Sunjay Dutt: "'Rudraksh' is an action thriller in a dif

[Nokia]

Sunjay Dutt: "'Rudraksh' is an action thriller in a different mould!"

Sunjay Dutt sports a shoulder-length wig to portray the role of a Karate expert with psychic powers in Mani Shankar’s ‘Rudraksh’. Co-starring Sunil Shetty, Bipasha Basu and Isha Koppikar, 'Rudraksh' is an action thriller leaning towards sci-fi. Here are excerpts from an interview we conducted on the sets of ‘Rudraksh’...

You've seen it all, and done all kinds of roles. What do you look for in your roles now?

Sunjay Dutt: “See, I've been working in this industry for the last 23 years. I've done all kinds of roles, done everything possible. Now I'm looking for something which really matters. Something which is different, which is new. Something that is not the usual run-of-the-mill stuff.”

Tell us something about your role in the forthcoming 'Rudraksh'…

Sunjay Dutt: “My character in 'Rukdraksha' is a very beautiful role. It's a very soft character with a lot of power and energy in him. Yet there's something very calm about him. It's quite different from the kind of roles I've done earlier.”

Sounds a little different from your usual action roles! Are you trying to finally change your image from the action hero to the romantic one?

Sunjay Dutt: “No, nothing of the sort. Even 'Rudraksh’ is an action thriller. It's just that it's in a different mould.”

Didn't the fact that Mani Shankar is a relatively new director bother you while signing the film?

Sunjay Dutt: “I'll tell you one thing: I haven't seen Mani's '16th December'. I just saw the promos. After seeing them I really wanted to meet him and tell him I liked what he did, because he had done something really different. Luckily the producer, Sohail Mecklai knew him and we got to meet each other. I was just telling him '16th December' looked great. That's when he decided to tell me about his next script and that's how it happened.”

Isn't this the first time you're working with Bipasha? How is she to work with?

Sunjay Dutt: “Bipasha is very nice to work with. She's very soft and gentle. I think she's a good actress.”

There's a lot of talk about the great friendship between you and Sunil Shetty. What's the deal?

Sunjay Dutt: “Sunil and I were always friends, but we really got close when we were shooting for 'Kaante'. But there was always a lot of respect and love for each other from the beginning.”