If you thought, after seeing the trailer of Omung Kumar’s Friday release Bhoomi, that Sanjay Dutt’s comeback film will have the macho actor returning to the screen in a full-fledged action role – think again.

“There is more drama than action,” a source says. “Sanjay Dutt is playing the role of a devastated father; somebody who is traumatized by the terrible injustice and social stigma his daughter suffered, for which he undergoes much heartache. The veteran actor has had to call upon a range of expressions he has never before employed on the screen.”

Audiences are already looking forward to a revenge drama with high-octane action. “There is action, of course,” the source says. “But only toward the end. The climax is 20 minutes of brutal action when Sanjay Dutt, as the long-suffering father of Aditi Rao Hydari who plays his daughter, throws social niceties and legal recourse aside and goes after the men who raped his girl.”

So it’s confirmed, now. The fight scenes that show grittily Sanjay Dutt back to his old hardcore action ways of films like Vaastav and Khalnayak is contained in just 20 minutes in Bhoomi. “Omung wanted to tap his emotional side more than the action,” reveals the source.

Buzz is that the Central Board of Film Certification passed the film with a U/A certificate after 13 cuts that included the rape scene, plenty of bad language, and the bloody violence of the climax. Omung was unhappy with the last cut because Sanjay Dutt had worked hard on these sequences and in the bargain also suffered a fractured rib and bruises to his hand to make them look real.

Trade sources are waiting to see the reactions of Sanjay Dutt’s fans to his dramatic role in Bhoomi. The last time the actor was seen on screen was in a delightful cameo in Aamir Khan’s PK in 2014. Before that, he played violent roles in Ungli (2014), Zanjeer (2013) and Policegiri (2013). “But the thrill of having the Munna Bhai actor back on the screen will more than make up for the underplayed action in Bhoomi,” the source promises. “Moreover, the box office itself has had mixed reviews lately to action heroes playing non-violent roles. For instance, Akshay Kumar in Toilet-Ek Prem Katha, Salman Khan in Tubelight and Shah Rukh Khan in Jab Harry Met Sejal. So it will be interesting to see Sanjay Dutt walk down an unchartered course.”