The all-time loved ‘Bad Boy’ of the B-industry-Yes, we are talking about Sanjay Dutt.
I am pretty sure you might have had the chance to get a glimpse of this bad-boy’s roller-coaster life. He keeps making the headlines after every now and then.
You all have come across his name in newspapers and channels, have heard rumors about him being involved in Mumbai blasts. You have read about his movies, his arrests and what not…..
But, do you know the entire truth?
Let’s take a peek through his life story!
Sanjay Dutt was born on 29th Jul 1959, to very famous actors- Sunil Dutt and Nargis.
He rocked the B-industry with his first movie- Rocky and made fans across the country. But Sanjay’s life isn’t only about wealth and fame. Life is unpredictable and it doesn’t spare anyone. Not even Sanjay!
The Drug possession and abuse
In 1982, Sanjay’s mother passed away. His life came crashing down to his feet. He started doing a lot of drugs and even got arrested for drug possession.
He ended up spending 5 months in jail. Naturally, the family and relatives got worried and to get him back on track, they sent him off to a rehab in Texas, USA.
In Sanjay’s words, “When my father took me to America (for rehab), they gave me a list (of drugs) and I ticked every drug on it because I had taken all of them. The doctor told my dad, ‘What kind of food do you eat in India? Going by the drugs he did, he should be dead by now!’
With a strong willpower and determination, Sanjay got over his addiction. After he returned from the rehab, he went on to star in the year’s highest grossing movie-Vidhaata.
For the next few years, he kept a distance from the B-industry and didn’t work on any project.
The hidden beginning of a downfall
Sanjay never imagined that his next project is going to get him in so much trouble. It all started when he flew to Dubai for his next shoot-Yalgar, produced by Feroz Khan.
While shooting, Feroz Khan introduced him to Dawood Ibrahim. In the following days, it became a regular thing for the D-gang members to visit the shooting location.
During one of such visits, Sanjay was introduced to Anees- (Dawood’s brother) – who then started frequently visiting the movie sets.
To make it appear casual, as a hospitality, the entire crew was invited to a party where Sanjay Dutt along with others met Iqbal Mirchi, Sharad Shetty, and Chota Rajan. (important members of the D-gang)
There were several other parties held as a part of refreshment that involved all the gang members and the movie crew.
Meanwhile in Mumbai
After coming back from Dubai, he continued with his regular life. He probably brushed off the entire meeting as a part of the shoot. But little did he know, what those meetings would lead to.
Continuing with his profession, he signed a film ‘Sanam’ with the proprietors of Magnum Video -Hanif Kadawala and Samir Hingora. Dutt had no idea that they were related to the D-gang and started working on the project.
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The Babri Masjid Demolition
In 1992, a massive riot broke out in Mumbai because of the demolition of Babri Masjid. Thousands of people died and Sanjay was reluctantly dragged in the middle of chaos. The reason behind this was his father involvement in social services.
Sunil Dutt being an active political member of Congress and Lok Sabha – was organizing aids for the victims.
Because of this reason, he started receiving death threats and got branded as a pro-Muslim person. Naturally, Sanjay became concerned about the safety of his family.
What urged Sanjay Dutt to possess arms?
His tension rose to the maximum when his dad was attacked in Jogeshwari, and after that in Behrampura.
After bearing two attacks on his father, Sanjay’s patience ran out. He was fed up of constantly receiving threats to kill his father and molest or rape his sisters.
Moreover, the local police provided zero help in this situation. This further pissed him off. Instead of taking any harsh actions, he started thinking about what to do. He casually mentioned these threats to his friends and other people including Samir and Hanif.
What lead to the possession of AK-56?
Sanjay never imagined that discussing the matter with them would start a chain of events which he would later regret.
It all began when both of these men insisted Sanjay to have an automatic weapon. Since he had no idea about the background of the entire plot, he hesitated first but later agreed to take the gun for his family’s safety.
The Doomsday of Sanjay’s Life!
The day of 16th Jan 1993 probably can be called the day that Sanjay wants to delete from his life. This was the day when Samir and Hanif accompanied by Salem and Baba Mussa delivered the arms and ammunition to him.
It contained 3 AK-56 rifles, 9 magazines, 450 cartridges, a 9mm pistol and over 20 hand grenades.
What actually happened?
Sanjay was unaware of the fact that – the ammunition he received was actually a part of a massive consignment. In reality, Dawood wanted to use this to arm his Muslim brothers for the upcoming attacks.
Dawood Ibrahim’s D-gang was successful in smuggling the explosives and weapons and stealthily distributed it among various underworld elements. On the other hand, Sanjay was unaware of this whole story and was feeling safe after possessing the guns.
