After working with Hrithik Roshan in his early days in the movie ‘Mission Kashmir’, Sanjay Dutt will work alongside him again in upcoming movie ‘Agneepath’.

According to Sanjay Dutt Hrithik Roshan has transformed from a nervous actor into a very confident and fine actor over the years.

“Then, I could see that nervousness in him. Today, Hrithik has grown to be a fine actor. It was a pleasure working with him in Agneepath,” he said to a leading daily.

Sanjay Dutt confessed that the main reason he agreed to don a negative role in the movie was because he was blown away by the script.

“Karan Johar (Agneepath's producer) came to meet me. He told me the role was a negative one. He added that he hadn't worked with me all these years as he couldn't offer me anything substantial. But he said Kancha Cheena was such a role. But it was when Karan Malhotra came and narrated the script that I was blown away by it. It was phenomenal!” he said.

The actor also added that Kancha Cheena is probably one of the best roles he was offered so far.

“I loved the character. Kancha Cheena is so complex, crazy, dark, unpredictable and larger-than-life. I was an anti-hero in Khalnayak but this guy was something out of this world! I have never seen or played a character so dark and evil. Yet though Kancha is a very dark character, his lines are very funny,” he said.

Sanjay Dutt’s sinister look and evil portrayal of Kancha Cheena has not just been received with immense positive response from the audience but also has helped in getting back the strong and sinister villains back into Bollywood movies.

“If I have done that, it is because of Karan Malhotra! He was very clear about what he wanted from the character. He had sketches of Kancha right from his look to the way he walked and talked. I found Kancha extremely challenging as I haven't ever done something so dark before. I am not like him. The other day when I was dubbing for Kancha for the climax, halfway through, I asked the director to just stop! When he asked why, I said I couldn't bear it anymore and needed to go for a smoke, soothe my nerves and then start dubbing again. I had to stop dubbing for half an hour as I couldn't bear to see myself as someone so wicked, evil and crazy. After the dubbing, I called Maanayata and told her I can't believe it's me doing that,” he said.

Interestingly this is the first time that Sanjay Dutt is working with Karan Johar.

“He's exactly like his father. Karan's large-heartedness, his passion to make films and the way he wants everything perfect for the cast and crew- from the food to the accommodations - reminds me of his dad. It felt like I was working in Gumraah again. One thing that Karan didn't do was make tea like his dad used to do. Every morning, Yash uncle would make tea for Sridevi, me and the rest of us and come to our rooms with it,” he said.

When asked how it felt to work with debutant director Karan Malhotra on a project as big as this he said, “For a producer like Karan Johar to give him a platform like Agneepath shows that the producer saw some potential. Karan Malhotra is most focused and knows exactly what he wants. He made life easy for me as an actor. Agneepath is his vision. If Karan didn't agree with what we said, he just didn't agree. I respect that.”