Bhoomi: Possible to achieve the stardom Salman or I have, says Sanjay Dutt

Sanjay Dutt, who will be essaying the role of a father in his comeback movie Bhoomi, said one of the key factors behind his success is the fact that he has not stuck to playing the conventional “hero”.

Having scaled the peak of stardom, actor Sanjay Dutt believes that other would-be superstars can also taste such success if they look beyond multiplexes. The Munna Bhai MBBS actor says to achieve the kind of fame that he and his contemporaries still enjoy, young actors, apart from choosing meaty characters, should start focusing on audiences beyond multiplexes or urban cinema halls. “It is possible to achieve what Salman or Shah Rukh or I have,” said the 58-year-old actor, still remembered for his memorable roles of Ballu, Raghu, Munna, Musabhai and Kancha Cheena.

Sanjay Dutt spotted at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Babatpur, Uttar Pradesh on Sept 13, 2017.(IANS)

“I believe the younger generation just needs to make right choices. They need to understand that India is not only about multiplexes, there is a lot of audience beyond that,” said Sanjay.

The moment actors realise this, they start their journey to stardom, he said. “The moment you reach out to the audiences in the interiors of the country you will start becoming the star. I think they should get down to making films for these people,” Dutt said.

The actor, who will be essaying the role of a father in his comeback movie Bhoomi, said one of the key factors behind his success is the fact that he has not stuck to playing the conventional “hero”. “I am not scared to play a character I believe in. Whether it is Mission Kashmir or Agneepath, I have always tried to play a character and not just the hero. Kancha Cheena was a role which I dare think any mainstream actor would have played. It was a challenge for me and I accepted it. I advise all the young actors not to be scared. If one gets a good character to play, they should not think twice and just go ahead with it,” he said.

Bhoomi, directed by Omung Kumar, is Dutt’s first film post his release from prison last year. The film is a revenge drama which revolves around a father-daughter relationship. Dutt said he decided to make a comeback with the movie because it had a great story, but did not agree that the film industry had become content driven now. “Things change over time. If everybody is saying that content is the main thing today, then it is great. But when I read scripts, I can’t see the change people are talking about. I still get stupid scripts,” he added.