Sanjay Dutt was born Sunjay Balraj Dutt on July 29, 1959, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He is a member of the famous Dutt family, and the son of the cinema actors Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt) and Nargis (born Fatima Rashid). He has two sisters, Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. His mother died in 1981, shortly before his debut film's premiere; her death is cited as the instigator of his drug abuse.
Dutt was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar. After graduating from school, he entered Elphinstone College in Mumbai. It was during his college days that he got addicted to heavy drugs which later caused him a lot of trouble.
As a child actor, Dutt appeared briefly as a qawali singer in the 1972 film Reshma Aur Shera, which starred his father. He later made his Bollywood movie debut with the box-office super hit Rocky in 1981. Dutt then went on to star in Vidhaata, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1982, along with film veterans Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. He also starred in movies like Main Awara Hoon (1983). In 1985 he shot Jaan Ki Baazi, his first film in two years.
The 1986 film Naam was a turning point in Dutt's career, it was a major commercial and critical success. Dutt appeared in successful films throughout the 1980s such as Imaandaar, Inaam Dus Hazaar, Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988), Mardon Wali Baat (1988), Ilaaka (1989), Hum Bhi Insaan Hain (1989), Kanoon Apna Apna (1989) and Taaqatwar. His performances in both Kabzaa (1988) and J. P. Dutta's 1989 Hathyar were both well received by critics although both films only managed average collections at the box office. In the late 1980s he was seen in a number of multi-starrers alongside actors like Govinda, Mithun, Dharmendra, Jackie Shroff and Sunny Deol.
His successes continued in the 1990s, with films that include Tejaa, Khatarnaak, Zahreelay, Thanedaar, Khoon Ka Karz, Yalgaar, Gumrah, Sahibaan and Aatish: Feel the Fire. He went on to star in some of the most era-defining Indian films of the early 1990s such as Sadak, Saajan and Khalnayak. Saajan was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1991, and Sadak was the sixth highest grosser of 1991. Khalnayak was a box office success. The movie was the second-highest grosser of 1993. This was followed by another box office success Gumrah, this was Dutt's second consecutive hit of the year.
Dutt's first film after his 1993 arrest was Daud (1997). It did not do well at the box office. He followed this with the 1998 Dushman which did well at the box office. 1999 was an excellent year for Dutt and one that is regarded as his comeback, with all of his five releases being amongst the highest-grossing films of that year. He began it by starring in the Mahesh Bhatt-directed hit Kartoos, followed by Khoobsurat, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Daag: The Fire and Vaastav: The Reality, for which he won many awards. His role in Mission Kashmir (2000) won him critical acclaim and a number of awards and nominations. Dutt was also invited by the President of India to Rashtrapati Bhavan for his performance in the movie.
As the decade went on, he continued to play lead roles in popular and critical successes such as Jodi No.1 (2001), Pitaah (2002), Kaante (2002) and the National Award-winning film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), which garnered him several awards. At the box office Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. achieved a silver jubilee status being one of only eight films to have achieved this status since the year 2000. In its 26th week of release, the film could still be found playing on 257 screens throughout India. Later successes came with Musafir (2004), Plan (2004), Parineeta (2005) and Dus (2005). He won critical acclaim for his performances in Shabd (2005) and Zinda.
The sequel of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Lage Raho Munna Bhai was released in late 2006. Dutt received a number of awards for his performance in the film. NDTV India counted the character Munna Bhai as one of top 20 fictional characters in Bollywood. Later Dutt starred in movies like Dhamaal (2007), Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007), All the Best (2009), Double Dhamaal (2011), Son of Sardaar (2012) Agneepath (2012) and PK.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra announced on September 29, 2016, that the third part of Munna Bhai series, starring Dutt in the title role, would begin soon. In 2017, Dutt appeared as the lead in Bhoomi, directed by Omung Kumar. In 2018, he starred in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3. In 2018, it was also announced that Dutt would feature alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor in Shamshera, which will be release on July 31, 2020. On June 29, 2018, his biopic Sanju released in which he made a special appearance. Dutt and Alia Bhatt are currently shooting for Sadak 2, which will be released in 2020. In 2019, he joined the cast of historical film Bhuj: The Pride of India, which will feature an ensemble cast consisting of Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha and Parineeti Chopra. He will soon be seen in the film Prassthanam on September 20, 2019.
Apart from his acting career, Dutt co-hosted the fifth season of the Indian reality show Bigg Boss along with Salman Khan. The show aired on Colors television from October 2, 2011, to January 7, 2012. Dutt later said it was Khan who persuaded him to co-host the show.
Dutt and entrepreneur Indian Premier League cricket team owner Raj Kundra together launched India's first professionally organised mixed martial arts league - the Super Fight League - on January 16, 2012.
Sanjay Dutt is known today as one of the most famous award-winning movie stars of Bollywood; the actor oozes a magnetic charm and maturity on and off screen, and, despite numerous controversies and tragedies in his life, is still loved by the audience and praised by critics for his acting skills and personality.
