Always exciting to play the bad guy, says Sanjay Dutt on Shamshera

The teaser of Yash Raj Films’ Shamshera revealed that Sanjay Dutt will be playing the negative character Shudh Singh who is pitted against the titular character, played by Ranbir Kapoor. 

Dutt has said that he enjoys playing the bad guy. “It is always exciting to play the antagonist because you get to bend the rules, break the rules. I realized that when you play the antagonist, there are actually [no] 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 and I’m fortunate that people have loved my performances as the nemesis of a hero so far.”

Speaking about his character, Dutt said Shudh Singh is unlike any other character seen on screen. "He is pure evil. He is menacing, he is untrustworthy and he will go to any length to wreak havoc. I loved the fact that [the director] Karan Malhotra created a villain like this and he thought of me to play this role. He gave me a free hand to bring Shudh Singh to life and I hope people like my effort,” the senior actor said.

Interestingly, Kapoor played Dutt in the latter’s biopic Sanju (2018) four years ago. “It is also quite interesting that I’m pitted against Ranbir, who played me in Sanju. 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 through 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.” 

The film also stars Vaani Kapoor. Malhotra had also directed Dutt in the successful Agneepath (2012), where he played the baddie Kancha Cheena. 

“Karan always creates a larger-than-life villain,” said Dutt. “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 is 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.”

The trailer of Shamshera will be launched on 24 June. The film will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on 22 July.