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Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta recalled how he found himself in Amitabh Bachchan’s study, narrating the film Kaante to him. He said that his heart was in his chest when Bachchan didn’t react to his narration, and stared at him for half a minute. It was only when Sanjay asked him what he thought that the actor responded. By then, Sanjay had already panicked. On his way out, he said, he looked at one of the many photos of Bachchan on the wall, and thought, “Dekh lunga, tu aa set pe (I’ll see you on set).” Kaante was said to have been inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, but the filmmaker swore that he hasn’t even watched the film.
In an interview with Cyrus Broacha, he said that he initially approached his old friend Sanjay Dutt to ‘present’ the film, but the actor was so pleased with the story that he wanted to star in it. It was Dutt who suggested that they should approach Amitabh Bachchan for a role, and he made the call and arranged a meeting between Sanjay and the star. “My story with Mr Bachchan is really funny. I go to narrate to Mr Bachchan. I’m sure if he’s hearing this, he knows he’s done this on purpose. From the ground floor, when you walk in, to the time when you open the door and enter his office, the entire place is full of pictures of Mr Bachchan from his heyday. When you’re walking, you feel little. It’s completely intimidating.”
Sanjay entered the office, and while he waited for Bachchan to come, he checked out the audio system that the actor had installed. He also noticed a mug full of around 20 Mont Blanc pens. He said that he began his narration, but felt after a few minutes that the energy was lacking. He asked Bachchan’s permission to curse in his narration, and Bachchan readily agreed. “In my mind, I swear to God, there was just one thought. I thought some day, I’ll tell my grandchildren ke maine Amitabh Bachchan ko subject sunaya tha boss. I said, ‘F**t it, this is your one chance; give it all you’ve got’. The thing about Mr Bachchan is, there’s no reaction. His mouth is slightly open, and he’s staring. I don’t even think he blinks,” Sanjay said, adding that the 20 seconds after he’d completed his narration were the worst of his life.
He said that Bachchan remained silent until he asked whether he liked the story or not. Bachchan said he did, and Sanjay thought, “Boss, bol deta na yaar (You could’ve just said it).” Walking down the same staircase, he looked at Bachchan’s photos again, and thought, “Dukh lunga, tu aa set pe (Wait till you come on set).”
In an earlier interview with Friday Talkies, filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia also spoke about climbing up three floors to Bachchan’s office, and described it as a psychological tactic that the actor would deploy. He said that the lift would always be out of order, but he once saw Bachchan himself use it. “I said, ‘Sir, I thought the lift was broken?’ He said, ‘The thing is Apu, when a person is coming to offer me a film, I like them to walk up and see who they’re going to meet. Let them see Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, all these people I’ve worked with. And by the time they go up, money is of no importance’,” the filmmaker recalled.
In the same interview, he described a similar tactic used by Abhishek Bachchan. “He is very interesting. When you go there at first, you get water. A week later, if he calls you again, you get offered a cappuccino. By then, you know you are progressing, and by the fourth or fifth meeting, you are offered dry fruits. This gives you a green light. And when he starts to offer you sandwiches and all, you know that we will shoot now,” he said.
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