt and his new dost John Abraham. Read on... So sequel of SAW in the making?For now, I am reviving Alibaug as I want to release it this year. There was just a pre-climax scene left to shoot with Sanju (Sanjay Dutt). When he said he didn’t want to shoot anymore, I sat with my writers, re-worked it and completed the shot. Ironically it’s a film about friendships. Now I will complete the film with the rest of the cast. Alibag was made with a bunch of my very close friends — Sanjay Suri, Parveen Dabbas, Rohit Roy, Sudhanshu and Sameer Soni. And the girls Sophie Choudry, Masumeh, Shabana (Manoj Bajpai’s wife), Manasi Joshi Roy and Dia Mirza. It’s my duty to complete the film and release it this year. I owe it to them and they have really worked hard on it.Why didn’t you release Alibaug earlier?After Sanju said he didn’t want to complete Alibaug, we replaced him with Irrfan Khan. We shot one schedule and then Eros went completely silent for three years. Last year they suddenly woke up and wanted to see the film. then again they went silent. Now they saw the film and thank God it’s not looking dated. I am glad Eros is back on the project. Now I have taken out three months to complete Alibaug and give it to them.How did you patch up with Sanjay Dutt?We bumped into each other accidentally at Amitji’s (Amitabh Bachchan) birthday party last year. I was chatting with John when suddenly I hear this huge roar from behind ‘Gups’ and I was stunned! He just walked up to me and hugged me. For two minutes I was numb — I didn’t know what to do! We were meeting after five years. I was so hurt after what happened. When people would ask me what would I do if I ever bumped into him, I would say ‘I will see through him.’ I can’t be nice on the face and b*&^% behind the back. But when he hugged me, I automatically hugged him back and we both started crying. He called the next morning and said, “come home.” I told him ‘Sanju, we will be there for each other and our families but two things I am not going to do — I will not drink with you and I will not work with you not now. It’s too early to go and sit on each other’s lap — too much has happened in between.’ And he told me he respected that. But ultimately of course we will work together. Before he left for jail he told me to write him lots of letters as I used to earlier. They would have lots of information about what’s happening in Bollywood and Sanju would love reading that.Did you meet him before he left for jail?No. I can’t step into his home even now. It’s still too early... The memories are too fresh. I did meet him two days before the judgement came. He had come home for dinner and being the Santa Claus he is, he had come with a car full of gifts for my babies. We sat, talked and even discussed a film. I am contractually bound not to reveal the name but it’s a Hollywood film and we will be reviving only three characters from Kaante — Sanju, Mr Bachchan and Mahesh Manjrekar and it deals with aging gangsters. Sanju’s last message the night before he surrendered was ‘Gups as soon as I am out we need to make this film.’ I had told him earlier that this film was his and I will not make it without him. I was to start that now after SAW but then his sentence was passed. The industry may have given up on Sanju as a solo hero because of his recent body of work. He’s gone and done some crap films which he shouldn’t have done but it’s just a matter of one film and we will do it once he comes back.There was some problem with Kangana post SAW. Now have you both patched up?I know that Balaji marketing team was chasing her for dates but she was busy travelling. She felt we didn’t promote her. How can I not? For the first time in my entire career I have had a strong female character. Kangana totally surrendered herself to me and trusted me. But two things happened — we couldn’t get her time for the photo shoot and then the Priyanka’s song Babli Badmash was all over. PC is a big star and we paid her a big amount so the noise was made. That somehow did not go down too well with Kangana. Somewhere she felt hurt and she’s a very emotional person. The good thing is when Kangana is hurt she won’t even smile at you but completely withdraw. When I was having my success party and I invited her, she was the first one to come. She felt sidelined. But at the first trial when I called her, she came and later sent a message saying I was absolutely true to what I had told her. I told her she could have picked up the phone two months ago and spoken about it. But bachchi hai and she was hurt. I had promised her that I would make it up to her so now in my next Shootout Kangana will have a full-fledged role        Tell us about your next with John.It is a small Australian film where we have bought the rights to, but I am making it on a much bigger scale on the lines of a Django meets Rambo. It’s an epic action-revenge saga, which I am doing with John. I want John’s character to be bigger than Manya Surve. There are two more heroes yet to be finalised and the film will be be set in Rajasthan. plays a low-caste guy from the heartland of Rajasthan. He will be completely tanned, with kohl in his eyes and earrings in his ears — like how Sunil Dutt was in Mujhe Jeene Do. We are geting into that space. It’s film in the Rajasthan heartland about a man (John) who was wronged and comes back for revenge. Like Django and Kill Bill. Something very brutal has happened and he’s been incarcenerated and he comes back to take revenge.Are you approaching other actors?Yes, I would now. Today I can probably go to a Salman or Shah Rukh because three years back having no SAW I would have been the loser walking up to to them. I have proved my credentials. Having said that, there is a very strong bond between John and Anil, and the fact that they also have been with me, so I’m not rocking that boat. I didn’t have money. I made this film on a shoestring budget. They all have come in with big pay cuts and stood by me. It’s my moral responsibility to not to let them down. I would want John and my pair to be known like the Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty jodi. A bankable team but for that I have to deliver four more solid hits with him, and I will. That’s the kind of person I have been all my life — stuck to one person and gone with it. John is my kind of hero and with the kind of films I make we are a perfect match. But today a Rohit is also working with a Shah Rukh, and so I would also want to work with the other guys.Why did Vivek Oberoi walk out of SAW?Vivek (Oberoi) behaved like an idiot. He sat in my house, loved the script, hugged me and my wife, and sent me a message saying that he would play this character (played by Sonu Sood later) from the deepest and darkest parts of his soul and all that crap. His secretary was sitting in my office discussing money and dates, and Vivek is not even taking my calls! Then I smelled a rat. I knew something was wrong. He later told common friends that he was given an ultimatum  from Sanju not to do his film. They promised him a film in return. I picked up the phone and told his secretary, ‘I may be down and out but I am a straight player. I will not work with you now — FO! And tell that spineless b___ to next time take my calls.’ I said now it’s over and asked them to send my script back. I spoke to Ekta and she said to drop him and move ahead. At that time Sonu stepped in .Did the other actors too get calls?Every actor in my SAW got calls from ‘Sanju’s people’, asking them out drop out of my film. But no call from Sanju ­— never! It was the trash around him and they were creating so much garbage, and today where are they? Forget down and out they are not even in the industry — they are out of the game! One Dharam Oberoi who was calling the whole world, using Sanju’s name saying Gupta ke saath kaam nahi karna. So there was one man who was creating so much of filth and at times it did get me down butmy point was to stand up and fight.  

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