Regardless of where he is in his career or his personal life, Sanjay Dutt has always been an open book. From time to time, he has looked within to gather the strength to get past the tall hurdles and achieve the goals he had set for himself. For instance, right now, he’s eager to bring machismo, swagger and larger-than-life characters back into vogue. In a chat with Bombay Times, the actor spoke about his character Adheera in KGF - Chapter 2, what drove him to make his debut in Kannada cinema after 40 years in Hindi films, braving cancer and more:

I don’t know what happened to me, but I felt that I was not taking care of myself adequately as a person and as an actor. I wondered why I was missing out on the one thing that I have loved doing all my life. The day I felt strongly about it, I went back to the gym. It’s extremely hard to go back after two-three years, but I pushed myself. It has been nearly two months now, and I feel good about myself already. I’ve another six months to go before I achieve what I am aiming for. It’s good to be in that headspace where I know that I can do this after what I went through with lung cancer. It’s also medically good for me. I was doing cardio exercises without much of a hassle, but I had to consult my doctors before taking any health and fitness supplements.

God has been kind to me. When it was detected, it was a kind of a jolt for my family and me. I knew I had to stay focussed and remember that I had to beat this. I was told about how chemotherapy would affect me before we went in for it.

I was kind of prepped about its side-effects like hair loss, vomiting and weakness. I was sure I wasn’t going to let the toxins get the better of me. So, after every session, I used to come back home and spin on the cycle machine for two hours. I would get the excess toxins out. When I would get chemotherapy done in Dubai, I would play badminton for two hours and follow a healthy diet. The only way I know to combat a problem is to take it head-on.

My wife Maanayata is a huge fan of KGF - Chapter One. She had asked me to watch it. I enjoyed it, too. The team from KGF — Yash and director Prashanth Neel — got in touch with me through my family friend, Deepak Patel. I was amazed with Yash and Prashanth’s dedication and humility. The character Adheera that they had for me was larger than life and yet had these wonderful human qualities. We worked on the character’s looks, how he would behave, and so on. I loved what was offered to me — the vision, the story and the passion that was backing everything.

Clearly! It was like I had been transported back to the 90s. It was so beautiful — the energy, the vibe and the passion and dedication that each member of that team showed towards the film. Everyone was putting in their best, treating the movie like their own baby, which I feel is missing to a certain extent here in our industry. Passion nikal gaya hai yaar! That passion has to come back. Prashanth, for me, is easily one of the best directors we have in the country. He has fantastic vision, and he knows the pulse of the audience. I would have said the same thing about him even before working on the film because I felt that on the narration table, too. He gave me the vibe that I felt from stalwarts like Subhash Ghai and Mahesh Bhatt saab.

We had this period between the Coronavirus lockdowns when we had to shoot those action scenes. I was offered a body double because both Yash and Prashanth wanted to tread very carefully, especially with my health. They offered to shoot the climax on a green screen. When I heard them, I told them that they should stick to the material as they had narrated it to me. In fact, I even told them that if they didn’t do it, I wouldn’t shoot. I wanted that dust, the mud and the smoke. I wanted the scene to come alive when we shot the climax. I wanted to do it the way it had been imagined. They agreed, but they were still wary of how things would turn out. I don’t blame them because they just wanted to take care. After the first day’s shoot, when everything went off smoothly, I could see the reassurance on their faces. And yes, I performed all the stunts by myself because it reassured me as a person. I felt really good and strong inside.

Yes, and KGF came as a relief. I’ve grown up watching Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan), Dharam ji (Dharamendra) and Vinod saab (Vinod Khanna) play these macho men. I came into the industry doing those same things that I had seen. And then suddenly, it was all lost somewhere. When I got back to the movies a few years ago, I worked on a couple of films like Prassthanam and others, none of which made me happy, till KGF came along. I was so happy on the sets of this film. This is the heroism we saw in our cinema until a few years ago. This is what it has to be like if you intend to entertain the whole country and the masses everywhere. We forget out here that our main audience is the junta sitting across states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, MP and so on. We have to cater to them. I have realised that my audience does not like to see me looking weak on screen. And that is what I am going to keep in mind as I go along the way.