Kaante

          Lucky Ali joins Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Kumar Gaurav and Mahesh Manjrekar in director Sanjay Gupta's Kaante . Gupta, who cast Ali in Kaante adapted from Reservoir Dogs -- Ali got the role after Akshaye Khanna insisted on changes in the script -- says Ali had already been hired to do some songs for the soundtrack. ``Sanjay Dutt and I were chatting with him at Mehboob Studios some months ago when I realised that he would be perfect for this particular role,'' Gupta recalls. ``I left the room, then buzzed Sanju (Dutt) on his mobile from outside and told him that I wanted to cast Lucky. And Sanju -- who is a producing partner on Kaante -- instantly embraced the idea.'' Ali, however, was initially hesitant to don the greasepaint. ``I think he was convinced much later, during our music sittings, when we were discussing the film and persuading him to give it a shot,'' recollects Gupta. At 35, not everybody is convinced that Lucky will make an ideal leading man but Gupta believes otherwise. ``He needs to be utilised in the correct way. You can't ask him to run around trees or dance at a disco set,'' Gupta insists. Having done a photo-session with Ali already, the director says he has a ``burning intensity in his eyes, and character on his face''. Ali was reportedly extremely comfortable in front of the camera. ``He was giving us some 200 different expressions. He is a natural,'' Gupta reveals. In the gang-bang action-thriller Kaante, Ali is keen to make a lasting impression because his is one of the pivotal parts. Gupta confesses he was a little concerned whether Ali would look convincing with a gun in hand, but he says his ``fears vanished when I saw him pose with the weapon.'' 6 perfect strangers. 1 perfect crime. Now, all they have to fear is each other... Three sentences summarise Sanjay Gupta's latest film -- KAANTE. In a world where loyalties are easily abandoned and allegiances bought, six perfect strangers come together to pull off the perfect crime. To get the job done, they must all do what they have never done before -- trust each other. But when their simple robbery explodes into a bloody ambush, the ruthless killers realise that one of them is a cop. But which one? Amitabh Bachchan plays Yashvardhan Rampal aka Major, Sanjay Dutt Jay Rehan aka Ajju Sunil, Shetty plays Marc Issak aka the bouncer, Kumar Gaurav is Anand Mathur aka Andy, Mahesh Manjrekar enacts the role of Raj Yadav aka Baali and Lucky Ali is Maqbool Haider aka Mak. Breaking the norm of music in Indian films, KAANTE will have not one but two music albums. One being the original soundtrack and the other, songs inspired by the motion picture. Defying convention, KAANTE will have as many as seven composers scoring the music. Again, the most impressive names -- Viju Shah, Lucky Ali, Shiamak Davar, Adnan Sami, Sulaiman and Salim Merchant and A.R. Rahman. The music of KAANTE has already been sold to Zee Records. Colour schemes are being worked out to give the film a unique and startling visual style. The principal characters' wardrobe, the sets, the locations will have shades of black, white and grey, to give the film a stark style. To further highlight this look, an innovative film development process called skip bleaching' is being used for the first time in an Indian film. The post-production and processing of the negative will be done in laboratories in Los Angeles, not in Mumbai or Chennai. But what sets KAANTE apart from other Hindi films is that the entire crew of this film will be from Hollywood, right from the cinematographer to the sound recordist to the stunt co-ordinators to the editors. Sanjay Gupta is currently finalising a complete Hollywood team of technicians, besides the supporting cast of Indian and Hollywood actors. "KAANTE is the first Indian project that is aimed at the international market in the true sense," Gupta tells us excitedly. To start with, the young director has already made two posters of the film, signifying the look of the film. That's not all, for Gupta has also made a 2-minute showreel (that cost him a cool Rs. 3 lacs!), with breath-taking visuals and sound effects, even before the film has actually gone on the floors. Sanjay Gupta has not only made a booklet for the film, he has also shot a promotional trailer even before the actual shooting has begun. Shooting will commence 20th August 2001 - 10th of October 2001. Sanjay Gupta will shoot the entire film in a single 50-day schedule in the US. beginning August this year. "It is for this reason that I've waited over a year," explains Gupta," We begin shooting on the 20th of Aug. 2001 in New York to shoot the exteriors from where we move to Chicago and then to L.A. to shoot the interiors on studio floors.We hope to complete the shoot by the 10th of Oct." Deals being negotiated withTwentieth Century Fox is showing a very keen interest in the film for worldwide exploitation.While negotiations are on with a couple of corporates (including a Hollywood production company) to co-produce the film, Sanjay Gupta has already concluded deals for music, overseas and all non-theatrical rights with Zee. The film has 2 versions, "This has been done as part of a strategy to give an idea to the Hollywood studios about the kind of project we are making," Gupta reveals. Yes, talks are already on with a leading studio (name withheld by the writer!) to give it an international release. So, KAANTE will be made in two versions -- one, for the regular Hindi market (the usual length of two-and-a-half hours!) and the second, for the international market (duration 110 minutes) with sub-titles. Both the versions will be released simultaneously across the globe."We were planning to dub the film in English initially, but have been told by the Hollywood studios that films with sub-titles have eight times more scope than dubbed ventures," Gupta divulges. But what exactly prompted Gupta to explore new horizons? "When Hong Kong can make a breakthrough in Hollywood with John Woo’s flicks, why not Indian cinema, which is much more popular?" Gupta retorts.

"KAANTE is almost a celebration of violence in which the heroes write themselves the license to drink, smoke and beat one another up. It's a film about these guys who see the world one way. Their way," .