Papa Ranjeet is back – This time with John

By Bollywood Hungama -

May 2, 2012 - 1:20 AM IST

In his two scene appearance as 'Papa Ranjeet', yesteryear baddie Ranjeet was a riot as a lusty 'the-rapist' in Housefull 2. Though it was Akshay Kumar who enjoyed maximum screen time opposite Ranjeet in the Sajid Khan film, his partner-in-crime had to watch the scenes unfold from a distance. Not anymore though as they would be sharing screen space in Shootout At Wadala where Ranjeet would be making a comeback in a villainous avtar that he is been known for.

"Ranjeet would return as a smuggler in Shootout At Wadala and has a powerful verbal encounter with John Abraham. He would be enacting the role of Bhaskar Dada, a notorious smuggler from the 70s Mumbai. John, who plays Manya Surve in the film, would be getting into a face-off of sorts with Ranjeet and there is a power game being played between the two", informs a source.

Papa Ranjeet is back – This time with John

The sequence involves quite some heavy duty dialogue-baazi and since the film has been set in the 70s, director Sanjay Gupta wanted someone in this role who understood the essence of the era gone by.

Continues the source, "There are only two actors who could have played Bollywood smugglers from the 70s - Ajit and Ranjeet. Since Ajit saab is no more, the next obvious choice was Ranjeet. Gupta approached the veteran actor with quite some apprehension but was pleasantly surprised when Ranjeet was glad to comply. Even though it's a small part, the sequence with John is nothing less than powerhouse."

For Ranjeet, who of late has been in a voluntary retirement of sorts and is seen only in one off comic roles, Shootout At Wadala came as an exciting preposition since he could get back to wearing the villain's shoes all over again.

"Even John was mighty excited when told that he would have to get into a verbal encounter with Ranjeet", says Gupta, "He regretted the fact that it was only Akshay who enjoyed a good screen presence with Ranjeet in Housefull 2. Now with Shootout...., he wants to make the most out of sharing the same frame as one of the biggest villains of all times."

How about adding Prem Chopra to the film as well? Now that would just add on to the villainy!