Not Amitabh Bachchan, but this National Award-winner actor was Sanjay Gupta original choice for Kaante, one call of 'Baba' changed film's fate

2002 is regarded as one of the worst years for Bollywood, where only a handful of films worked at the box office. In such a dull year, Sanjay Gupta's Kaante was among the few films that clicked among the audience. The ensemble crime thriller had the biggest names in Bollywood including, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Kumar Gaurav, Lucky Ali, Rati Agnihotri, and Malaika Arora. 

Did you know that the desi adaptation of Reservoir Dogs, Kaante was initially planned with newcomers? Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta recently revealed in a podcast that during the pre-production of Kaante, he initially thought to make the film with new actors and cast Naseeruddin Shah as Major in the film. 

Gupta recalled that he went to meet Sanjay Dutt, asking him to give his name in production as it would be easy for him to get funding and that would create buzz as well. The Munna Bhai actor asked him to narrate the concept, and after hearing the story, Dutt told Gupta that he would love to play Ajju. Gupta dismissed Dutt's suggestion stating that if he came on board as an actor, he wouldn't be able to make the film with newcomers. Hearing Gupta, Dutt advised why don't he make Kaante with A-listers and suggested Amitabh Bachchan for Major. Gupta laughed and thought that Amitabh would never accept the role. 

How Amitabh Bachchan came on board for Kaante

Sanjay Gupta revealed that after suggesting Bachchan's name, Dutt called the megastar and suggested that Gupta has a 'fabulous script', and he should hear him once. After Dutt's recommendation, Amitabh agreed to hear Kaante and asked Gupta to come to his home for narration. 

Gupta couldn't believe when Dutt confirmed that Amitabh would like to hear the script. On the day when Gupta reached Bachchan's home, he narrated the script, and the Don actor was listening to him without giving any expression. After the narration, Gupta asked Bachchan his views on the film, and the megastar replied, "It's good." After hearing Big B's reply, Gupta rushed out from home. Later, Dutt called Gupta and shared Bachchan's reaction, "Sanjay he loved it, let's do this." Kaante was released in cinemas on December 20, 2002, and it became a superhit at the box office.