Khalnayak to Leo: Sanjay Dutt’s ‘History of Violence’ as The Badass Antagonist of Indian Cinema

Khalnayak to Leo: A glimpse at Sanjay Dutt's 'History of Violence' as the badass antagonist of Indian cinema.

Khalnayak to Leo: Sanjay Dutt is currently in the best phase of his cinematic career. After his impressive cameo in Shah Rukh Khan’s blockbuster Jawan, the actor’s Tamil actioner Leo is all set for its grand release. Sanjay plays the main antagonist in the Thalapathy Vijay starrer noir action-thriller directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The movie is speculated to be a part of LCU (Lokesh Kanagaraj Cinematic Universe) and interconnected with Kamal Haasan’s Vikram and Karthi starrer Kaithi. Because of the film’s violent action scenes and posters, cinephiles are also coming with fan theories that Leo might be inspired by the Hollywood action-thriller A History of Violence (2005). However, Sanjay, who recently essayed the villain’s role in Shamshera and KGF: Chapter 2 has had a long on-screen with violence.

SANJAY DUTT’S LEO AVATAR HAILED BY NETIZENS:

WORLD OF #LEO pt2💥

✓ #AntonyDas looks DEADLY villan🔥 hatsoff for casting this man of screen presence💥🔥

✓ #HaroldDas this man is gonna make huge SAMBAVAM for sure and his portions are less/protected🥵🔥💥#ThalapathiVijay #LeoTrailer #AnirudhRavichander #LokeshKanagaraj pic.twitter.com/u0bmTj6Zcc

— Review Rocket (@AtharshSravan) October 5, 2023

SANJAY DUTT’S TRANSFORMATION FROM BOY-NEXT-DOOR TO ANTI HERO

Leo‘s Antony Das aka Sanjay made his Bollywood debut as the lover boy in Rocky (1981) directed by Sunil Dutt. The actor later tasted success with Subhash Ghai’s Vidhaata (1982) and Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam (1986). However, it was Subhash Ghai’s Khalnayak that turned out to be the game-changer in his movie career. The cult classic, co-starring Jackie Shroff and Madhuri Dixit, paved way for Sanjay’s larger-than-life persona as the anti-hero and villain in many commercial films. He also witnessed a tough phase due to his alleged involvement in 1993 bomb blasts case and charges against him for possession of AK-47 rifle under the Arms Act. Although Sanjay served his jail-term, often parallels were drawn between his on-screen roles and off-screen controversial life. It was only when Rajkumar Hirani’s Munna Bhai series changed the narrative.

SANJAY DUTT’S KNACK IN PLAYING ANTI-HERO CHARACTERS

Sanjay played negative and grey roles after his return from jail in movies like Jung, Vaastav, Kaante, Hathiyar, Musafir and Plan. The actor was only being offered gangster characters due to his bad-boy image and physique since he was among the initiators of gym culture among actors followed by Salman Khan. The actor did experiment with comedies like Haseena Maan Jayegi, Khoobsurat, Jodi No 1 and All The Best, but the masses always expected him as the Khalnayak (anti-hero) in films. Sanjay reprised Danny’s Kancha Cheena in Hrithik Roshan starrer Agneepath remake that depicted the on-screen clash of the two actors with hand-to-hand combat. The actor’s ability to transcend into the dark space of underworld was spot-on in Yash starrer KGF: Chapter 2. Apart from being a fitness enthusiast at 64, Sanjay’s range as a performer is also one of the reasons audiences are geared up to witness him as Antony Das in Leo.

Leo releases on October 19, 2023. It also stars Trisha Krishnan and Govind Vasudev Menon in crucial roles.