Sanjay Dutt made a seamless transition from hero to villain.
Sanjay Dutt’s first negative role was in the Sanjay Gupta-film Musafir in 2004.
There was a time in Hindi cinema when actors were typecast in specific roles and were slotted into lead protagonists, comedians, antagonists and so on. Many yesteryear screen villains like Prem Chopra, Pran, Amrish Puri and Danny Denzongpa have played menacing roles, instilling fear in the hearts of audiences. However, by the turn of the millennium, a new trend seemed to come to fore where the lines dividing the stereotypical roles began to fade. Top leading men played villains in films and the trend was gladly accepted by the audiences. Sanjay Dutt is one such actor who has made quite a seamless transition from playing hero to villain in many films.
The Khalnayak actor, who has had a very successful career as a leading man in countless films, has been playing negative roles in both Bollywood and South film industries at present. Though Sanjay Dutt had played a negative role in the Sanjay Gupta film Musafir in 2004, it was Agneepath (2012) that changed his career trajectory and opened doors for antagonist roles for him.
Sanjay Dutt played the negative role of Kancha Cheena in Agneepath and his character was highly appreciated by the critics. Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra were playing the leads, while Rishi Kapoor also played a pivotal role.
In the original Agneepath in 1991, Danny Denzongpa played Kancha Cheena. While Danny Denzongpa’s version was more suave, stylish and all about mind games, director Karan Malhotra wanted Sanjay Dutt’s rendition to be more physically imposing. This is why Sanjay Dutt shaved his head and eyebrows to look more menacing and gained 12 kilos of pure muscle. His imposing look and impeccable evil performance won him many accolades.
Agneepath opened up avenues for more villainous performance in movies and he has since played villains in Panipat, Shamshera, KGF: Chapter 2 and the recent Thalapathy Vijay-film Leo. The Hindi films tanked at the box office, while the other two turned out to be massive hits.