Filmmaker Hansal Mehta recently discussed a harrowing incident that occurred on the sets of Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, which left his son, Jai Mehta, traumatized. Despite multiple efforts to bring Jai back to the set, Hansal chose not to, respecting his son’s resilience during the difficult time.
In a conversation with Jai on the Creator x Creator platform, Hansal reminisced about Jai’s early days as an assistant on the set of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. He recalled a tragic incident during the shoot when a fellow assistant lost his life in an accident, highlighting the challenges they faced at that time. This experience was one of Jai’s first experiences in the film industry, preceding his directorial debut with ‘Scam 1992’ and his recent web series ‘Lootere’.
During the conversation, Hansal asked Jai if he remembered the discussion they had with Anurag when the accident occurred. The deceased assistant happened to be Jai’s roommate. Hansal also shared that Jai had called him when the accident happened and was on his way to the hospital with the injured assistant. Anurag had also contacted Hansal to inform him about Jai’s distressed mental state.
“Anurag called me and said, ‘Jai is traumatised, he is crying and is in a very bad shape,'” Hansal Mehta recounted.
However, Anurag proposed a different approach that changed Hansal’s perspective on the emotionally challenging situation. “Anurag said, ‘Sir, if you call him back home, he will remain a boy, if you let him stay here he will become a man. We’ll take care of him; we’re all here.'”
Hansal admitted that it was a tough moment for him as a father because Jai was consistently reaching out to him, expressing his desire to return to the set, and he began avoiding him.
Before Jai’s involvement in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, Hansal revealed that he had arranged for Jai to meet Karan Johar for potential work on the film ‘We Are Family’, starring Kajol and Kareena Kapoor. However, influenced by his recent viewing of ‘Dev D’, Jai chose to collaborate with Anurag instead.
