New Delhi: Sanjay Dutt’s most memorable performances are the ones where he has played morally complex characters. Looking back Sanjay Dutt said it was his 1993 movie Khal Nayak which helped him step out of his comfort zone and take on larger-than-life characters.
Dutt made a spectacular entry in Hindi cinema with 1981 film Rocky. He later headlined films such as Vidhaata, Imaandaar, Jeete Hain Shaan Se, Ilaaka, Taaqatwar and Thaanedar.
But playing ‘Ballu’ in Subhash Ghai’s super hit Khal Nayak gave Sanjay Dutt an opportunity to experiment with his choices.
“It’s a risk that I took in my career when I played characters with different shades. It paid off because I was convinced that I could challenge myself as an actor. If I’m not convinced, then how will audiences be convinced?” Dutt said.
“It was when I did Khalnayak that I realised that I should look for roles out of my comfort zone. He also discussed his roles in Daud, Daag: The Fire, Vaastav, Kaante and Musafir.
His characters in these films were also larger-than-life figures, the 62-year-old Dutt said.
“I believe playing larger-than-life characters is an important phase in an actor’s life because the public love these portrayals. I have learned this during my 40 years long career. So I prefer doing these kinds of roles and I love them,” Dutt informed.
He said that when he would feature in the films alongside his contemporaries like Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Sunny Deol, the drive was always to grow as actors. However, that’s something which is missing in the current generation of actors,” Dutt pointed out.
“Actors today are very dedicated to their craft. They are not conscious. But with us – me, Jackie (Shroff) and Anil (Kapoor) – we were not insecure. I worked with everyone in the industry when I started out. Same goes for Anil and Jackie, and even Sunny.
“From Dilip (Kumar) sir to Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan), we worked with everyone. We were not insecure as we wanted to learn from these stalwarts. When I worked with Amitji, I was like, ‘I’m sharing screen space with him, what can I learn from him?’ This was our way of thinking when we were working. I believe this thought process should come back,” Dutt added.
Dutt now stars in Kannada movie KGF: Chapter 2, the much-awaited follow up to 2019 hit KGF Headlined by Kannada superstar Yash, the film will see Dutt in the role of ‘Adheera’, a character that was teased towards the end of the first movie.
Dutt said it was out of the blue that the makers of the sequel approached him to play the main antagonist ‘Adheera’.
“I got a call one day and these people wanted to come and meet me. So they came and I was totally amazed by the character. I asked them how and why they thought of me playing ‘Adheera’ in the movie. They told me that they want only me to play this role. This is a really exceptional character. ‘Adheera’ is so strong as a character and I instantly said yes to it,” revealed Dutt.
Talking about his character ‘Adheera’, Dutt said the role is completely different from ‘Kancha Cheena’, the bald-headed antagonist of Hrithik Roshan-starrer Agneepath.
See trailer for Sanjay Dutt’s look: https://youtu.be/JKa05nyUmuQ
“This character is as strong as ‘Kancha Cheena’ was in Agneepath. But where the character is different is his unpredictable nature. He has a different look and a challenge. ‘Adheera’ is out there to rightfully claim back KGF. He is right in his own way that he wants his kingdom back,” Dutt said.