Deadly Dutt in the boxing ring

Sanjay Dutt

At 64, Sanjay Dutt is enjoying diverse roles on screen. This was evident as the senior actor, on his birthday late last month, unveiled his look as Big Bull from his next, Double Ismart. Puri Jagannadh's directorial venture is a sequel to Ismart Shankar (2019), and sees Dutt join leading man Ram Pothineni. After taking it on floors in Mumbai in July, the unit recently headed to Bangkok for a three-week schedule that focuses on the action sequences.

Sources say that Jagannadh chose Thailand as the setting since the film boasts of elaborate Muay Thai sequences. A source reveals, "Puri sir is shooting across underground MMA [mixed martial arts] venues. They have hired a 100-member local crew who are all trained martial artists. A medical team, comprising doctors and physiotherapists, is present on set at all times. Sanjay was training hard over the past six months to pull off the stunts that will be canned in this schedule."
Like Ismart Shankar, the sequel - to be released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada - too will be a sci-fi entertainer. The source adds, "There is an AI expert present on the set, as the film heavily employs artificial intelligence."