When Sanjay Gadhvi was in college back in 1987 he dreamt of owning a motorbike and zooming down the highway on his lean, mean dream machine. He used to doodle ‘Yamaha’ on the back of his college notebook. He finally bought a Yamaha RX100 by borrowing Rs 9,000 from a friend and persuading his mother to take money from a fixed deposit.

Little did he think at the time that his love for bikes would put him on the movie industry’s fast track. But today Gadhvi attributes Dhoom’s success to his obsession with speed.

The movie has turned Gadhvi into a star director in Bollywood. But he can’t keep the excitement out of his voice when he talks about why Dhoom 2 has been a hit. He also likes to keep a low profile and sometimes dodges questions about what he does. “Often I meet travellers who ask me what do I do, to which my standard reply is that I am into the shrimp business. Hardly anyone in my building knows that I am the maker of Dhoom 2, which is good in a way,” he laughs.

Though 40-year-old Gadhvi doesn’t like to shout from the rooftops about his achievements, he’s thrilled by the success of Dhoom 2. After Dhoom he faced the daunting challenge of coming out with an even bigger and more entertaining movie and that was a scary proposition. “To be able to pull off a sequel like this was challenging. Today, I can sit back and say that we did a fairly good job,” he says.

How well has Dhoom 2 done? According to Komal Nahta, Editor, Film Information, in the first week, the distributor’s share in Mumbai for Dhoom 2 was Rs 9.42 crore. That’s a huge figure even compared to other blockbuster films like Krrish and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna which made Rs 6.6 crore and Rs 6.40 crore respectively, in Mumbai in their first week.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh too feels that Dhoom 2 has done well not only in the urban areas but also that rural audiences have taken to it with enthusiasm. “Dhoom 2 has hit the jackpot, registering record collections at almost every theatre in its first week. It is in fact a big blockbuster for 2006 from the Yash Raj banner,” he says.

While bikes formed an integral part of Dhoom, the sequel was shot at picturesque and far-flung locations like South Africa, Namibia and Rio De Janeiro. Also, to add to the excitement there were adventure sports like rollerblading, sand- boarding and jet-skis. “The script demanded all this because it was a cops and robbers story,” says Gadhvi. He however agrees that Dhoom 2 has been high in the looks department with every bit carefully styled. The credit, he says, goes to stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania who worked upon each and every aspect of the actor’s looks, right from clothes to hair. Says Gadhvi: “It needed good looking actors and therefore we had to make it glossy not only in terms of looks but also in terms of eye-catching locations,” he says.

With Dhoom 2, Gadhvi’s three-film contract with Yash Raj Films has come to an end and he’s now been signed by Ashtavinayak Productions to direct their next film. But what about the rumours there will be a Dhoom 3 with Shah Rukh Khan as the baddie? “I don’t want to get stuck with the Dhoom image and want to move on to doing all kinds of films. Dhoom as a product belongs to Yash Raj Films and if they feel it necessary to come out with a part three at some point of time, then I’m game for it. As of now, there are no such plans from the production house.”

Gadhvi has been through lots of ups and downs during his career as a director. The trek to the top was a difficult one and he initially started out by assisting director Anant Balani when he was making Gawahi in 1989. From 1989 to 1994, Gadhvi went on to assist Balani in Patthar Ke Phool and Jazbaat. “I learnt the ropes of film-making from Anant Balani and it proved to be a great learning experience,” he says.

By 1994 Gadhvi was ready to make his own film but didn’t want to go from door to door with the script. Instead, he decided to make a small film with a moderate budget. He started work on Tu Hi Bataye in 1998 but that was later shelved.

Gadhvi wasn’t ready to give up. In 1999, he began scripting his film Tere Liye and shot it in 28 days flat in 2000. In some ways, this was the most traumatic period of his career as the film was delayed in post-production and finally stalled for technical reasons. Finally, when it was released in 2001 it bombed.

“I had problems in distributing the film. I went to Aditya Chopra requesting him to buy the distribution rights of the film. The meeting lasted for half an hour and at the end of it Adi offered me this lucrative three-film contract under the Yash Raj banner. That was a significant milestone in my career,” he says.

His first film under Yash Raj Productions was Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai starring Uday Chopra, Jimmy Shergill and Tulip Joshi. The movie was well received and that’s when he decided to move ahead with his second film Dhoom with Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Esha Deol and Uday Chopra.

When he isn’t working, Gadhvi likes to socialise with his school and college friends. Besides he also depends a lot on his wife Gina, who’s a fashion designer. Gadhvi also loves staying at home and spending time with his two daughters — Sanjina (ten) and Sheena (two). “I want them to have a normal upbringing with academics as the major priority,” he says firmly.

But now he’s facing the challenge of rising expectations once again. He has had a huge hit with Dhoom and another with Dhoom 2. What will he do for an encore?

Photograph by Gajanan Dudhalkar