After locking Ranbir Kapoor, YRF signs Sanjay Dutt for Shamshera

Superstar Sanjay Dutt, who made his comeback to films with Omung Kumar's revenge drama Bhoomi, has been signed to play a cruel and heartless villain in Yash Raj Films’ upcoming production venture, Shamshera, which stars Ranbir Kapoor in the title role.

The production house took to their official Twitter handle to share the news with the world. “We’ve got an ultimate casting coup! Our upcoming action-adventure #Shamshera has a roaring villain against #RanbirKapoor. It’s the one & only #SanjayDutt | @duttsanjay | @karanmalhotra21 | @ShamsheraMovie,” read the tweet on the official page of the premier production banner.

Revealing what made him cast Sanjay Dutt in the role of a villain, director Karan Malhotra explains, “Shamshera is a ferocious and fearless character in the film. Therefore his nemesis, the villain had to be even more fierce and monumental in every aspect. Who better than Sanjay sir to give us that impact on screen?”

In spite of working in Bollywood for close to four decades now, Sanjay Dutt has never been a part of a Yash Raj Films' movie. Shamshera will mark his first association with the production house.

"My father and Yash (Chopra) uncle were very close friends and now that I'm doing my first YRF film, it is an extremely emotional moment for me. When I hear Karan's idea to pit Ranbir against me, I thought it was just brilliant. I'm looking forward to shooting this incredibly exciting film, my second with the hugely talented Karan Malhotra," said the actor in his official statement.

Shamshera goes to the sets later this year.