Mumbai, Jul 30 (IANS): Actor Sanjay Dutt says that the much anticipated third part of the successful franchise "Munnabhai" will release in 2018.

At a media interaction on the occasion of his 57th birthday, Sanjay said: "My movie with (Vidhu) Vinod Chopra sahab will start in November, it is called 'Marco'. And after that, I am doing a film with Mahesh Manjrekar, it is a remake of 'De Dhakka', and then there is a good line-up of movies."

About "De Dhakka", he added, "It is a family film and it's about how a broken family reunites. He (Manjrekar) has adapted it well, let's see what happens."

Asked about "Munnabhai 3", he said, "2018."

Asked the reason for the delay, considering the excitement in fans for the film, he said: "That you should ask Raju Hirani and Vinod sir. Even I am waiting for 'Munnabhai'."

Recently, Arshad Warsi, whose character Circuit plays sidekick to Sanjay's Munnabhai, had stated that the film has got delayed as Hirani's biopic on Sanjay with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead is yet to go on floors despite initially being set to begin in June.

Asked about the biopic, Sanjay said: "First of all, I am not acting in it; I think it would be shot in February."

A special apperance maybe? "I don't know that I will ask Raju sir about it."

He also said, "I have started working out, I do martial arts. I spend four hours in the gym in a day. I have quit drinking. You should not drink alcohol. There is a very strict diet for me, grilled fish, grilled chicken and you have to eat what you eat in the hospital."

Sanjay was released from jail this February, after serving the remainder of his five-year sentence for illegal possession of arms.