No Dhamaal 2 without Sanjay Dutt

By: Subhash K. Jha, IndiaFM
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Producer Ashok Thakeria whose association with director Indra Kumar goes back 30 years, is incredibly kicked by the positive reviews for the duo"s new comedy, Dhamaal.

"More than the audience"s appreciation I'm stunned by the reviews. Everyone has given 3 stars. It"s quite an achievement for a boy"s comedy film; especially for us who made Masti."

Ashok admits Masti was off-colour and off-putting to family audiences. "I think we've made amends with Dhamaal. Wives are laughing louder than their husbands, although there are hardly any women in the film."

And now Indra Kumar and Ashok are all set to execute a sequel. "We had seen preview reactions and decided to make a sequel even before the release. Now we're going full-throttle ahead."

The script is being worked out. "But one thing is for sure, Dhamaal won't happen without Sanjay Dutt. In spite of his troubles he makes people fall of their chairs in Dhamaal. I don't know how he does it. I call him super-human. There's no question of Dhamaal 2 without Sanju."

Reverting to the topic of his enduring association with Indra Kumar; Thakeria says, "We were fast friends before we became business partners. Indu has made all his films barring Ishq for me. Quite an achievement, I agree, at a time when a brother is shooting down another brother for money; how have we done it? I don't know."

Ashok's relations with his ex-wife, Poonam Dhillon remain warm. "In fact she attended the Dhamaal premiere. Maybe that's why it clicked."