With Sanjay Gupta’s death this week, Kaante (2002) is back in focus as the breakout film fans are revisiting most. It remains the moment Bollywood took the shape of Reservoir Dogs and rebuilt it as a Hindi crime saga: six men, one bank, and a warehouse full of suspicion.
Tarantino called it his favourite inspired film
Dave Kehr of The New York Times called it “a delirious Bollywood reimagining of Reservoir Dogs, complete with musical numbers.” Quentin Tarantino cited Kaante as his favourite among the many films heavily inspired by his work, praising character-building that went beyond what he was able to do with Reservoir Dogs.
He put it plainly: “I felt, this isn’t Reservoir Dogs. But then it goes into the warehouse scene, and I am like, ‘Wow, it’s back to Reservoir Dogs’.”
The heist starts with a laptop truck
In Los Angeles, six Indian men with a criminal record are detained by police and interrogated about stealing a truck full of laptops. Their antipathy at being arrested without evidence becomes a daring plot. Sparked by Jay “Ajju” Trehan and seconded by Yashvardhan “Major” Rampal, the group plans to rob the American Services Bank, which holds funding for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Amitabh Bachchan led the ensemble
The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Lucky Ali, Mahesh Manjrekar, Kumar Gaurav, Namrata Singh Gujral, Rati Agnihotri, Rohit Roy, Isha Koppikar and Malaika Arora. Derek Elley of Variety noted that Gupta directed it primarily as a character piece, with Bachchan, Dutt and semi-comic relief Manjrekar driving the drama.
The first cast list was very different
Kaante was initially set to star Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Kumar Gaurav, Akshaye Khanna, Shilpa Shetty and Lisa Ray. Akshaye Khanna opted out and was replaced by Lucky Ali; Malaika Arora stepped into Lisa Ray’s shoes; Namrata Singh Gujral was cast opposite Kumar Gaurav in lieu of Shilpa Shetty. Sunny Deol was offered Kumar Gaurav’s role at one point.
Isha Koppikar’s part became one song
Isha Koppikar was signed for a full-fledged role opposite Sanjay Dutt. Because of length concerns, it was relegated to just the song “Ishq Samandar.” Rohit Roy also makes an appearance in the song.
The music was a shared assignment
Songs were mainly composed by Anand Raj Anand, while Vishal–Shekhar and Lucky Ali served as guest composers. Lyrics were penned by Dev Kohli and Vishal Dadlani.
Bollywood’s first fully Los Angeles shoot
Kaante was the first Bollywood film to be completely shot in Los Angeles. The production team used Hollywood technicians, and filming was completed in 35 days. Namrata Singh Gujral was the only role cast in Hollywood from the principal cast; all other principals, including Amitabh Bachchan, were flown in from Mumbai for the shoot.
Critics split, legacy stayed
On Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 6 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. Taran Adarsh gave the film three and a half stars and called it progressive cinema that breaks the shackles of stereotype, while Prem Panicker argued that a more taut script and ruthless editing could have pulled off the heist. Tarantino’s praise became the lasting fan trophy.
Which Kaante backstory or casting what-if is the one you always return to?
Facts from Wikipedia: Kaante, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.