The Karnataka High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking to restrict actor Sanjay Dutt from acting in the upcoming Kannada film KGF: Chapter 2. The petitioner had sought to restrain the actor due to his conviction in the Mumbai bomb blast case.
Chief Justice Abhay Oka, responding to the petition, asked, "Which law says that a person who is convicted under an offence and has undergone sentence is prohibited from acting in a film?," while dismissing the petition, Livelaw reported.
Sanjay Dutt, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, was sentenced to six years in prison. He surrendered to serve his prison sentence in 2013 but he was released in 2016.
Last week, TNM reported that KGF: Chapter 2, the sequel to the 2018 film KGF: Chapter 1 starring actor Yash, was in its final stages of shooting. Karthik Gowda, the creative executive producer of Hombale Films, told TNM that 24 days of shooting was remaining when the shoot was stalled over the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak in India.
The shooting is set to resume this week. But Sanjay Dutt was reportedly diagnosed with lung cancer last week prompting the makers of the film to rethink their schedule. He is now set to take a break of three months before returning to shoot the film. The actor announced that he is taking a break in a social media post.
— Sanjay Dutt (@duttsanjay) August 11, 2020
KGF: Chapter 2 marks Sanjay Dutt's entry into the South Indian film industry. He is set to play the villain Adheera opposite Yash's role as Rocky in the sequel film. KGF:Chapter 1 was one of the biggest hits of 2018. It was directed by Prashanth Neel and also starred Srinidhi Shetty. The film was mostly shot at the Kolar Gold Fields near Bengaluru.
Sanjay Dutt's look in the sequel has been likened to the Vikings series and the makers of the film say the look is inspired from it.