Click to play videoActor Sanjay Dutt's political career didn't quite take off in the manner he expected it to but Dutt said he would remain involved with the Samajwadi Party. The actor has a series of releases scheduled for the coming months. First up, is the action-adventure Luck directed by Soham Shah. Dutt who turns 50 later this month says he isn't shying away from action just yet. He says his mind and body are in good shape.
Rajeev Masand: For a while your fans thought that they had lost you to politics. And now that you are back on the sets and signing new films, is it because the Samajwadi Party didn't come into power?
Sanjay Dutt: Absolutely not, I had maintained since the beginning that my first love is cinema, my family is the film industry. This was something that I had to do for myself. Amar Singh ji always said that, 'this is your first love and I'll never take you away from the film industry'.
Rajeev Masand: Will you continue to be involved with the party?
Sanjay Dutt: I'm the General Secretary of the party and I will definitely be involved in the party. But it isn't a field job, what a Member of Parliament has from a constituency. So I will be there to make decisions for the party.
Rajeev Masand: In both your forthcoming films, Luck and Blue, there is a lot of physical work involved. In Luck, there is this scene where you are dodging trains across railway tracks while you are blindfolded. In Blue, there is a segment of scuba diving involved and swimming with the sharks as well. You are pushing 50, does your body ever say enough?
Sanjay Dutt: I think it isn't the body, but the mind and one has to be above all that. Fifty is just an age I think and it is all in the mind. And thanks to Soham, he made me jump through all those trains, blindfolded. I had fun. In fact, I'm doing another film in 2011, for which I'm going to start really building my body and it's another challenge, I'll be 52 by then.
Rajeev Masand: When you see these young actors, Ranbir and Imran -who you are even working with in Luck - are you reminded of your own early days? You had a big star launch too?
Sanjay Dutt: My days were different than days today, things were different and films were different. There was a lot of respect and a lot of dignity. There was a lot of respect for seniors and elders. Things have changed a lot.
Rajeev Masand: What do you miss most about those days?
Sanjay Dutt: The togetherness. There was a lot of bonding in the film industry, which I don't see anymore. People used to stand for each other and be for each other. I'm not saying there wasn't any competition, there was. But it was a healthy competition and there were no egos.
Rajeev Masand: When you see some of your colleagues, 40-year-old actors like Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir, do you find it amusing to see 40-year-old men behaving like little kids?
Sanjay Dutt: I think these things shouldn't happen at all and we should stand by each other. I think that it is a very important reason that the film industry is kept on the side, because we are not one unit. If we were one unit we could make a difference in the industry.
Rajeev Masand: You haven't ever felt like taking them aside and patching them up?
Sanjay Dutt: They are all my younger brothers and I just wish and pray that everything works out and everything is good.
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