Sanjay Gupta & Mahesh Manjrekar Movies Together List — 7 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Musafir; the 2020s to Mumbai Saga. Sanjay Gupta directed every film; Mahesh Manjrekar acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Sanjay Gupta cast Mahesh Manjrekar in Kaante (2002) after watching his Marathi film Astitva. Manjrekar wasn't even supposed to act — Gupta convinced him to play the role of a cop on the spot.
• On the set of Musafir (2004), Manjrekar would rewrite his own Hindi dialogues in Marathi and then translate them back to Hindi. Gupta let him do it because he said Manjrekar's lines always sounded more real that way.
• The success of Kaante (2002) directly led to Manjrekar directing his first Hindi film, Pitaah (2002). Gupta produced it. Without that one film, Manjrekar's entire Bollywood directing career might not have happened.
• Gupta and Manjrekar have a standing rule: no phone calls after 10 PM. Manjrekar once said it's because Gupta 'talks too much about cinema' and they'd never sleep otherwise.
• Mahesh Manjrekar on Sanjay Gupta: 'He is the only director who lets me act like I'm not acting. He doesn't say 'do this' — he says 'be this.' That's rare.'
• For Dus Kahaniyaan (2007), Gupta and Manjrekar co-directed one segment each. They argued for three days over whose story would open the film. They settled it with a coin toss. Manjrekar's segment won.