MUMBAI (AFP) - Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt says he is focusing on getting back into shape for his next movie following his release on bail after being sentenced to six years for possessing illegal weapons.
"I have to do regular exercise and get back in proper shape and look like a hero. Theres lot of work to do and I hope to be in shape soon," Dutt told AFP as he returned to work late last week.
The 48-year-old actor -- known as "Deadly Dutt" for his macho image and portrayal of gangsters -- was released on bail in November, pending an appeal of his conviction to Indias Supreme Court.
When he was freed, Dutt had served nearly three months of his sentence handed down for possessing illegal weapons bought from plotters of the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people.
The star can remain out of jail until the outcome of his appeal to the Supreme Court, his lawyer Karan Singh told AFP. No date has been set for the appeal hearing, leaving Dutt free to pursue his star-studded career.
"I have many pending projects and I want to complete them first," Dutt said.
"Besides that I have started my own production house called Sanjay Dutt Productions that will produce four films in two years time," he said.
In his newest film, "EMI," which stands for Easy Monthly Installment, Dutt plays a loan recovery agent -- often dreaded in India for their violent tactics.
"Im not playing a villain but a loveable recovery agent," Dutt insisted.
The son of a politically prominent Hindu father and a Muslim mother who was an actress, Dutts off-screen life has been wracked by drug abuse and two failed marriages.
In the court case Dutt had testified he bought guns to protect his family from Hindu zealots who wanted to wreak revenge for his fathers help for Muslim victims of deadly 1993 Hindu-Muslim clashes.
Dutt, who has served a total of 551 days behind bars since his initial arrest in April 1993, said he had signed up for at least five Bollywood films before his latest stint in jail.
A "learning experience," was how he described his time in prison.
"One has to face that challenge and cannot run away from it. I will say: Face the problem and learn from it," Dutt said.
"You learn more and more from every problem of life and eventually you come out of it and get peace of mind."
Dutt was serving his sentence in the prison where Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi was incarcerated during British colonial rule.
Ironically, before his incarceration, Dutt played the role of a wise-cracking mobster in the hugely popular movie "Carry on Munnabhai" in which he meets Gandhis ghost, who steers Dutts character onto the path of righteousness and true love.
