'I'm bada rajan': How Sanjay Gupta's reply to Chhota Rajan put his life in danger, escaped in Sunil Dutt's MP car with Sanjay Dutt's help

Sanjay Gupta, the man who glamourised the gangster world on screen, is no more. The filmmaker gave Hindi cinema some of its most stylish crime dramas, including Shootout at Lokhandwala, with songs people still groove to and characters that make you want to rewatch the films again and again.

But while he made the gangster world fascinating on screen, he had also faced its dark reality in real life.

Gupta once revealed that he had allegedly received a threatening call from underworld don Chhota Rajan while making his debut film Aatish and Ram Shastra.

'I'm bada rajan': How Sanjay Gupta's reply to Chhota Rajan nearly cost his life

Recounting the incident in an interview with author Hussain Zaidi, Gupta said: "I woke up in the morning and was getting back-to-back calls from someone called Nana. I picked up, and a man started abusing me. I asked, 'Who are you?'

He said, 'I'm Chhota Rajan.'"Believing it was a prank, Gupta replied, "I am Bada Rajan" - not realising how serious the situation was.

He later learned that Bada Rajan had been Chhota Rajan's mentor and his death had deeply affected him.

Chhota Rajan allegedly started abusing him. Panicked, Gupta soon got another call from producer Firoz Nadiadwala, who told him, "You abused Nana? Now you are in danger. Things are going out of hand, the boys have already arrived outside.''

"The one person Sanjay called was Sanjay Dutt, who was himself out on bail at the time. To save him, Dutt sent his father Sunil Dutt's official MP car along with a security jeep to Gupta's residence.

Gupta escaped through the back door of the building and went straight to Dutt's house. The incident happened in 1992.

The mystery was solved hours later when actor Aditya Pancholi called. Pancholi came to Dutt's house and confessed. He had been drinking with a friend the previous night and had complained that his role in Aatish was career-defining, but his role in Ram Shastra was not good enough, and that someone should pressure Gupta to improve it.

That friend had passed the message to Chhota Rajan.

"Last night, I was with a friend of mine. I was drinking with him. And I told him, my role in Aatish is so good that it will become my career. But my role in Ram Shastra is not that good. If only I can put some pressure on Sanjay Gupta to make my role better," Sanjay shared.

A second call was then arranged. Gupta apologised to Rajan, who calmly told him, "Sir, I am extremely sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. I thought someone is joking with me. I can't even imagine that you will call me. And please tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Replying to him, Chotta Rajan allegedly said,''Nothing, nothing, Raja, nothing, you are very good, we know. Do one thing, just make your movie. Make Aditya Pancholi's role better."