Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta dies at 59; industry mourns Kaante, Shootout at Lokhandwala director

Director Sanjay Gupta, known for films like Kaante, Shootout at Lokhandwala, and Zinda, has died at the age of 59.

Director Sanjay Gupta, known for Kaante and Zinda, has died at the age of 59. The news of his death was confirmed by filmmaker and FWICE chief advisor Ashoke Pandit on social media.

Sanjay Gupta dies

Director Sanjay Gupta died on Saturday morning.

The filmmaker died sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning at his home in Mumbai. In his social media post, Ashoke Pandit said the cause of death was a head injury. However, there is no official confirmation yet.

According to sources, an Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered at the Versova Police Station, and an investigation is underway. Police sources say no foul play is suspected so far.

Industry mourns filmmaker

As the news of the filmmaker's death flooded social media, members of the film fraternity expressed shock, and offered their tributes.

In a post on Instagram, Ashoke Pandit wrote, “It’s really shocking and sad. Just got the news that our dear friend an ace director Sanjay Gupta is no more. 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. Will miss you my friend. Condolences to his family & dear ones. Om Shaanti. Details of his last rites will be shared soon.”

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli also took to X and expressed shock: “Don’t know how to process this news. #SanjayGupta RIP. Chatted with him little over a month ago. We were both on an awards show jury couple of years ago - we were equally quick to have an argument & a laugh about it later. You had many more films and many years to go. Prayers and strength to the family.”

Sanjay Gupta's life and film career

Born in 1967 in Mumbai, Sanjay Gupta began his career at age 26 with the 1994 release, Aatish: Feel the Fire, starring Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Pancholi, Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor and Atul Agnihotri.

Over the next few years, he developed expertise in making gangster films, culminating in the 2002 film Kaante, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt,. Suniel Shetty, Kumar Gaurav, Lucky Ali, and Mahesh Manjrekar. Widely regarded as his best work and one of the best gangster films to come out of Bollywood, it was inspired by Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. He followed this up with critically acclaimed and successful films such as Zinda, starring Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham. One of his most high-profile films was the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Kaabil, which earned ₹208 crore worldwide, emerging as his highest-grosser.

Sanjay entered film production with Plan in 2005, but found success only two years later with Shootout at Lokhandwala, the Apoorva Lakhia film that earned ₹46 crore worldwide.

Sanjay Gupta's final directorial was the 2024 sports drama The Miranda Brothers, starring Harshvardhan Rane and Meezaan Jafri. It released on JioCinema.