When Sanjay Dutt Taught Sharman Joshi To Drive A Ferrari [Video]
Those who follow Bollywood, especially the car geeks, would surely remember the movie ‘Ferrari Ki Sawaari’. It came shortly after Sharman Joshi got everybody impressed with his work in the superhit film ‘3 Idiots’. This movie had him, Boman Irani, and Ritvik Sahore in lead roles, alongside a Red Ferrari. The car featured in this movie was an extremely special 360 Modena. We’ll talk in detail about it later in this article. A Behind The Scenes (BTS) video shared by Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films on their YouTube channel shows how Sanjay Dutt was involved in the making of this movie- he taught Sharman Joshi how to drive a Ferrari, before he actually drove one before the camera!
Sharman Joshi Gets A Taxi Ride In Sanjay Dutt’s 599 GTB
The video starts by showing director Rajesh Mapuskar giving an introduction. He says ‘ You cannot just drive a Ferrari. You need training. You need to know the engine. You need to know the gizmos in that car. So Sanjay Dutt said, do one thing. ‘Get Sharman there. I will train him’’
We then see Joshi at what looks like Dutt’s residence. He listens carefully as Dutt explains the details of his own Ferrari- a 599 GTB finished in Red. Ferraris are usually mid-engined cars. But the 599 GTB was an exception as it had a front engine layout. Dutt says ‘ The engine is the same as what Michael Schumacher drives on the race track...the Ferrari ENZO engine. The 599 goes to about 220 miles per hour.’ Joshi seems to be amused by the specifications.
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The 599 GTB was powered by the Tipo F140C engine. It was a massive 6.0-liter V12, and more importantly, a direct derivative of the Enzo’s engine. It could produce 612 hp and 607 Nm of torque. It could hit 100 kph speed from a complete standstill in just 3.7 seconds! The car used to have an ex-showroom price of Rs 3.37 Cr in India.
Circling back to the video, Dutt then offers to meet up with Joshi (also says that Joshi can come to his place) so that they can go on drives together. The two then get inside the 599 GTB, with Dutt behind the wheel. He gives Joshi a proper experience of the Ferrari. ‘It’s a beast, man, it’s a beast...wow!’ said Joshi after the spin.
Later, we see Joshi expressing his gratitude for the ride and also taking lessons on how to drive one. Dutt explains how to be clever with the throttle and even says that drives at 2am would give the maximum thrill.
He also says that it is always recommended to have a professional drive besides you in the Ferrari, atleast for the first few days. He even says that he would be happy to be of help there.
Mapuskar recollects that Joshi was a little nervous on the shoot day, driving the 360 Modena, but eventually managed to do a good job. He concludes by saying that Dutt trained him well for the movie. Before the video ends, we even get to see a glimpse of the wild fun that Joshi had with the Modena.
The 360 Modena Used In The Movie Is Special: Here’s Why
If you’ve watched the movie, you’d recollect that it mentions the Ferrari as owned by cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. The character played by Joshi ‘picks it up’ from the basement parking of the cricketer’s mansion. Interesting here is the fact that the car featured in the movie was indeed owned by Sachin Tendulkar once!
It was the same Modena that was gifted to Sachin by Michael Schumacher in 2002, on behalf of Fiat, after he equalled Sir Don Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries. It had a 3.6-liter 90-degree V8 engine (F131) which was capable of making 400hp and 373 Nm of torque.
It had dry sump lubrication system and twin overhead cams per bank. The 360 Modena could sprint to 100 kph from a standstill in just 4.5 seconds. Think of this as the 'Ferrari experience' from the early 2000s.
In 2011, the Surat-based businessman Jayesh Desai bought it from Tendulkar. "Sachin is my best and closest friend. We are both of the same age too. I own 10 luxury cars, but my niece still wanted a Ferrari. When I told Sachin about this, he said: ‘If you want it, I have no problems’"- said Desai, about the purchase.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the movie’s producer, is also a good friend of Desai. He reportedly lent his Ferrari for the shoot, without taking any remuneration. In a gesture of gratitude, Irani, Joshi, and Mapuskar drove from Ahmedabad to Surat, just to thank Desai personally. The three reportedly altered their entire schedule for this.