Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi in Gumrah

Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi in Gumrah
 

Gumrah: Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi's 90s hit!

Gumrah: Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi's 90s hit!

Yash Johar, Anupam Kher, Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Bhatt in Hong Kong for Gumrah

Hindi film producer Yash Johar, actors Anupam Kher, Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt and director Mahesh Bhatt in Hong Kong for Gumrah. The cast and crew of the hit 90s film on location. 

Sridevi was 29 when she shot the film - a stellar performance by the iconic Indian actress, Gumrah released on August 3, 1993. 

Sridevi with Sanjay Dutt in Gumrah

Four years older than Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt turns 67 today. They appeared famously in Gumrah back in 1993, and Dutt also worked briefly for a day with Sridevi in Khuda Gawah! 

There are several online reports that the contemporaries never worked together in the 1980s as an allegedly drugged out Sanjay Dutt scared young Sridevi when she first started off in the Hindi film industry... but its unverified sources from notoriously unreliable film magazines from that decade. We're not that keen on speculative misinformation and thankfully there are now several video, audio and podcasts and such, from the voices of those who were there, retelling what really happened. 

Unless Sanjay Dutt himself confirms this news, we are taking it with a pinch of salt. 

Sanju baba is officially a senior citizen now. Still a working actor -- there's one more Munna bhai in him. Just need the writers and director to hone in. 

 

The cast and crew of Gumrah

 Film producer Yash Johar, Anupam Kher, Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt and director Mahesh Bhatt. 

 The cast and crew of the film Gumrah in Hong Kong! 

Sridevi's first film with Sanjay Dutt wasn't Gumrah or Khuda Gawah: It was this 1984 flick + 10 Shelved Films of Sridevi!

Its almost comical how many films are launched in Bollywood that fail to take off beyond announcement and hype. Here's another one to add to the long, long list; Yeh Kaisa Milan! 

A never-made/unreleased Bollywood film from the mid-1980s (announced around 1983–84, with a planned release in January 1984 according to the poster!). 

With Producer: S.R. Productions (Madras), under the banner Godha, the main cast was supposed to have Sridevi, Sunil Dutt's son Sanjay Dutt and Raj Kapoor's youngest song Rajeev Kapoor! With director/screenplay writer S.A. Chandrashekhar, the film had maestros Laxmikant–Pyarelal for music, (common for many Sridevi films of that era). Thankfully... the movie was never made. S.A. Chandrashekhar might have made many successful Tamil films, but his Hindi films have all been pretty much awful; Jeevan Ki Shatranj (1993) - a remake of the Tamil film Rajanadai and Azaad Desh Ke Gulam (1993) - a remake of the Tamil film Sudhanthira Naattin Adimaigal come to mind!). 

The Hindi film was promoted as a big multi-starrer with "Star Pairing of the Year" hype. This was during Sridevi's peak commercial phase in Hindi cinema (post-Himmatwala, Tohfa, Mawaali, etc.), when she was frequently paired with top heroes - so these relative newcomers (and OG nepo babies!) seems like a surprise. The film was ultimately shelved and never completed or released - we don't know exactly what went down, hence it doesn't appear in standard filmographies, IMDb lists, or Wikipedia entries for Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt, or Rajeev Kapoor. There are several false-start or failed to finish movies in Sridevi's archive (in all Indian celebrities' in fact). 

Old posters and announcements like this one occasionally surface on Instagram/Facebook fan pages (especially Sridevi tribute accounts), but there's no finished movie, songs, or features on many. There's a lot written about Garajna, Zameen, Sridevi's Telugu home production... and so on but on this film, we've found very little. 

Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt actually did collaborate later (their only film together was the 1993 Mahesh Bhatt-directed, Yash Johar produced Gumrah, and a brief shoot during Khuda Gawah), but this earlier project fell through.  

If you're a Sridevi fan, these "lost" posters are fun collector items from the era when she was dominating the industry with multiple releases per year. The hodge podge poster with cut outs from other films (I mean look at the image of Sanjay Dutt, and the Sridevi pic from her Tamil film Adutha Varisu, and Rajeev from another movie as well - the trio didn't even do a shoot together!). 

Sridevi in the film Zameen

Sridevi's list of shelved films;

1. Garajna
2. Teerandaz
3. Bodyguard
4. Zameen
5. Raasta
6. Maharaja
7. Ram ki Sita, Shyam ki Geeta
8. Bus Conductor 
9. Govinda
10. Khabardaar

Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt in Gumrah

 Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt in Gumrah 

Sridevi and her costars: Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Deepak Malhotra, Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Rishi Kapoor

Sridevi and her costars: Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Deepak Malhotra, Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Nagarjuna. 

