Sanjay Dutt revives yesteryear's Bollywood villain in 'Agneepath'

If makers of Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt starrer Agneepath, a remake of the 1990 blockbuster with the same name, are to be believed, Dutt's character heralds the return of the quintessential Bollywood baddie with his yesteryear swagger.

Directed by Johar's former assistant, Karan Malhotra, Agneepath is the remake of the 1990 superhit immortalised of sort by Amitabh Bachchan with his barritoned delivery of raw dialogues and punch lines with the character of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan at the helm.

A recent teaser shows Sanjay sporting a wicked smile and bulky physique, while looking evil to the core in his bald avatar with the puffed-up eyes.

Dressed in a black outfit, the Khalnayak who plays Kancha, originally essayed by Danny Denzongpa, wears a silver ring on top of his left ear with tattoos engraved on his arms.

When asked if the typical villain to the clan of Gabbar and Shakaal is revived through Sanjay's character, Johar said, "The quintessential format of Hindi cinema has made its entry again where there is a villain, a hero, a heroine...and who better than Sanjay Dutt to flag off the thing of a villain."

The upcoming Agneepath slated to release on January 13 next year already has its fan base in place.

The remake has retained some of the old characters from the original like Vijay Dinanath Chauhan being played by Hrithik Roshan and that of Kancha by Sanjay Dutt, besides some modifications.

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor is the new entrant in the film. Even the love story between Priyanka Chopra and Hrithik has no resonance to the Madhavi-Amitabh track of the original version.

"Indian cinema has actually gone into two different directions...while you have main stream endeavours and single screen films. And so we have films like Dabangg, Singham, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and then you also have films like Peepli Live, Taare Zameen Par, Chak De and others," Johar said.

Hailing Sanjay Dutt for the role, director Karan Malhotra said, "Bigger the villain bigger is the film. Sanju has taken the villainous thing to the next level."

Meanwhile, when asked to name his all-time favourite villain in Bollywood, Dutt replied its Amjad Khan.

"Amjad bhai as Gabbar of Sholay was amazing," he said.