'Relationships are more important than any film'

Suniel Shetty tackles ceaseless rumours vis-à-vis Sanjay Dutt, Govinda and more, interviewed by Nilufer Qureshi.

You seem to be multi-tasking big time nowadays?
Ummm, maybe. I'm into both film acting and production. I want to make good quality films. I've not been vocal about what my production plans are. It has taken me two years of planning to reach this stage.

Now my company will start a film every month.We have at least three releases this year. I'm also getting into reality TV with Ekta Kapoor. Acting took a backseat for a while because I was tired of doing the same old stuff. I've signed on a few good films.

What keeps you going?
I have an excellent team and excellent partners. Balaji for my TV shows.. and TV 18 will partner some of my films. I've 1500 people working for me in my company.. and it's still growing.

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The release date of the films you have produced keep changing.
We had announced July 11 as the release date for Mission Istanbul. But the special effects took some time. The post-production was still incomplete, so we shifted the date to July 25. There is no point in releasing an incomplete film.

Abhishek (Bachchan) is shooting for his item song now, so we will have time to market his number too. Everything happens for the best. Because of the postponement, we had had to stagger the release of EMI.

Talk is that Viveik Oberoi is miffed about being sidelined in the promos of Mission Istanbul.
Rubbish! Vivek is not being sidelined at all. He is in every promo and on every hoarding. Zayed (Khan) and he are the film's heroes. Mark my words, Viveik will win every award for the film.

And Zayed looks like a stallion. In the film's climax, the girls in the audience will be screaming for him.

Reportedly Sanjay Dutt wanted certain scenes of EMI to be re-shot.
Not Sanju but I wanted an additional scene. When I saw the film I realised that since Sanju is a recovery agent, there should be a scene with a banker.

What about Sanjay Dutt thumbing down one of your film productions to be helmed by a new director?
Sanju has done EMI. He is part of the next production with Apoorva Lakhia. He is doing a film with Milan Luthria for me. If he doesn't want to do a film for me, I'd understand. He is like a brother to me.. relationships are more important than any film.

Is it true that you changed the location of Loot from the Philippines to Bangkok at the insistence of Govinda?
Honestly, I was the one who got cold feet to shoot in Philippines because of the coup there. A change in the political scenario could have affect our schedule. That's why we shifted to Bangkok. The rumour that he shifted to another hotel is also baseless. Since I'm an actor, I made sure that the unit was put up in the best resort.

Do negative media stories still upset you?
I have learnt this the hard way but.. any publicity is good publicity.

Is a patch up with Sanjay Gupta on the cards?
No. Never! Every time Sanjay Gupta says something against Sanju, my blood boils. I will never have anything to do with him again.