Mumbai Saga Director Sanjay Gupta: Nobody Was Ready to Work With Me After My Fallout With Sanjay Dutt
Gupta said he now keeps his professional and personal life separate. "With Sanju, the lines blurred. After we patched up, we haven't worked together.
Director Sanjay Gupta says his 25-year-long career is full f industry," he said.
Things changed the day his son was born and he reflected on what he had turned into. "I was holding him in my arms, and I thought, 'What am I going to leave for him'? 'Since when have I become a quitter'? I started at the age of 15, made my first film at the age of 22, now why was I ready to quit at 40 "Ekta Kapoor and I had spoken about a sequel of 'Shootout'. So I picked up the phone and told her, 'I'm ready' and that's it. Later, I met John Abraham and Anil Kapoor and they said yes. But they were also told not to work with me." Sanjay Gupta: Mumbai Saga is by far my most ambitious film
The director credits Kapoor for supporting him at a time when only some were willing to have his back. "Anil had given a statement saying 'if Sanju directly tells me, don't work with Gupta, I won't. But he will have to give me a reason about why I shouldn't'. That was very gracious of Anil to make that statement in my support." Post his comeback with "Shootout at Wadala", the director helmed Aishwarya Rai-starrer Jazbaa, then Kaabil and is now gearing up for his next, Mumbai Saga. Mumbai Saga: Sanjay Gupta Reveals Super Star Cast of His Upcoming Gangster Drama
Gupta said he learnt the hard way that there are no friendships in Bollywood. The director recalled filming his 1997 romantic-drama Hameshaa featuring Saif Ali Khan and Kajol, where he bonded with the actor, even standing up for him when there was a crisis in his life. "Then the film came and bombed. Somewhere we lost contact. Saif was asked in an interview about our friendship. He said, 'No, those are friendships that last through a film, then you go different ways.' It hurt me tremendously.
"I wasn't looking at him as a friend only for the film. It was a life lesson that everyone is friendly if you're friendly but at the end of the day, it just works. In this business, if you don't work with the person you're friendly towards and work with someone else that person gets offended." Gupta said he now keeps his professional and personal life separate. "With Sanju, the lines blurred. After we patched up, we haven't worked together.
We never worked friends or got along because we were working, so it's totally cool. "But I've realised that you don't have to make everyone your best friend. I trust people easily, open up quickly. But I've learnt to balance."