Clad in light blue shirt and trousers Sanjay Dutt looks absolutely dashing. A cropped short hair is his new look for Sanjay Gupta's Kaante. Having just completed a forty-day schedule of the film in the United States, the film marks Sanjay Dutt's debut as a producer. The film will release in April. Presently he is looking forward to the release of Pitaah, his third film with Mahesh Manjrekar. We corner him to speak about another of his stertling performances after Vaastav and Kurukshetra.


Firstly I would like to know why are people so scared of you?
I really don't know! Especially journalists think twice before striking a conversation with me. I don't know why. I try to make people feel as comfortable as possible.

Okay tell us something about your forthcoming film Pitaah?
Pitaah is set in rural India and is all about the oppression faced by low-caste villagers from the zamindars. Mahesh Manjrekar has given a very earthy look to the film. And to be in tune with the ambience I grew a real beard. So here I'm a low-caste villager, married with three kids, living his life peacefully till a zamindar rapes his nine-year old daughter. And he is forced to take up a fight with them for justice. This is happening in our country today!

Rape a nine-year old… shooting that scene must've been horrible.
Yeah! But I wasn't there when the scene was shot.

You are a father in real life. Was it traumatic to play a father of a rape victim on screen?
Yes it was! I don't know how the poor farmers deal with such situations in real life. It's really sad.

How was it working with Nandita Das?
Great! She has made valuable in-puts in the film.

Vaastav, Kurukshetra and now Pitaah you and Mahesh Manjrekar have become Jodi No 1…
Yeah (laughs)! We share a great relationship. If you have noticed I have always done films with friends rather than strangers.

Kaante marks your debut as a producer. How did the decision to produce Kaante come about?
I had always wanted to be a producer and I thought Kaante was the right opportunity to launch my own production house. I was actively involved with Kaante right since its inception. Sanjay and I worked on the script for two years. We then decided on the music director and settled for Anu Malik. The rest of the cast and crew were also decided upon. We flew down to America to select the location for the film. wonderful experience.
Contacted the technicians over there that would make our shooting schedules feasible. And see, we completed the film in 40 days flat. We use to shoot for 16-17 everyday and all the stars co-operated with us more than willingly. It was a wonderful experience.

Kaante also marks Mahesh Manjrekar's debut as an actor in a Hindi film.
Yeah! When I spoke to him about it, he just jumped at the offer. We told him that he'd have to colour his hair to give him a specific look. He was hesitant initially but he later agreed (laughs). In fact, all of us right from Amitabh Bachchan to Aditya Panscholi have had a specific look in the film.

Was there any specific purpose to shoot Kaante in America?
The pains that people take there… it is really worth the money we pay them. We wanted to complete the film at one go and that would not have been possible were we to shoot it here considering our disorganized nature. Also some of the equipments used to shoot the film are not available here so we thought it best to shoot in America.

When will the film release?
April.

What is Vaastav-II all about?
Vaastav was about Raghu, the goonda. Pratibimb is all about his son Rohit. How people react to him because his father was from the underworld. It's a very powerful script.

You have played varied roles off late. Has it been a conscious decision to do so!
I'm 43! At this stage you certainly don't expect me to play a typical college kid running around trees with his girlfriend. I was known as a bad boy once upon a time. Today I have grown as a person and as an actor. I keep the bad boy image just to make my fans happy.