New Delhi: Bollywood’s old hand Amitabh Bachchan is renowned for his iconic voice & speaking style. Over the years, the actor’s distinctive baritone low-pitched voice not only mesmerized his fans but also enhanced his character’s personality in numerous movies.
However, the same soothing voice of Big B once became a headache for Sanjay Gupta who was working with Amitabh for his 2002 action thriller Kaante. Speaking about the same in a recent interview, the acclaimed director recently narrated some shocking stories from the sets of the Kaante movie which was also the Bhoot Nath actor’s first movie that was shot in sync-sound.
When Sanjay Gupta told Amitabh to speak softly
Remembering an instance from Kaante’s shoot, Sanjay, in a conversation with Siddharth Kannan that as his film is sync-sound, all the actors were required to be in their natural space. He said, “Kaante was sync-sound, and everybody had to be in their natural space. And I don’t think Amit ji had ever done anything in sync-sound before that.”
The director later recalled how all the actors, save for Amitabh, were instructed to speak in their natural way during the rehearsal of a particular scene. However, following the rehearsal, he and Sanjay Dutt realized that one would have to go to Amitabh Bachchan and tell him to speak in a softer voice.
Speaking about the same, Sanjay added, “When the rehearsal happened, me and Sanju exchanged looks and I was thinking, now who bells the cat?”Gupta further said that eventually, it was he who sat down with the Big B and gently requested the veteran actor to speak in a more natural voice.
“I remember I sat down with him. I said ‘Sir, I just wanted to tell you something. I just heard the recording…’ I hadn’t listened to anything by then. I told him that his voice was getting distorted, so he had to because the rest of them were speaking softly. He asked ‘You want me to take it softer?’ I said ‘Yes, more natural’. He gave me that look ‘What do you mean natural?’ But after that, everything was a piece of cake,” Gupta narrated
Later in the interview, Sanjay also revealed that he initially wanted to feature young & newcomers in the film Kante but Sanjay Dutt suggested he make the movie on a bigger scale.
More about Kaante
Kaante, directed by Sanjay Gupta, featured an ensemble cast of several seasoned actors including Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Amitabh Bachchan, and Lucky Ali. It was released on the big screens under the banner of PNC Films on 20 December 2002. The movie emerged as a massive hit at the Box Office, amassing an impressive sum of Rs 164 crore by the end of its theatrical run.
