Sanjay Dutt Uncensored: The Glenwalk, Business And 30 Years Of Khalnayak Sanjay Dutt spoke to us about The Glenwalk, and how for the cult film Khalnayak (1993) he was ready to do the film without hearing the script as he trusted director Subhash Ghai.
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Recently, Sanjay Dutt had introduced The Glenwalk, a 3-year-old, blended hard-beverage produced in Scotland, in India. The actor got together with his old friend, Mokksh Sani, and his partners for this venture.
"Glen Walk is a Scotch whiskey. Mokksh had been working on it for many months now and he's like a brother to me. We've always discussed how we can get together and do something. So one evening he came to me with this idea and it seemed awesome. It's a lovely Scotch with the right pricing and is not very expensive so even a normal person can really enjoy it. This is just the first, I shall be doing many more," Dutt told us during the video interview.
Other than Sanjay Dutt, Cartel and Bros, the company that owns The Glenwalk, has 4 other partners. Manesh Sani and Mokksh Sani of Living Liquidz, one of the largest liquor retail chains in India; Jittin S. Merani of Drinq bar academy; and Rohan Nihalani, the owner of Morgan Beverages.
The idea was to offer consumers an exceptional yet accessible scotch. The pricing was a conscious call to allow a larger group of young consumers to try and the international spirit. They estimate the market size at approximately 14 million cases. The company plans to launch the product in their home turf, Mumbai, roll it out in other parts of the state and then expand their footprint across the country. Post this they will expand their footprint to north, starting with Delhi and Haryana; South with probably Karnataka and Telangana and slowly the other markets.
The year 2023 marks 30 years of arguably Dutt's most famous role till date, in the movie Khalnayak (1993). The Hindi action crime film was written, directed and produced by Subhash Ghai under Mukta Arts Ltd. Starring Dutt (Ballu), Jackie Shroff (Inspector Ram) and cop Madhuri Dixit (Ganga). The film was a blockbuster along with its hit music, especially the song 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai', sung by Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun. We live in a completely different era with music on YouTube and Spotify, but for its time the KhalNayak soundtrack album broke records, selling 10 million copies.
But how did Dutt bag the role?
"Subhash ji is like family, he was also very close to my father. I had done his movie Vidhata (1982). According to me he's one of the most talented directors the Indian film industry can ever have. His films are mass oriented and had a message, emotion and heroism. He came to me and said 'Ek script hai, kar lei. Toh mainei bola kar lunga sir. Aisa nahi tha ki script sun lo. We used to trust our directors. We used to trust the makers," Dutt said.
"He's not the 'start-shoot-sound' kind of director. He performs and shows the actor how it is supposed to be done. So God bless Subhash ji, God bless Khalnayak, Mukhta Arts. And I want to thank even Jackie and Madhuri Ji and the whole team of Khalnayak and want to congratulate all and the fans and the public for the support," Dutt mentioned.
The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari
