Sanjay will be pitted against Amitabh

Sanjay Dutt will be pitted against Amitabh Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh in his next Aladdin

Of late, Sanjay Dutt has been hitting the gym regularly and following a strict diet regime. He has been avoiding pub-hopping lest his friends pour drinks down his throat. Not too many know that all these measures are part of the actor's preparations for Sujoy Ghosh's ambitious film, Aladdin. Dutt plays a towering tyrant who has the capacity of covering the sun in this Bollywood version of the popular Arabian Nights story of Aladdin.

Dutt will also get a makeover of sorts for the film, which hits the floors in August. Director Sujoy Ghosh and Dutt have had a few meetings last week to discuss the look of the character. The actor plays a happy-go-lucky individual who derives vicarious pleasure by hurting others. Adds Ghosh, "Sanju will sport this impish devil-like smile all through the film. There's a mischievous kid in him who spoils the show for others."

If sources are to be believed, the plot has Amitabh Bachchan (who plays the Genie) and Dutt engaging in fierce fighting sequences. Dutt is an antagonist to the good-hearted Genie. Director Ghosh refuses to divulge many details. He says: "Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt are surely going to light up the screen. While I have grown up on Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt is the rockstar I have always adored. Dutt is going to be the surprise package."

However, our sources insist that Dutt wages a battle on Riteish Deshmukh (Aladdin) and Bachchan (the Genie). "The story has a modern set-up. Bachchan and Dutt are the good and evil forces respectively," says the same source.