Sanjay Dutt to star in Mahesh Manjrekar's next

Mumbai: Actor Sanjay Dutt, who celebrates his 57th birthday today, has been finalised to play the lead in director Mahesh Manjrekar's next, which is a remake of 2008 superhit Marathi film 'De Dhakka'.

Manjrekar and Dutt have earlier collaborated in films like 'Vaastav', 'Kurukshetra', 'Hathyar' and 'Rakht'.

"I met Sanju after a long while and I realised he has matured a lot, looked fresh and fit. Initially, I was contemplating working with him on something different, that would surprise the audience," the filmmaker said in a statement.

"Then 'De Dhakka' came and I felt it was the perfect subject. Sanjay will have the family audience and youth rooting."

The film, which will be a laugh riot blending with an emotional journey of a family, is being produced by 'Sarbjit' filmmaker Omung Kumar and Sandeep Singh.

"We are really proud to come into an association with Maheshji as producers and are very confident that De Dhakka's remake in Hindi will impress the audiences and critics equally as it did in Marathi," the producer duo said.