It's an emotionally charged day at Vishesh Films office as the cast of Sadak 2 Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur get ready to shoot their very first picture together under the watchful eye of the film's director, Mahesh Bhatt. The master storyteller, who had bid adieu to his career as a filmmaker, has returned from his hiatus to helm this project.
The film is special on various levels. Not only will Alia work with her father for the first time, but she will also share screen space with sister Pooja here. Sanjay, who is extremely close to Bhatt, reunites with him 23 years after Gumraah (1993). Aditya, on the other hand, returns to the banner that gave him Aashiqui 2 (2013), which put his career on the fast track. Bhatt saab, who celebrates his 70th birthday today, describes this new journey, saying, "As I step into the sunset years of my life, the last act, there's something that has happened to me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I will ever hear the words a Mahesh Bhatt film mentioned around me again. Alia used to say, Papa, make a film'. And I would tell her that I am like an extinct volcano. But then, suddenly one day, the volcano was rumbling. You know, they say that autumn is another spring, so as I go into my autumn years, it's the process of what is called decomposition or decay, that too is a way of life.
The maverick filmmaker is, of course, happy to be working with his daughters but he's equally thrilled to direct Sanjay once again. He says, "Don't forget that the two years he spent in jail haven't been tapped into by anyone. And I know that buried in there is that unspoken anguish, which I had tuned in to during the making of Naam (1986). I think life has brought us a full circle. If there ever was an actor who has trusted me and went on to become a star purely because of his ability to surrender, it's Sanju. He is like that lion, who perhaps can only be tamed by the language of love.
Anupamaa
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