Sanjay Dutt Scared Of 'Kancha' In 'Agneepath'

Mumbai, Jan 18: His wicked smile, puffed-up eyes and dreadful look in the upcoming ‘Agneepath' has attracted appreciation from all quarters for actor Sanjay Dutt, who, however, says his ‘villainous' act did scare him as well. 

In Karan Johar's ‘Agneepath', Sanjay plays the baddie ‘Kancha', played by Danny Denzongpa in the original movie, while Hrithik Roshan reprises the role of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, essayed by Amitabh Bachchan. 

In the remake version, the villain, played by Sanjay, will be seen as bald, with bulky physique, tattoos on his arms, a silver ring on top of his left ear and a black outfit. 

“The problem is that the nation is falling in love with him. I was surprised that people love him. It was a surprise for me. I was in Nagpur and Indore and people there were all shouting ‘Kancha, Kancha'. I was like...what has happened ? (Yeh kya ho gaya hai),” Sanjay said in an interview.

But, the 52-year-old actor says, he himself had got scared on seeing his own evil side as ‘Kancha'. 

“One week before I was dubbing for the film and after 15-20 minutes, I stopped and said to Karan I want to go out for some time. He asked me what happened...I said if I tell you the reason you will start laughing at me. But as he was asking me again and again I had to tell him. I said I can't see myself like this, I got scared seeing me. I could not believe. I was like...this was me?,” Sanjay said. 

Ask him if it was difficult to play such a villainous character, he said, “It was not difficult for me. It was easy for me due to Karan Malhotra (director). He guided me very well through the journey of Kancha. It was not like he was stringent about it he used to listen to me, my suggestions.” “He (Malhotra) knew the style, in which, Kancha should act...look, converse. All thanks to Karan that it was easy for me,” he said.

Ask who is his favourite villain of all times and pat comes the reply, “Gabbar Singh!”.

“Amjad bhai as Gabbar of ‘Sholay' was amazing. He is my all time favourite,” Sanjay said. 

Sanjay's evil portrayal as Ballu in ‘Khalnayak' and as Raghu in ‘Vaastav' is still edged in the minds of people. 

'Khalnayak' was an anti-hero. It was not negative.  You can't call it a negative role. Even ‘Vaastav' was an anti-hero. I did ‘Zahreelay' and that time, no hero was willing to do anti-hero roles...I did the film with Jijuti and Chunky. Again, I did ‘Naam'...that was also anti-hero,” he said.

“But this role of Kancha in ‘Agneepath' is completely negative from the beginning. From his entry till the end he is negative. He is unpredictable, when he looks at someone, the other person does not know what he is thinking,” he added. 

Directed by Malhotra, who was Karan Johar's former assistant, ‘Agneepath' also featuring Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor in pivotal roles.

The film will release on January 26.