Sushant Singh turns truly versatile, ventures into comedy

Mumbai, July 4 (IANS) Bollywood actor Sushant Singh is often seen playing negative roles, but he doesn't want to be typecast and so has shifted his focus to comedies. He is looking forward to the release of his comic capers "Hulla" and "Idiot Box".

"I don't want to be typecast. I want to be a versatile actor. I have done negative as well as positive roles because I think my personality suits both kinds of role. I have enjoyed myself in comedy too," Sushant told IANS.

While "Idiot Box" is a spoof on TV where Sushant plays a creative head of a television channel, "Hulla" is a drama with the stock market as its main theme and he plays a stockbroker.

Sushant is still remembered for playing the ruthless killer Durga Narayan Choudhury in Ram Gopal Varma's "Jungle". His performance was highly appreciated and he won the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) award for best actor in a negative role for "Jungle".

Varma has also cast him in films like "Kaun", "Darna Mana Hai" and "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag".

Does he consider himself Varma's blue-eyed boy?

"I am nobody's blue-eyed boy and I also don't want to be one. I never call anyone for work. Whenever anyone thinks that there is some work for me, they call me."

Although he won the award for "Jungle", Sushant considers his performance in Raj Kumar Santoshi's "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" as his best till now.

"My performance as Sukhdev was the best till date. Normally, after playing a role, we have a feeling that we could have performed better if given another chance. But I don't think I can better my performance in the film. That was my best performance," said Sushant who idolises Pankaj Kapur and Om Puri as performers.

Sushant's next release is Mani Shankar's "Mukhbiir". Once again he will be seen in a negative role of an ambitious shooter in an underworld gang in Hyderabad. The film also stars Om Puri, Suneil Shetty, Rahul Dev, Rimii Sen and Sammir Dattani.

Apart from this, he will be seen doing some action scenes in "Lahore", which marks the debut of director Sanjay Chauhan. Then he plays a negative role in "Toss" which also stars Ashmit Patel, Aarti Chhabria, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rajpal Yadav and Ranveejay. The film is directed by debutant Ramesh Khatkar who has been an assistant to Varma.

"The shooting of all the films are complete and they are expected to be released this year," Sushant said.

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Hulla