Ever since Sanjay Dutt refused to appear in a cameo in Total Dhamaal, certain sections of the press dissected and bisected his decision while several quarters, through their sources, attempted to provide a justification for it. Most of the reports suggest that Sanjay’s arduous schedule didn’t permit him to sign Total Dhamaal while others were also of the opinion that the 59-year-old actor wasn’t quite impressed with the plot of the film being reportedly centred on adult comedy.

It appears, however, that none of the aforementioned reasons are true. Total Dhamaal casts Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in the principal roles while Sanjay played a significant role in the first two parts of the franchise - Dhamaal (2007) and Double Dhamaal (2011). If a report in a leading daily is to be believed, Sanjay walked out of Total Dhamaal since he was offered a special appearance instead of a pivotal character in the film – Ajay is reportedly playing the lead role in the third part.

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"Indra Kumar (director] was keen on having Dutt in a special appearance. But the latter cited Prassthanam schedule and bowed out of the shoot. But it was easy to deduce that he was upset about being dropped from the franchise, and hence, didn't want to make a special appearance. Dutt is known to accommodate his friends' requests, but this was his way of showing his displeasure,” a unit hand was quoted as saying by the leading daily.

Although speculation has been constant in this regard, Sanjay hasn’t provided an official clarification on his “displeasure” so far.

Directed by Indra Kumar, Total Dhamaal co-stars Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh and Esha Gupta. The film is scheduled to release in December.

Sanjay was last seen in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 while his upcoming films include Torbaaz, Kalank and Panipat.