After Sanjay Dutt’s conviction by the Supreme Court (SC), there were rounds of media reports about the actor’s upcoming films and whether he would be able to complete his parts. He had a cameo in Raj Kumar Gupta’s Ghanchakkar, and some reports stated that he might be able to finish filming it. However, the film’s leading lady, Vidya Balan, has now confirmed that Sanjay will no longer be part of the film. “It’s not happening because he has other work to finish now, but we will miss having him in the film,” says Vidya, who has shared a long and comfortable rapport with Sanjay since her debut film Parineeta (2005), in which he played one of the leads.

Vidya was paired opposite Sanjay in Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), the second instalment of Rajkumar Hirani’s successful Munna Bhai franchise. She hasn’t lost hope of getting to work with him again. “I hope we will be working in other films in the future,” says Vidya, who has also worked with Sanjay in Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007). Sanjay was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case and has to serve a jail term of five years. The actor has already served 18 months of the sentence and has a couple of weeks to surrender and serve the rest. He is currently hurrying to finish off his big films such as Apoorva Lakhia’s Zanjeer remake and Rajkumar Hirani’s P.K.