Action replay for Sanjay Dutt's new innings

Handout movie stills of Sanjay Dutt from ''Department''.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - When Bollywood moved towards romances and comedies in a bid to lure audiences at the turn of the century, former action star Sanjay Dutt says he was left twiddling his thumbs and wondering how to salvage his career.

Dutt, who made his debut in "Rocky" in 1981, said he was comfortable doing action films but had to adjust and switch genres when Bollywood stopped making those films in the last decade.

"It's not easy to do comedy or try your hand at romance," the 52-year-old actor said. "Me, Jackie (Shroff) and Anil (Kapoor) all started out at the same time as action heroes, and we used to meet each other and ask what happened."

Things have changed in the past two years with the box-office success of action films such as "Dabanng", "Bodyguard" and "Singham" and Dutt said he was happy to return to hard-core action in his upcoming film "Department".

The actor has had his share of ups and downs, with his career punctuated by stints in prison for arms possession, two rocky marriages and a brief, ill-fated entry into politics.

"I made a mistake entering into politics -- everyone makes mistakes, don't they? I realised that I wasn't cut out for it," Dutt said. "My father was in politics, but he was never a politician."

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar)