Sanjay Dutt's beard plays villain

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, Nov 20 (IANS) Sanjay Dutt's schedule has gone haywire, all thanks to the beard that he has grown for his role in Mani Shankar's "Knock Out".

The beard was supposed to come off this month after the completion of the schedule for Shankar's film. But Sanjay's mentor, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, played the spoilsport when he asked him to campaign for the assembly elections in Maharashtra and it affected the shooting schedule.

"Sanjay Dutt was supposed to complete the current schedule of 'Knock Out' and then move on to Indra Kumar's 'Dhamaal Part 2', the next schedule of Anees Bazmi's 'No Problem' and the remaining portion of Bunty Walia's 'Lamhaa'.

"But suddenly Sanjay got a call from Amar Singh asking him to campaign for the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Sanjay immediately gave the dates required. As a result, his schedules were thrown off by two weeks," said the source.

Two weeks in itself would've not been such a setback were it not for the beard. Apparently, Sanjay refused to shave off the beard to work on other pending projects simultaneously with "Knock Out".

"Sanjay feels a false beard would cut into the authenticity of his character in 'Knock Out'. He refused to shave off the beard and take on the other projects after the delay caused by the assembly elections. He requested other producers to push dates until he could finish with his bearded look," said the source.

The actor has now decided he will hold a 'look' for his film even if it means cutting down on his assignments. In fact, after he was unable to shave off his beard during "Knock Out", he gave others producers the option of signing someone else.

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