/> Sanjay Dutt is all set to follow his illustrious father and mother into the realm of politics.

"Yes, if I get a ticket I'll stand for the next elections. But not without making sure that I can devote enough time to my constituency. I don't want to be a sleeper politician.

There's no point in taking on more responsibility unless I've the time. Nowadays I'm so busy with my film assignments I hardly get to time to sleep properly. This is the best phase of my career and I'm thankful to God for giving me another chance to rebuild my life."

Sanjay sees politics as an opportunity to give back to the public what he has received in abundance.

"But to do that I've to make sure I'm not a sleeper constituent. I don't want the people who elect me to turn around and say, 'Arrey yaar kuch kar nahin rahe ho.

'If I'm given a ticket to contest elections I'll have to do a complete re-think about it because an opportunity like that (to enter active politics) won't come to me repeatedly. And yes, if I've to, I'll cut down on my assignments to accommodate my political career."

At the moment Sanjay Dutt is booked till the end of 2010 with assignments at the going rate of Rs 12 crores per film, thanks to his dear friend Suneil Shetty who set the trend by paying Sanjay the price he, Suniel, thought the super-Dutt deserved.

"I've never been happier both personally and professionally. I'm doing great work. I work only with the people I'm comfortable with. I've wonderful friends like Anna (Suniel Shetty) and a truly amazing wife to go back to the end of the day. What more can I ask for?" Sanjay Dutt has never sounded happier.

His next two releases are Kidnap and EMI. "And both give me a chance to move completely away from the gangster's role that I've been doing repeatedly. Very honestly I was getting bored of that.

In Kidnap for the first time I got to work with Sanjay Gadhvi who's a wonderful director. But what I really enjoyed in Kidnap was working with Imran Khan. He's so confident before the camera.

I really wish him well. I know he'll be a big star. Again EMI is a comedy and yet very relevant to today's lifestyle.Quite like my Munnabhai. The director Saurav Kabra is new, but so sure of what he wants.

I like working with all this new talent that has come into the industry.I think this is one of Hindi cinema's best phases."

Sanjay Dutt can never say no to friends, and that's always been a problem.He agreed to sing on stage at the music release of Suneil Shetty's and Ekta Kapoor's EMI. But he finally opted out.

"I really enjoy singing and playing the guitar. In fact I'd love to do a film like Rock On. But I don't think I'm ready to sing on stage.

If you see I never perform at awards functions. I'm not comfortable doing it. I can't dance. But I like to sing. Yes, I do enjoy playback singing. And I've sung in films. But I can't sing live.

So I informed Anna (Suniel) and Ekta that I'll just fly back for the day on 19th September, " says Sanjay from Bangkok where he has been shooting non-stop for the underwater film Blue.

"In fact I flew back to India to Bhatinda a fortnight ago to honour the boxers from Haryana who got us the bronze from the Olympics. When they asked me to be their brand ambassador for boxing I was deeply honoured. I met our boys and told them it's a big responsibility to be an ambassador for their sport."

One of the Olympian boxers Akhil Kumar is a huge Sanjay Dutt fan. "This kind of love and adulation puts a big responsibility on my shoulders. I've to be very careful about my public image. But I'm not going into politics to improve my image. I want to make a difference in my own little way."

Sanjay intends to take his job as a sports ambassador very seriously. "Except for cricket and tennis, all games are neglected in India. Even football....we don't come anywhere on the world map. Our game is played so slowly compared with international football."