Actress Prachi Desai, who is paired opposite Sanjay Dutt in 'Policegiri', says that his absence is a huge loss for the film.
Dutt, 53, has to serve 42 more months in jail following his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case which was upheld by the Supreme Court in March this year.
Dutt was shifted to the Pune jail last week in the wee hours due to security reasons and to avoid media glare.
"It is unfortunate that Dutt is not here. It is a huge loss for all of us. We all were upset and realised that it was a difficult situation and he held his strength," Prachi told PTI in an interview here.
"It is unfortunate. It is his greatness that he completed the project. He is a true superstar. A person of his stature can only do this. It is his this quality that brought him a long way," she said.
Prachi saw the original Tamil film (on which 'Policegiri' is based) and liked it despite not understanding the language.
"The novelty factor of this film is we love heroes playing police officers, but he (Sanjay Dutt) is not playing a conventionally good guy. He has grey shades and is playing a corrupt police officer. People will not be able to figure out whether he is a 'goonda' or a good guy," Prachi said.
As Dutt is serving his sentence in jail, Prachi feels it is her duty to promote the film.
"We will try to come up with innovative promotions. We will not let him down. Whether he is here or not we will promote the film," she said.
Heaping praises on Dutt, Prachi said, "He has a phenomenal personality...A strong aura. We know he is a wonderful actor. But he is very humble and endearing."
Though she worked opposite an experienced actor like Dutt, Prachi was not nervous and says she did not feel any pressure as Dutt made everybody comfortable.
"The project is important and special to him as he wanted to make this film for a long time," Prachi said.
Prachi also said it was quite an emotional time (the last days of shooting before Dutt's surrender) for the cast as well. "It was a difficult time but he kept his strength intact. When we saw him we had to hold our strength, we all gave every shot perfectly," she said.
