Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who died unexpectedly on October 31, was remembered in Mumbai on November 3 at a prayer meet that mixed grief with music, laughter and long friendships. His wife Anu, son Shivaansh and daughter Dalai were present as the film fraternity arrived to pay its respects.
A devotional set opened the evening before industry colleagues took the stage. The turnout showed the director’s reach: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Manoj Bajpayee, Tabu, Jackie Shroff, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Vivek Oberoi, Dino Morea, Tusshar Kapoor, Anu Malik, Bhushan Kumar and several others attended.
Rohit Roy’s 30-year arc opens the tributes
Rohit Roy, visibly moved, noted that he had hosted Gupta’s press conference 30 years ago and was now hosting his prayer meet. He said people were not present out of obligation but because the filmmaker had, in his words, touched all our lives. Vipin Aneja then sang Jaane Tere Shehar from Gupta’s 2015 film Jazbaa.
Ritu, a friend since Gupta’s teens, remembered his modest beginnings and outsized warmth. She said his heart was always gigantic even when his home was small, and that for years he focused his financial planning on one goal: making sure his family would be looked after.
Kaante, Zinda and a filmi goodbye
Anand Raj Anand sang Dil Kya Kare and Yaar Mangiyasi from Kaante; the latter did not make the final cut of the 2002 film and, he said, was a Gupta favourite. Writer Milap Zaveri, who got his break on Kaante, called him Guru ji and delivered the tribute that resonated most: ‘Yeh Zinda hain, hum sab ke dil mein’ — a nod to Gupta’s 2006 film Zinda.
Shivaansh Gupta called his father his best friend and recalled an exchange: when he asked how he could top the life his father had given him, Sanjay Gupta answered, ‘I came from zero and made 1000,’ and said it was now his son’s job to make a million. Dalai was too emotional to speak; Anu read her message, in which she promised to open the restaurant her father had named Café Dalai.
Shah Rukh Khan arrived quietly as the condolence queue formed, asked if he could meet Anu first, then embraced her, Shivaansh and Dalai.
Why it matters
Sanjay Gupta’s filmography gave fans a distinctive brand of Bollywood: multi-starrer crime dramas, moody visuals and memorable music. For many readers, this is less the loss of one director than the end of a particular era of films.
The best way to remember him is to revisit the work:
- Kaante (2002) — the ensemble crime saga that started friendships and careers; its deleted track is now part of the farewell.
- Zinda (2006) — the title echoed in Milap Zaveri’s tribute, and a marker of Gupta’s darker, stylised phase.
- Jazbaa (2015) — the film whose song Jaane Tere Shehar was performed at the prayer meet.
The gathering was less an obituary than a reminder that Gupta’s films, friendships and rhythms remain present in the industry he loved.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com