Mar 01, 2026 9:00am IST
Sanjay Gupta on Bollywood Not Making Gangster Dramas Anymore: ‘The Genre Has a Limited Audience, Does Well Only in Maharashtra’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Among the money-spinner genres in Bollywood that include romance, comedy and action, it’s gangster dramas that hold a special place for cine buffs. Right from “Satya” and “Company” to “Aatish” and “Shootout” series (“Shootout At Wadala” and “Shootout At Lokhandwala”), these movies based on the lives and incidents of underworld and gangsters have mostly gone on to attain somewhat of a cult status among audiences. And one filmmaker who owns this genre is Sanjay Gupta, who has directed movies like “Aatish,” “Kaante,” “Kaabil,” “Shootout at Wadala,” “Jazbaa,” “Zinda” and “Mumbai Saga.”
In an exclusive interview with Variety India, the filmmaker speaks at length about the saturation of the gangster-drama genre, the sequel to “Kaabil” and the usage of A.I. in films.
Edited excerpts from the interview…
Why is Bollywood not making gangster dramas anymore?
What happens is that after a point, there is only so much you can do. Most of the stories start looking or sounding the same. I mean, that is why between the two ‘Shootouts’ (Lokhandwala and Wadala), there was a seven-year gap. And now it's almost been 12 years since the second ‘Shootout,’ and there's no third ‘Shootout’ because there's also a saturation that people reach with gangster dramas. You see, ultimately, our business, I mean, movies are a business, it's about profits and money. And this genre by itself does well only in Maharashtra and maybe some of the metro cities.
The best of movies like ‘Company,’ ‘Satya,’ or ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala,’ ‘Shootout at Wadala.’ Actually, the shootouts were the most successful box-office-wise. But I mean, these movies have a very limited audience. Most of them are adults; you don't get kids, you don't get families. So, you're catering to a niche male audience from 20 to 35 that enjoys this.
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Would you like to remake any of your past films?
Why would I want to go back and remake one of my films? All my films are available on all the major platforms to watch. And I've just been fortunate that my films have aged very well. They don't look dated even now.
The buzz on social media is that you are doing “Kaabil 2”. What’s the status of that film?
I just want to tell you that as a director and a writer, I'm fully ready. The minute I get a green signal from the Roshans, we're good to go. I have the script for ‘Kaabil 2’ and when they feel it is the right time, we'll make it. And like I even tweeted that this time it is far deadlier than the first part, which is what should be in any case. When you make a sequel to a film, it has to be better than the first. Otherwise, why make it?
You loved “Dhurandhar” as we saw from your post on ‘X’ and you have high hopes from the sequel.
I really enjoyed the first part. And the thing is that I'm a filmmaker myself, and I know that I have a lot of followers who wait for my recommendations. But the one thing I never do is if I don't like something, I never mention it. Because see, everybody works hard for their film or for their show. So, if I didn't like it, I didn't like it. I should just shut up and mind my own business. But if I like something, then I like to share it. And with ‘Dhurandhar 2,’ I have a vague idea of where the story is going to go and all of that. We're going to have Hamza's (Ranveer Singh’s character) backstory, why he became who he is and all of that. See, 'Dhurandhar' is a phenomenon. It's something that I won't call a film, it's a phenomenon, it's happened.
What’s your take on the epic box-office battle between ‘Dhurandhar 2’ and ‘Toxic’?
I will watch both the films, but unfortunately, both are coming together, because they're so highly awaited. And they will just eat into each other's business
It's like when my movie ‘Kaabil’ released with ‘Raees.’ Both films would have benefited had they been released individually and not clashed. Because we have to take into account that we are not a super-rich country and our people don't have money flowing that they can just go and watch two films back-to-back. There are many people who can't watch two films in one month. It's unnecessary, but again, the makers probably have their reasons. Both films will do well, but neither will accomplish their individual capacity. So, it's unfortunate.
With films like “Pushpa 2,” “Chhaava” and “Dhurandhar” performing phenomenally well at the box office, do you think that violence has become a USP for a film to work well?
It is not violence that has worked; it is action. Whether there is ‘RRR’ or ‘Baahubali,’ ‘Jawan,’ ‘Pathaan’ and ‘War,’ with all these films, what has happened is that the spectacle is working. People are getting to watch great stories in their living rooms, thanks to OTT. But in the cinema on the big screen, they want to see something you enjoy on the big screen. That is why these films are working, not because of the violence. It's working because of the action and the spectacle. When you do an action scene, there are special angles, there is great music and a lot of hard work goes into the sound design.
So, you enjoy that also. And all our theaters are equipped with Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos. And that's the reason why the fastest-growing theater chain is IMAX. You're enjoying the big-screen experience. So, that has become very important. Now going forward, when you're creating content for the large screens, when you're making films, then there has to be something that you only enjoy in the theater. And that's how you get people back into the theaters.
How big will A.I.’s impact on filmmaking be?
You will be delusional to ignore A.I. As a matter of fact, look at what we witnessed last week because of the Seedance 2.0 software developed to create A.I., and it's from China. And that country does not believe in copyright. So, you can have a John Wick fighting an Ethan Hawke, and all of that.”
Look at how real it's getting. Earlier, A.I. was restricted to five seconds. Now it's come to 10 minutes, it will soon be two-hour movies. It's just a matter of time. So, everything as we know it is going to change. It's going to become more and more difficult to even tell if it’s an A.I. shot, like recently I saw a shot online, which was Walter White from ‘Breaking Bad’ sitting with Donald Trump. And it is so authentic, I tweeted it, I said, ‘How the hell will we know now?’
What’s next for Sanjay Gupta?
We will, very shortly, be announcing my next film. And in just a couple of months, it's going on the floors. So, we're ready with the script and we're ready with everything else. We are currently in the casting process.
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