I enjoy playing antagonist: Sanjay Dutt on ‘Shamshera’

New Delhi: The makers of Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Shamshera’ on Thursday dropped the first look poster of Sanjay Dutt, who will be seen playing an evil, menacing, and cold-hearted Daroga Shudh Singh in the movie.

“Sanjay plays Ranbir Kapoor’s nemesis in this action entertainer and he has relished every bit of his villainous turn,” the makers said in a statement.

Sharing the poster on their social media, Yash Raj Films (YRF) wrote, “Evil never looked this good - Daroga Shuddh Singh. Catch #ShamsheraTrailer tomorrow! Celebrate #Shamshera with #YRF50 only at a theatre near you on 22nd July.”

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Talking about his role, the senior actor in a statement said, “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 and I’m fortunate that people have loved my performances as the nemesis of a hero so far.”

Sanjay has won unanimous praise for his spine-chilling act in ‘Shamshera’ after the teaser of the film was released recently.

“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. He gave me a free hand to bring Shudh Singh to life and I hope people like my effort,” the ‘Torbaaz’ actor said.

“Sanjay was thrilled to know about the casting coup in ‘Shamshera’ that pitted him against Ranbir because four years back (Ranbir’s last film), the young actor had played ‘Sanju’. So, Shamshera will be Sanju vs Sanju on screen which has become a highly anticipated on-screen clash between the two,” said the makers.

“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 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,” said Dutt.

He is collaborating with director Karan Malhotra again after ‘Agneepath’. Sanjay says, “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.”

The story of ‘Shamshera’ 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.

Directed by Karan Malhotra, this action extravaganza has been produced by Aditya Chopra and is set to release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on July 22. (UNI)