Sanjay Dutt set to turn director

Sanjay Dutt is easily in the best phase of his life. With as many as four films keeping him busy this year and the next including the soon-to-release magnum opus Kalank, and several others in the pipeline, the actor is busy juggling life between home and work. However, Sanjay Dutt, in an exclusive interview with us revealed that he will also be turning director soon. And what’s more, work on the project has already begun. Yes, that’s right. The star already has a production house and is now working towards making his directorial debut in 2021.

Talking about the project, Sanjay Dutt tells us that he has already locked in the story for his ambitious project. And guess what, the story revolves around none other than Dutt’s ancestors. Talking about it, Dutt shares, “It’s a historical film. It’s about my ancestors – the Mohyals, they were the Hussaini Kshatriya Brahmins who fought the War of Karbala for the grandson of the Prophet.” As for the role that he will be playing, he reveals, “I will be playing Rahib Sin Datt who led the Mohyals. The film is currently in the writing process, as we will have to take permissions and work out the logistics.”

For those of you who don’t know, the Battle of Karbala was fought in 680 AD between Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn Ibn Ali and Yazid I who was the Umayyad Caliph. Rahib Sin had fought on the side of Husyn Ibn Ali and had even sacrificed seven of his sons in the war that saw them massively outnumbered on the battlefield, by Yazid’s military forces. It is said that they were 72, while the enemies numbered in several hundreds.

Meanwhile, the star is gearing up for the release of the much-awaited film Kalank that has him share screen space with Madhuri Dixit after two decades. The film produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, Sajid Nadiadwala and Fox Star Studios also stars Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur. The film releases on April 17.