Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, known for bringing crime dramas and stylised action stories to Hindi cinema, has died at the age of 57. His films ‘Kaante’, ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ and ‘Kaabil’ remain part of his legacy. One of his most talked-about films, ‘Kaante’, also earned a surprising fan in Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino, who made ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and liked one particular sequence.
Why Quentin Tarantino liked ‘Kaante’
Released in 2002, ‘Kaante’ starred Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav. The story follows six Indian men in Los Angeles who plan a bank robbery after trouble with the police.Many compared the film with Tarantino’s 1992 thriller ‘Reservoir Dogs’, and Gupta was accused of copying it. Tarantino, however, reacted warmly. Speaking at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, as reported by The Times of India in 2007, he said, “I think it was fabulous. Of the many rip-offs (of Reservoir Dogs), I loved Hong Kong’s ‘Too Many Ways To Be No.1’ and this one, ‘Kaante’.”
Praise for the character backstories
Quentin Tarantino was impressed by how Sanjay Gupta explored each character’s past before bringing everyone together in the warehouse. “Here I am, watching a film that I’ve directed, and then it goes into each character’s background. And I’m like, ‘Whoa’,” he said.He explained that he usually writes detailed backgrounds for his own characters, but these are often cut during editing.
The warehouse scene
Speaking about the warehouse sequence, Tarantino added, “I felt this isn’t Reservoir Dogs. But then it goes into the warehouse scene, and I am like, ‘Wow, it’s back to Reservoir Dogs.’ Isn’t it amazing!”What made the climax memorableThe warehouse scene is crucial to the film’s ending. After the robbery goes wrong, the six men begin to suspect that one of them has betrayed the group. Their doubts settle on Maqbool ‘Mak’ Haider, played by Lucky Ali, whose real identity as an undercover LAPD officer is revealed.The confrontation turns into a Mexican standoff, with the remaining members aiming guns at each other. As tension rises, Andy, played by Kumar Gaurav, escapes with the stolen money, while the others are caught in a deadly exchange of gunfire.
Sanjay Gupta on the comparisons
Sanjay Gupta had a complicated relationship with the comparisons. He faced repeated charges of copying Quentin Tarantino but disagreed that ‘Kaante’ was simply a remake.In an interview with Cyrus Broacha, Sanjay Gupta claimed he had never watched ‘Reservoir Dogs’ in full, as he found it boring after the first 10 or 15 minutes. He argued that ‘Kaante’ had a much bigger story, mainly because of the individual backgrounds of its characters.Sanjay Gupta also recalled that Quentin Tarantino had publicly said he preferred the way ‘Kaante’ developed its characters.
