Indraneil Sengupta Reveals Why He Missed Out on Anubhav Sinha’s Dus

Did You Know Indraneil Sengupta and Gautam Rode Were the First Choices for Anubhav Sinha’s Dus? Here’s Why It Didn’t Work Out

Actor Indraneil Sengupta, who recently made headlines for his personal life, opened up in a new interview about a film opportunity he lost years ago. The film was none other than Dus (2005), which later became a big hit. Indraneil shared that he and Gautam Rode were among the original choices for the film, along with Muzammil Ibrahim.

In a chat on Sanghamitra Hitaishi’s vlog, Indraneil talked about his early days in the industry and how losing this film was an emotional setback. He revealed that all three actors had signed contracts and had started preparing seriously for the movie. Interestingly, Dus was originally titled Nasha.

Indraneil said,

“Anubhav Sinha was making a film and had chosen three new faces—me, Gautam Rode (a well-known TV actor now), and Muzammil Ibrahim, who was also a popular model. We were all signed on for a 3- or 5-year contract. At that time, we felt like we had made it big. We were so happy.”

Since Dus was an action film, Indraneil began swimming lessons at Anubhav Sinha’s home because he didn’t know how to swim. He also attended acting classes and focused more on fitness.

“Gautam was very sincere. He’d call us home to rehearse old movie scenes. Muzammil and I were models, so we weren’t too keen, but he would insist we join in.”

But things didn’t go as planned. After a few months, the film’s progress stalled. When Indraneil reached out to Anubhav Sinha, the director told him the film was delayed and suggested he take up other work. Eventually, it became clear that the project was being reworked with a new cast.

Indraneil shared,

“The film didn’t happen for us. It changed hands and was later made with bigger stars. That film was Dus, and back then, it was called Nasha. I cried a lot. It felt like my world had collapsed.”

Later, Dus was directed by Anubhav Sinha and produced by Nitin Manmohan. The final cast included big names like Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed Khan, and Shilpa Shetty. The film was released on July 8, 2005, and became a commercial success.

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