Sanjay Dutt to play Sher Khan in 'Zanjeer' remake

Mumbai: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is all set to play the role of Sher Khan in the remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer 1973 hit 'Zanjeer'. The highly anticipated project directed by Apoorva Lakhia, also stars southern star Ram Charan Teja and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra in the lead, who play the role of Vijay and Mala.

Sher Khan's role was made famous by veteran actor Pran in the Prakash Mehra directed film. While Dutt will be seen as Sher Khan in the Hindi version of 'Zanjeer', actor Sonu Sood is on board to play the same role in the Telugu version of the film, which is being shot simultaneously.

Produced by Reliance Entertainment, Adai Mehra Productions and Flying Turtle Films, 'Zanjeer' will hit theatres next year.

Mehra, son of late Prakash Mehra, says that 'Zanjeer' remake will have a promotional song with Priyanka Chopra and Ram Charan Teja featuring in it.

"Yes, we have a promotional song in the film which will be shot in January 2013. This is a special song with Priyanka and Ram Charan. But I want to clarify that we are not mixing any songs from the original version. It will be altogether a fresh song," said Amit, who is producing the film.

The 'Zanjeer' unit is all set to fly to Hyderabad for the next schedule.

"We have our next schedule from the mid of November in Hydrabad. It's a 20-day schedule. Later we will come back to Mumbai. We have one more schedule in Mumbai in December," said Amit.

Prakash Mehra had directed and produced the original 'Zanjeer' and when it released in 1973, its stupendous success catapulted Amitabh into stardom.

There were reports that Sanjay Dutt walked out of 'Zanjeer' but Amit said: "Sanjay Dutt has always been our first choice. We are glad that he is part of our film. Initially, he had dates problem but now it's sorted and he is playing Sher Khan in the Hindi version and Sonu Sood will be playing Sher Khan in the Telugu version."

The film is expected to come out early next year.

"I have to work on both Hindi and Telugu projects, so it's too early to talk about the release date but it should be somewhere in the early 2013."