When Sanjay smelled threat!
Sanjay felt something was fishy at the back of his mind. And maybe he knew that the inevitable is going to happen. Thinking calmly, he came down to the decision to return all the ammunition except one AK-56 and a few other arms.
He also believed that a D-Gang member Yusuf Nullwala subsequently destroyed them as well. But, sadly that wasn’t the reality!
Did it work?
No, it didn’t! Until now, Sanjay was unaware of the crime he had committed. On the other side, the police authority was successful in finding out that Sanjay Dutt had acquired weapons from Anees Ibrahim.
The evidence was enough to get him arrested in April 1993. And for that, the charges were illegal possession of arms (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
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In Sanjay’s words- When MN Singh (the then Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mumbai) came and said that I was being booked in the Mumbai blast case, I broke down. I was like, ‘How can you expect me to blast my own city? Go against my country?’ He said, ‘I am sorry, but I have to arrest you’.’
Shatrughan Sinha’s response to a question about whether or not Dutt knew in advance of the planned attack on the Bombay Stock Exchange —“Don’t be ridiculous; Sanjay doesn’t even know what a stock exchange is”
The arrest !
A huge convoy of armed forces was waiting on the Mumbai airport to arrest Sanjay as soon as his flight landed. He was shocked to see the number of cops waiting to escort him. Sadly, he had to spend the next two years in jail.
In Sanjay’s words- “When I reached Bombay airport, tab woh purana wala airport tha, I was coming down from the slide, and I saw 50,000 policemen pointing their guns at me, as if I was Osama Bin Laden.“
In Oct 1995, he got a pinch of relief by the Supreme Court and his bail was granted. The subsequent trails went on and off for the next 13 years and meanwhile, he worked on a few massive projects.
It was during this time he got his second famous nick-name -“Munna Bhai”. Everything seemed to be going smooth and the case trials were kind of put on hold.
The Judgement Days
In a shocking turn of events, on 31st July 2007, Sanjay Dutt received the sentence to jail for 6 years. His world was destroyed in a matter of seconds. But he didn’t lose hope.
In Sanjay’s words-‘In the Pune jail, there are flies all over, billions of flies, in your hair, in your clothes and even in your food. Main makkhi nikaal kar daal pi jaata tha, mera co-accused daal nahin peeta tha. Maine usko bola, ‘Yaar, tu kab tak bhookha rahega?’ Usne poocha, ‘Tu makkhi wali daal kaise pi jata hai?’ Toh maine bola, ‘Yahan protein nahin milta hai, daal mein protein hota hai’.’
After several visits and hearings, the conviction was finally upheld by the Supreme Court in 2013.
By this time, he was fed up with being slashed and pointed out as a criminal – who was still out of jail, just because he was a rich and powerful actor. He even broke down after appearing for one such press-conference.
To end all of this misery, he surrendered before a special court in Mumbai that tried cases under TADA.
Finally, the 23-year long trial came to end on 16th May 2013. As he had already served few months in prison, the court sentenced him to serve for another 42 months.
The Final Chapter
He began serving his sentence and kept trying to find out ways to survive. He even tried to get out of the jail by filing a curative petition.
But sadly, it was rejected by the Supreme Court. The next three years were a living hell for him. But he found out ways to make the most of his time and started working on his fitness.
In Sanjay’s words- ‘Kaun kehta hai gym nahin toh workout nahin kar sakte? Maine jail mein kiya. I was 110kg before I went to jail because I was drinking like a dog. One day, I was having a bath (in jail) and I looked at myself and thought, ‘Yaar mera pet kuch zyada hi nikal gaya hai. Sanjay, kuch toh sharm kar yaar‘. Then I started running in the yard, lifting huge buckets of water. I used to hit nails (sic) in the wall till my knuckles hurt and wrists swelled. But still, I used to do it every day, because I wanted to break through the pain.’
But everything comes to an end…whether good or bad. Sanjay finally got the much-craved freedom on 25th Feb 2016. tears of joy rolled out when he reunited with his family.
He believes that his life taught him so much and made him strong. His bio-pic -‘Sanju’ is just around the corner and we all are excited to know more about this badass actor!
Watch the trailer here-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NcCR8_BqB0
In conclusion, Sanjay’s life is anything but- a regular one. Additionally, the kind of grave situations he faced and still fought to survive is definitely commendable.
Seems like, it is for the same reason that he deserves the upcoming biopic ‘SANJU’.
Way to go Munna Bhai- Hats off to you Bad Boy!!
