Sanjay Dutt to play Pritam Singh in Home Production

By Subhash K Jha

Sanjay Dutt's quirky unconventional cop's part in Zilla Ghaziabad may not have gone down too well with Mumbai's critics. But the film has been liked in UP and Bihar. And Sanjay Dutt has fallen in love with his character of the real-life unconventional cop Pritam Singh.

Sanjay Dutt will now produce a film where he will again play the notorious real-life cop from Ghaziabad. The film entitled Pritam has been written by the Zilla Ghaziabad writer Vinay Sharma.

However there is an interesting twist to the tale, as Vinod Bachchan the producer of Zilla Ghaziabad has planned a sequel to the film.

Confirming these developments the Zilla Ghaziabad writer Vinay Sharma says, `Yes, Mr Sanjay Dutt has decided to carry the character of the unorthodox cop Pritam Singh forward. He will be playing the same character in a film called Pritam which Dutt Saab is producing. I've already written the script. `

Sharma who hails from Ghaziabad reveals interesting details about Pritam Singh, `This cop was summoned to Ghaziabad to eliminate the gang war between two powerful groups in the city. Pritam Singh used the criminal Satbir Gujjar played in the film by Vivek Oberoi, as his right-hand man.

Pritam put Satbir into a khaki uniform and used him to eliminate criminals. These and the other characters are very much part of Ghziabad's past history. `

Sharma says not even 40 percent of his script for Zilla Ghaziabad was shot. `My original script was far more comprehensive and powerful. Key scenes with Mr Dutt were not shot. Many things went wrong. `

Sharma has already penned the sequel for Zilla Ghaziabad. Given the scenario one wonders how Sanjay Dutt can `borrow` the character of the hero in Zilla Ghaziabad and use him in another context.

Explains Vinay Sharma, `The script I've written for Sanjay Dutt Productions only features the same cop-hero Pritam Singh. Otherwise it is a totally different plot from Zilla Ghaziabad. `