Sanjay Dutt he received immense praise for his performance in SP Chaudhary Aslam Aditya DharDhurandhar and Dhurandhar 2 hit movies. The success of the franchise also gave the actor a big comeback at the box office after a series of underperforming films like Bhoomi, Kalank, Panipat and Shamshera. Now, the filmmaker Sanjay Gupta has spoken candidly about Dutt’s career, saying the actor’s talent was underutilized before Dhurandhar.In an appearance on the InControversial Podcast, Gupta reflected on Dutt’s journey and revealed that the two have been discussing future collaborations. “We are constantly in touch. We have been thinking about what to do next. My problem is that it has to come organically. If you see since 2007, we did Lokhandwala, and we released Wadala in 2014, but it took many years to do the story. So, similarly, now I’m seeing Sanju doing all that and he’s doing a great job, that can’t be denied,” he said.The filmmaker shared his thoughts on how Dutt has been portrayed in films over the years. “But before Dhurandhar, I feel like he’s been really wasted. The kind of films he’s made… filmmakers didn’t know how to present him. They didn’t know his strengths, and they didn’t take that time to learn. I didn’t have to learn; I grew up with him.”Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Gupta have previously collaborated in several popular films including Kaante, Musafir and Shootout at Lokhandwala. Talking about the sequel to the 2002 cult crime drama Kaante, Gupta revealed that work on the project has finally begun. “Even today when I see him, he still has a lot of potential and he can carry a film on his shoulders, but only if we give him that film. We were constantly going back and forth on this. We’ve also cracked a very basic level story for Kaante 2. That’s something I’m going to start writing now,” he shared.The filmmaker also explained that legal obstacles had previously delayed the sequel. “After Kaante, it was tied up in some legal binds, which has now been taken care of. So now that’s taken care of, I’m investing in creativity – to write the sequel. So let’s see where it goes,” he added.Gupta also revealed the cast he envisions for the sequel, if everything falls into place. “If you ask me for my wish list today, I would do Kaante with Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan and Manoj Bajpayee, and to this, add Jaideep AhlawatVijay Varma and Ali Fazal”.Over the years, Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Gupta have shared a close personal and professional bond, although reports once suggested that the couple faced financial problems in 2007. They reconciled around 2013 and since then have repeatedly expressed interest in working together again.
