Sanjay Dutt: It’s Sanju vs Sanju in Shamshera

Actor Sanjay Dutt, who plays the villain Shudh Singh, in the upcoming period epic Shamshera, said that it is exciting to play a negative role as one gets to “bend the rules, break the rules.” The film, directed by Karan Malhotra, has Ranbir Kapoor pitted against Sanjay Dutt.
 
“It is always exciting to play the antagonist because you get to bend the rules, break the rules. I realised that when you play the antagonist, there are actually impositions or moral boundaries. You can be disruptive. You can take a character from paper and play it the way you want to. I have a lot of fun when I play an antagonist,” said Sanjay.
  
He added, “Shudh Singh is a character that you have never seen on screen. He is just pure evil. He is menacing, he is untrustworthy and he will go to any length to wreak havoc. I loved the fact that Karan Malhotra created a villain like this and he thought of me to play this role.”
  
Sanjay was thrilled to know about the casting coup in Shamshera that had him locking horns against Ranbir because four years back the young actor had played Sanjay Dutt in Sanju. So, Shamshera will be Sanju vs Sanju on screen.

“So, the on-screen enmity between him and me becomes all the more interesting for people. Ranbir is a brilliant actor but this film sees him in a new gaze. His boyish charm is inimitable, but in this film, he is a man who finds his footing and looks glorious on-screen.”
   
Meanwhile, it may be noted that Sanjay is reuniting with director Karan Malhotra again after Agneepath in Shamshera.
  
Speaking about his collaboration with the filmmaker “Karan always creates a larger-than-life villain. Be it my character Kancha in Agneepath and now as Shuddh Singh, he knows how to present an antagonist. Personally, I hope he keeps creating more exciting villains for me. He's someone who hasn't left the commercial zone of Indian cinema and I have full faith that with Shamshera he has whipped up a winner.”

Shamshera's teaser was released on Wednesday. The film, produced by Yash Raj Films, is set in the fictitious city of Kaza, where a warrior tribe is imprisoned, enslaved and tortured by a ruthless authoritarian general Shudh Singh. This is the story of a man who became a slave, a slave who became a leader and then a legend for his tribe. He relentlessly fights for his tribe's freedom and dignity. His name is Shamshera. Ranbir plays this titular role.
   
Shamshera is set to release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on July 22.