Kaante director Sanjay Gupta dies after a fall at his Mumbai home

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, the director behind Kaante, Shootout at Wadala and Kaabil, has died after an accidental fall at his home in Mumbai’s Versova, police said on Saturday (31 October).

Police suspect he slipped and fell on the kitchen floor and suffered a head injury. His family found him later and rushed him to hospital, where he was declared dead. Versova police have registered an accidental death report, and the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.

“His family have raised no objections to his sudden demise. As of now nothing suspicious has been found, we are investigating the matter,” Senior Inspector Deepshika Vare of Versova police station told The Indian Express.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit shared the news on social media. “He passed due to a head injury at home. Another talent gone too soon. He was a wonderful narrator, full of life persona & a passionate filmmaker. A great loss to our industry,” he wrote.

Director Hansal Mehta said he was devastated. “I am shell shocked. Sanjay was perhaps the only boss I had in this industry. Now boss is gone. Can’t still come to terms with it,” he said, adding that Gupta was more of a friend who came into his life when he was “totally down in the dumps”.

Gupta made his directorial debut in 1994 with Aatish: Feel the Fire, starring Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon and Karisma Kapoor. He went on to make the multi-starrer heist thriller Kaante, with Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt, a film heavily inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

He became known for stylish crime dramas and gangster films, including Musafir, Zinda, Shootout at Lokhandwala and Shootout at Wadala. His 2017 film Kaabil, starring Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam, was his most successful at the box office.

His recent work includes the sports drama Miranda Brothers, which was released on JioHotstar in 2024. He is survived by his wife and two children. Pandit said details of the last rites would be shared soon.