Tuesday Feb 12 5:35 PM
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network
DUS KAHANIYAAN may not have done the kind of business it deserved but producer-director Sanjay Gupta is not lying low. Over the next few months, he has as many as four films - ALIBAUG, WOODSTOCK VILLA, THE GREAT INDIAN BUTTERFLY and PANKH - lined up for release which are expected to be brought to the big screen starting April.The biggest of these four projects is ALIBAUG, which is not just produced but also directed by Sanjay Gupta. Said to be based on filmmaker's own life, the film stars Sanjay Dutt, Rohit Roy, Manasi Joshi Roy, Madhavan, Mandira Bedi, Gul Panag. Sameer Soni, Sudhanshu Pandey, Sanjay Suri, Dia Mirza and Tisca Chopra.
WOODSTOCK VILLA is another Sanjay Gupta production, which is directed by Hansal Mehta (who also did the short story HIGH ON THE HIGHWAY in DUS KAHANIYAAN). The film marks the launch of Sikandar Kher, son of Anupam Kher and Kirron Kher. The film, which has taken some time to hit the marquee, has Neha Oberoi as the leading lady. Incidentally Neha Oberoi has already made her big screen debut in the short story LOVEDALE in DUS KAHANIYAAN where she was paired opposite Aftab Shivdasani.
Apart from hardcore commercial cinema, Sanjay Gupta is also entering the territory of offbeat cinema. THE GREAT INDIAN BUTTERFLY is one such film, which is ready for release. Starring Sandhya Mridul, Koel Puri and Aamir Bashir with Shibani Kashyap in a special appearance for an item song, the film is currently making the rounds of international film festivals and is waiting for an opportune time to hit the screens in India.
Another offbeat film produced by Sanjay Gupta is PANKH, which has Sudipto Chattopadhyaya making his debut as a director. Though the film boasts of Bipasha Basu as star power, PANKH carries a sensitive theme. It is about gender confusion in the life of a child actor who grows up thinking he's a girl. Bipasha plays a Bollywood actress whom the child adores. While Maradona Rebello plays the child protagonist in the film, others in the cast are Lilette Dubey, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ronit Roy, Daya Shanker Pandey, Kiran Karmarkar and Asha Sachdev.
With these four films coming one after another in a few months time, expect a Sanjay Gupta film festival being announced soon!