Dirty Rotten Scoundrel

Tan tana… goes the title song. Shahid Kapur is all adrenaline as he pumps his fist in the air. Priyanka Chopra is fetching in a simple cotton salwar kurta. Our very own Rajatava Dutta is a menacing presence with smouldering eyes. But if have paid close attention to the teaser trailors of Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminay, you couldn’t possibly have missed a burly man who exemplifies Mumbai’s underbelly with his greasy hair and unkempt beard. He is Amol Gupte and he means business. “I was called by Vishal’s casting director, Honey. With a name like that how could one take him seriously?” laughs Gupte. Gupte, is not exactly your regular actor, though he has been associated with the industry for more than 25 years. He is the man who scripted Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par and was supposed to direct the film before their famous fallout.

“I have admired Vishal’s work for a long time, so when I realised that the call wasn’t exactly a prank, I grabbed the opportunity,” he says. In the sets of the film, Gupte was happy to find a kind of camaraderie between actors that reminded him of his Mirch Masala days (he was an assistant to director Ketan Mehta for the film). “Shahid and Priyanka’s dedication to the project reminded me of Smita Patel and Naseeruddin Shah,” he says.

Vishal impressed Gupte with his control over his craft. “He is completely consumed by his vision and yet involves the actor in the process,” says Gupte.

Gupte’s next film will be about kids too. “But it would be unfair to call it another Taare Zameen Par,” Gupte says.

So is he seriously considering a career in acting? “I am busy with my script but I will be lying if I say that I am not excited about seeing myself on the screen,” he signs off.