Sanjay Dutt hires yacht for friends while shooting 'Blue'

Mumbai, Sep 8 (IANS) Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is having a whale of a time in Bangkok. He has hired a 40-foot-long luxury catamaran for his close friends while he shoots for the thriller 'Blue'.

Sanjay, who is known for his generous ways, invited his closest friends to join him and wife Maanyata in Bangkok to party and relax while the underwater adventure 'Blue' was being shot in the middle of the ocean. The action thriller directed by Anthony D'Souza also stars Zayed Khan and Akshay Kumar.

And to make sure his friends have a great time in the ocean, Sanjay hired the yacht and all his buddies are housed in it.

When contacted, Sanjay told IANS: 'Who told you about this? Ya, it's true. All my close friends are here with me. Paresh is here from Chicago. Matt has come from Los Angeles and Raja and Pradeep came from Mumbai. So we're shooting and having fun. It's more for my own happiness than of my friends.'

Director Apoorva Lakhia, who had cast Sanjay in his successful crime-thriller 'Shootout At Lokhandwala', can't stop raving about the experience.

'Sanju is a rock star. You've heard right. He has rented a 40-foot catamaran with the full crew on board for all his friends' comfort. We all hang out in the middle of the ocean while the cast is shooting in the deep sea,' said Lakhia.

'It's non-stop deep sea diving, music, snorkelling and barbeque in the middle of the bluest ocean god ever invented. This is the most thrilling holiday I've ever had,' he added.

Also joining the merry gang of Sanjay's friends is Zayed Khan's wife Mallika. Buddy Suniel Shetty is busy shooting, or else he too would have joined the Bangkok merrymakers.

'The friends that I have now are with me for keeps,' said Sanjay.