Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn (r), during the eighth season of ‘Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi’ semifinal shoot, in Mumbai, Sept. 19. (Press Trust of India)

While top stars are essaying roles younger than their actual age, actor Sanjay Dutt wants to create a new path for himself by playing his age on the silver screen. Having scaled the peak of stardom, Sanjay believes that other would-be superstars can also taste such success if they look beyond multiplexes.

Post his jail term, Sanjay Dutt is back with “Bhoomi.” The “PK” star plays the role of a father to Aditi Rao Hydari’s character.

The actor also has some eight to nine films in pipeline including the next in “Munnabhai” series, “Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3,” “Malang,” “Shiddat,” “Marco Bhau,” “Torbaaz,” Nishikanth Kamath’s untitled film.

“I am doing scripts according to my age and which I want to do. I think that is one slot or genre that is not tapped here in India. I want to do that,” Dutt told PTI.

“My thought process changed as I saw my beard getting white while I was in jail. Now I can’t be dancing around trees and dancing around college campus. I want to play roles around my age,” the actor says.

His contemporaries like the three Khans—Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar are romancing younger actresses and while Dutt is more keen to do a “mature love story where there is lot of performance.”

“I have played the role of father in ‘Mission Kashmir’ to Hrithik Roshan. My mother did ‘Mother India’ when she was 26, so I think actors who attempt to play the role of a father or mother, they are playing a character. And there is nothing to get scared of.”

Despite a huge line up of interesting films, Dutt says he deliberately chose Omung Kumar directed “Bhoomi” as his comeback film as it had a message despite being a commercial film.

The “Munna Bhai MBBS” actor says to achieve the kind of fame that he and his contemporaries still enjoy, young actors, apart from choosing meaty characters, should start focusing on audiences beyond multiplexes or urban cinema halls.

“It is possible to achieve what Salman or Shah Rukh or I have,” said the 58-year-old actor, still remembered for his memorable roles of ‘Ballu,’ ‘Raghu,’ ‘Munna,’ ‘Musabhai’ and ‘Kancha Cheena.’

“I believe the younger generation just needs to make right choices. They need to understand that India is not only about multiplexes, there is a lot of audience beyond that,” he told PTI.

The moment actors realize this, they start their journey to stardom, he said.

“The moment you reach out to the audiences in the interiors of the country you will start becoming the star. I think they should get down to making films for these people,” Dutt said.

The actor, who is essaying the role of a father in his comeback movie “Bhoomi,” said one of the key factors behind his success is the fact that he has not stuck to playing the conventional “hero.”

“I am not scared to play a character I believe in.

Whether it is ‘Mission Kashmir’ or ‘Agneepath,’ I have always tried to play a character and not just the hero.