 

Rare pics of Sridevi at the premiere of Gumrah: Sanjay Dutt, Yash Johar, Soni Razdan, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Bhatt

Rajeshwari (Sridevi's mother) with Sridevi 

Rare pics of Sridevi at the premiere of Gumrah: Sanjay Dutt, Yash Johar, Soni Razdan, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Bhatt. Released on 24 September, 1993, Yash Johar produced, Mahesh Bhatt directed Gumrah was the seventh highest grossing film of the year. Celebrating 32 years of this memorable film. 

Rare stills of Rahul Roy, Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt from the sets of Gumrah: 90s

 

Sridevi stills from Gumrah - some of these are so rare, even for us!

Rare still of Gumrah released by Dharma Productions: Remembering Sridevi

Released on Aug 3, 1993, Sridevi was 29 when the film Gumrah released. One of her better, stellar performances along with Anupam Kher, Sanjay Dutt and Rahul Roy.

Dharma Productions on their official social media accounts--Twitter and Facebook--released these rarely seen stills. 

Gorgeous Sridevi. 

Rahul Roy, Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt strike a pose for Gumrah

Rahul Roy, Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt strike a pose for Gumrah  

Released on 3 August 1993, the movie was a smash hit that won rave reviews for Sridevi. Sanjay Dutt brought in the crowds but 'twas Sri who got all the acclaim. 

Sridevi was 29 when she shot the film and the movie released 10 days before she turned 30 - a death knell for any actress in Bollywood. But Sridevi proved otherwise. She opted for marriage, motherhood and a pause on movies five years later.

Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi pose for Stardust Annual: Happy Birthday Sanju!

Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi pose for Stardust Annual: Happy Birthday Sanju! 

Pre publicity shot by Rakesh Shreshta, just before the release of Gumrah. 

Sanjay Dutt turns 66 today

Our archive of Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt images together here.

Rare still: Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi in Gumrah

Rare still: Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi in Gumrah 

Sridevi looks so beautiful here. A fab performance. Again. 

Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi in Gumrah

Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi in Gumrah 
Obviously we have a massive archive of images from the film here. 

Rare stills of Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi on the sets of Gumrah

 Rare stills of Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi on the sets of Gumrah 

Rare pic: Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi on the sets of Khuda Gawah

Rare pic: Sanjay Dutt with Sridevi on the sets of Khuda Gawah

 

In the original version of Khuda Gawah, Sridevi was going to co-star with Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt! Excerpt from Filmfare;

"... used no such bait to lure the reluctant Empress into signing the film. Says Desai, "When negotiations broke down with Dimple, I wanted to sign Sridevi, but I was hesitant because I'd heard that she'd been turning down films with Amitabh. I didn't want her to refuse my offer (being chairman of the Amitabh Fan Club, obviously he wanted to do nothing that would embarrass Bachchan) but when I sounded her, I got no negative vibes. I met her again and explained how the film had two angles - she was to play both Amitabh and Sanjay Dutt's girlfriends. She seemed very keen to do the film. In fact, her enthusiasm surprised me. So, I asked her if it was true that she'd been turning down films with Amitabh and she denied ever having done that. She maintained that it was a false rumour - that she'd never said she would never work with 'Amitji' and that all she'd ever demanded was a substantial role in any film offered to her. And since most Bachchan films were a one-man show, there was nothing for her to do in those films, and now since we were offering her a good role, she was willing to do it."

Desai found it all very 'reasonable'. But it isn't as simple as he makes it out to be. Her 'reasonableness' seems to be a very recent occurrence. Earlier, when Shashi Kapoor had approached Sridevi for an important role in his prestigious Ajooba, she'd asked him precisely what her role in the film would be. When an excited Shashi began narrating the film's story to her, she is said to have cut him short with a 'Look, why don't you come down to Madras and narrate the story to my father? If he likes it then you can discuss the money with my mother'. Naturally, Shashi didn't pursue the matter any further.

Amitabh was quick to grab the initiative for a reconciliation. Impressed by Sridevi's riveting dance in Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, he sent her a truckload of flowers and a warm note. Sridevi, not impervious to his charm and the diktat of the box-office, conveniently succumbed...."