If
at
all
the
adage
of
'seen
it
and
done
all'
was
ever
supposed
to
hold
good,
Sanjay
Gupta
would
certainly
be
a
forerunner.
In
a
decade
and
a
half
long
professional
journey,
the
man
may
have
directed
only
eight
films
starting
with
Aatish
(1994)
and
ending
with
Zinda
(2006).
However,
in
the
process
he
has
seen
friends
turning
foes,
his
very
own
spouse
being
lost
and
regained,
personal
relationships
turning
ugly,
super
success
followed
by
critical
acclaim,
a
long
period
of
being
ignored
by
his
very
own
film
fraternity
and
a
long
period
sabbatical
which
could
have
broken
anyone's
back.
Still,
the
man
has
managed
to
stay
afloat,
albeit
with
quite
some
trouble
at
every
juncture.
Sanjay,
while
you
are
smiling
today,
the
fact
is
known
that
things
weren't
quite
rosy
for
you
during
last
five
years
due
to
which
you
had
to
hold
on
before
starting
a
project.
Rumours
have
it
that
once
your
friendship
with
Sanjay
Dutt
came
to
a
close,
there
were
quite
a
few
challenges
that
you
had
to
face
from
within
the
industry.
(Says
after
a
pause)
There
have
been
a
lot
of
people
whom
I
had
known
for
20
years
and
considered
them
as
friends.
I
had
supported
them
in
the
worst
of
their
times.
However,
overnight
they
turned
once
my
problems
with
Dutt
emerged.
I
realised
that
these
people
were
nothing
but
star-struck
motherf$%^*rs
who
were
around
me
just
because
of
the
kind
of
exposure
it
gave
to
them.
In
a
way
all
of
this
was
a
nice
eye
opener.
I
am
glad
that
a
lot
of
crap
went
out
of
my
life.
Well,
there
were
some
actors
also
openly
refused
to
work
with
you
and
didn't
even
come
up
with
any
excuses.
Is
that
true?
Arrey
yaar,
there
was
a
'fatwa'
out
on
me,
as
simple
as
that.
Why
just
the
stars,
there
were
even
some
technicians
who
had
nothing
to
do
with
White
Feathers,
me
or
my
problems
with
Dutt.
Still,
they
went
against
me.
However,
all
of
this
is
now
a
thing
of
the
past.
Today
so
many
of
these
people
are
not
even
in
the
business.
I
have
been
in
the
industry
for
long
and
hence
understood
that
this
time
will
also
pass
by.
I
had
a
share
of
friends
whom
I
lost
but
theek
hai,
hota
hai.
You
just
mentioned
the
word
'fatwa'.
Was
it
really
that
bad
Sanjay?
There
have
been
so
many
actors
who
have
been
open
enough
to
admit
to
me
that
they
had
received
this
'fatwa'.
They
were
so
scared
about
the
forces
external
to
them
that
quite
a
few
of
them
actually
cut
off
all
ties
from
me.
However,
once
they
realised
that
all
of
this
was
sheer
bullshit,
they
did
come
around
later.
They
apologised
and
said
that
they
were
confused.
They
were
forced
to
take
sides
and
didn't
have
any
other
choice
because
not
doing
so
would
have
impacted
their
career.
Who
were
these
people?
(Laughs)
Jaane
de
naa
yaar,
sabko
pata
hai.
Kyon
unka
naam
loon.
They
came
back
with
the
right
earnest
and
intent
and
this
is
what
that
matters.
I
appreciate
that
they
had
balls
to
do
so.
As
has
been
known,
one
of
the
few
men
who
stayed
on
with
you
was
Manoj
Bajpai.
Though
he
has
worked
in
only
one
production
of
yours
(Acid
Factory),
he
was
a
pillar
of
support
despite
no
professional
compulsions.
Isn't
that
strange,
especially
in
an
industry
like
Bollywood?
The
whole
relationship
with
Manoj
is
based
on
honesty
and
sincerity.
As
you
correctly
mentioned,
from
professional
standpoint
hum
donon
ko
ek
doorse
se
kuch
bhi
lena
dena
nahi
hai.
However,
if
you
ask
me
about
my
4
am
friend
today,
I
would
say
that
it
is
Manoj.
Other
than
him,
most
of
the
cast
of
Acid
Factory
has
been
staying
besides
me
solidly
as
well
over
last
so
many
months.
Well,
that
is
quite
surprising
actually
considering
the
fact
that
the
film
was
a
disaster
at
the
box
office.
The
root
cause
of
Acid
Factory
meeting
such
an
ill
fate
is
a
couple
of
monkeys
who
were
sitting
in
Mumbai
Mantra,
the
company
which
had
acquired
the
film.
They
didn't
have
any
clue
about
distribution
or
timing
of
release.
When
I
kick
started
business
with
them,
I
thought
of
doing
so
because
it
was
an
Anand
Mahendra
company.
I
expected
sensible
people
there.
However,
once
I
realised
these
people
were
totally
incompetent
on
the
work
front,
I
shot
a
long
elaborate
mail
to
Mumbai
Mantra.
I
mentioned
in
bold
words
that
the
film
would
be
the
biggest
box
office
debacle
of
the
year.
Rarely
does
one
see
a
film
maker
being
so
confident
about
the
failure
of
his
film.
(Laughs)
No
idiot
releases
a
film
one
week
before
Diwali.
This
is
the
time
when
people
are
busy
shopping
and
taking
care
of
other
household
things.
Par
yeh
maharathi
log
sochte
they
that
just
because
we
were
getting
a
solo
release,
we
should
bring
on
Acid
Factory.
They
released
it
at
a
worst
possible
time
and
that
too
without
correct
promotion
and
marketing.
Flop
toh
honi
hi
thi.
Uske
baad
kya
hua?
Ultimately
these
people
were
fired
and
today
Mumbai
Mantra
has
shut
down.
For
them
it
didn't
make
any
difference
because
they
have
crores
at
their
disposal.
While
they
were
just
experimenting,
for
us
it
was
a
world
that
was
shattered.
I
am
sure
you
must
have
been
shattered.
I
was
so
disappointed
and
so
were
my
director
and
the
cast.
They
had
put
their
heart,
body
and
soul
in
it.
I
stand
by
the
movie.
It
was
kick
ass.
Even
critics
were
more
or
less
positive
about
the
film.
But
then
the
sad
part
was
that
even
my
own
close
relatives
were
not
aware
about
the
film
being
released.
They
used
to
ask
that
'Beta,
picture
kab
lag
rahi
hai' and
I
had
to
sheepishly
say
that
'woh
toh
aake
chali
gayi'.
Nothing
can
be
more
embarrassing
than
that.
Today,
I
actually
want
to
use
this
platform
to
apologise
to
my
team
that
I
let
them
down
by
signing
up
with
Mumbai
Mantra.
Sorry
guys,
I
was
helpless.