Recently Sanjay Dutt rushed back from Cape Town for barely 24 hours to Mumbai for a closed-door meeting with the depressed and isolated director Soham Shah.
Soham simmering with the discontent caused by the demoniacal debacle of Luck has been rescued from the doldrums. He has been signed to direct a film for Sanjay Dutt Productions. But on one condition. The script has to meet Dutt’s approval. Soham will be sent back to the storyboard until he comes up with a good script.
Dutt, it should be remembered, stood by his ‘bachcha’ Soham like a pillar after bachcha broke away from his parent organization Dharma Productions.
Luck in fact happened mainly because of Sanjay Dutt. He was the first to sign on. The others followed. Initially Dutt’s role in Luck was supposed to be a cameo. Soham insisted on turning it into a full-fledged role and on adding a song for Dutt, much to the annoyance of other prominent members of the cast.
After the film’s failure, Soham could have vanished from the scene. But Sanjay Dutt has made it clear- Soham is doing a Sanjay Dutt Production.
The young director, isolated by his failure and smarting under the blow that was Luck, has now been packed off to New Zealand to write a script.
Says a source close to Sanjay Dutt, “Soham has been asked to write a script that works. Script writing is not his forte. He’s a good director but not a scriptwriter. Kaal and Luck prove his poor script sense. He’s been sent to New Zealand to come up with a script that rocks. If he fails he will only direct, while someone else will write the film.”
Speaking on behalf of Sanjay Dutt, his business manager Dharam Oberoi says, “Soham is definitely directing a film for us. I’ll make sure of it. And so what, if he sacked my daughter Neha to sign Shruti Haasan for Luck? Soham has learnt the hard way who his friends are.”
