Actor Sanjay Dutt will soon play the antagonist in the Telugu film Double iSmart, directed by Puri Jagannadh and starring Ram Pothineni. At an event held for the film in Mumbai, the actor explained why he prefers playing villainous roles in south Indian cinema. 

‘It’s challenging’

When asked what is it about these antagonistic roles that make him want to play it, Sanjay said, “I think it’s a challenge for me to do a south (Indian) film. And negative is a good space to be in. Bahut kuch karne ko milta hai. Maarne ko milta hai, maar khaane ko milta hai. (I get to do a lot. I get to beat up people and get beaten up)” Then he added, “Rape katt gaye hai lekin woh…(Rape is not allowed now) It is good that there’s something for an actor to do after so many films.”

When asked if he would like to star in a love story again, Sanjay replied, “Yes, I’d like to do romance if I get the right film. But our generation used to work for the mass audience. Hum log massy hero hai. Apun Saajan (1991) kar liya tha ek time. (We’re massy heroes. I still acted in Saajan once.) It was a great film with lovely songs. So yeah, I’d love to do a film like that.”

Upcoming work

Sanjay Dutt plays Big Bull in Double iSmart, which will be released on August 15 in all south Indian languages and Hindi. In 2022 the actor played Adheera in Prashanth Neel’s Kannada film KGF: Chapter 2 with Yash. Since then, he has been offered numerous south films. He also starred in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s 2023 film Leo. He will soon star in Prem’s Kannada film KD - The Devil with Dhruva Sarja.

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