Did you know Amitabh Bachchan refused to abuse on screen during Kaante shoot?

Twenty years ago, director Sanjay Gupta pulled a casting coup when he brought together Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav for the action-thriller Kaante. The film was a resounding success on its release and on Tuesday, it clocked in on two decades and on this special occasion, the filmmaker revisited some memories from during the shoot of the film, including revealing some secrets.

While talking to Indian Express, Gupta shared the only condition that Amitabh Bachchan stated to him while filming. He informed, “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’. I was fine with it and thought it was extremely gracious of him. Phir bhi unke muh se nikal he gaya dialogue, ‘Agar mujhe pata hota tum sab itne bade c*** ho toh main kabhi ha bolta he nahi’ (laughs). But he was very, very nice and supportive.”

He also opened up about the casting process, and when the film faced budgetary issues, how the actors came forward to let go of their fees. Gupta shared, “Mr Bachchan came on board over a phone call from Sanju. I think he decided to do the film even before I narrated it, because Sanju was a producer on the film. A very lesser-known fact is that all five of them, barring Kumar Gaurav, let go of their remuneration. On the fourth day of our shoot in Los Angeles, we had to shut down because the union guys came—and we were trying to go the non-union way. Suddenly the budgets escalated, and we didn’t know what to do. 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 brother-in-law (Raju Patel) was one of the producers (along with Gupta and Pritish Nandy) so he said he’ll pay him and that was fine by me. All these actors did that unconditionally. Can you name an actor who’ll do that today?”

Kaante is still considered a cult-classic and the film, set in Los Angeles, followed six Indian men who are detained without evidence by the police. Feeling wronged and vengeful, they team up to plot a bank heist. However, when things go out of hand, they start suspecting each other’s identities, resulting in violence and chaos. It also featured Rati Agnihotri, Malaika Arora and Gulshan Grover.

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