He was nominated for different awards eleven times, and received fifteen prestigious awards, including Star Screen Awards, International Indian Film Academy Awards, the Global Indian Film Award, Stardust Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Bollywood Movie Awards, and the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award.
In January 2008, the Indian film Institute Filmfare listed 12 films featuring Dutt in its list of top 100 highest-grossing movies of all time. In its May 2013 edition "100 years of Indian cinema" Filmfare listed three films featuring Dutt in its top 20 list of highest-grossing Hindi films of all time.
He has been dubbed the "Sexiest Actor Alive" by Glamour's magazine in its September 2019 issue.
(Aristocratic Amar Singh is the heir to his princely estat...)
1986(All The Best: Fun Begins is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language ...)
2009(When Raj, a happy-go-lucky orphan, learns that he is the ...)
2002(Maine Dil Tujhko Diya is a 2002 Indian Hindi romantic act...)
2002Dutt is a devout Shaiva Hindu who has read holy scriptures and theological works. He grew up in a religious family; his mother used to visit mosques and dargas till last days of her life, and his father was a Mohyal Brahman.
Once, a morphed picture of Dutt wearing a skull cap was being spread on Facebook, claiming that the actor has changed his religion to Islam. The image showed the 59-year-old actor ready to relish on a big Iftar feast. A Facebook page had posted the image with a caption that read "Let Allah show him the road to Islam and let him be encouraged to embrace the religion. Ameen." The actual image was apparently posted on social media by a fan-page that showed the table clean, no skull cap on Dutt and no Mecca portrait on the wall, so the news about him being converted to Islam was apparently fake.
Mumbai suffered a series of serial bombings in 1993. Dutt was among several people associated with Bollywood who were accused of involvement. It was alleged that Dutt accepted a delivery of weapons at his house from Abu Salem and co-accused Riyaz Siddiqui, who had also been implicated in relation to the Mumbai blasts. It was claimed that the weapons formed a part of a large consignment of arms connected to the terrorists. Dutt, however, in his confession stated that he took only one Type-56 from the producers of his movie Sanam, for his own family protection. It has also been reported that Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt's political rivalry caused Sanjay Dutt's conviction.
In April 1993, he was arrested under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India on May 5, 1993; however, onJuly 4, 1994, his bail was cancelled and he was re-arrested. On October 16, 1995, he was granted bail. Abdul Qayyum Abdul Karim Shaikh, who was thought to be a close aide of the terrorists' ringleader, Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested. Dutt had given Qayuum's name to the police when confessing to arms possession, saying that in September 1992 he had bought a pistol from Qayuum in Dubai.
On July 31, 2007, Dutt was cleared of the charges relating to the Mumbai blast; however, the TADA court sentenced Dutt to six years' rigorous imprisonment under Arms act for illegal possession of weapons. According to The Guardian, "The actor claimed he feared for his life after the notorious 'Black Friday' bombings, which were allegedly staged by Mumbai's Muslim-dominated mafia in retaliation for deadly Hindu-Muslim clashes a few months earlier. But the judge rejected this defence and also refused bail." Dutt was returned to jail at Arthur Road and soon after moved to the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune. Dutt appealed against the sentence and was granted interim bail on August 20, 2007, until such time as the TADA court provided him with a copy of its judgement. On October 22, 2007, Dutt was back in jail but again applied for bail. On November 27, 2007, Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court. On March 21, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict but shortened the sentence to five years' imprisonment. Dutt was given a month to surrender before the authorities.
Dutt has said that "I am not a politician but I belong to a political family." He was persuaded by a close friend to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party, but withdrew when the court refused to suspend his conviction. He was then appointed General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party, leaving that post in December 2010. In March 2013 the Supreme Court upheld Dutt's five-year sentence, 18 months of which he already spent in jail during the trial. He was given four weeks to surrender to the authorities, the court having refused to release him on probation due to the severity of the offence. He later said the following: "My entire family has been with the Congress right from the time of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Congress is in our blood and as a loyalist, I am always there for Congress." He added: "I think the best thing about my short-lived political career was that I saw the interiors of Bihar and UP. That is the real India, and, being an Indian, it was really sad to see our own people living in such dismal conditions. It was a real eye-opener."
On May 10, the Supreme Court rejected Dutt's review petition for the reconsideration of his conviction and asked him to surrender on the stipulated date. On May 14, Dutt withdrew the mercy plea and surrendered to the Mumbai Police on May 16, 2013. Just before the surrender, the Mumbai jail authority got an anonymous letter threatening Dutt's life. Dutt filed an appeal to allow him to surrender before entering Yerwada Central Jail. Later, Dutt withdrew this request too. He was paroled from December 21, 2013. The parole was extended three times until March 2014, raising concern in Bombay High Court and a proposal from the Government of Maharashtra to amend the law of parole. He returned to Yerwada Central Jail after his parole ended. Dutt was out on a two weeks' furlough granted by the Yerwada Central Jail authorities on December 24. He was subsequently incarcerated in Yerwada Central Jail, to complete his jail term. He was released from there on February 25, 2016, after serving his sentence.
A day after Maharashtra's ruling coalition partner Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) chief and state Minister Mahadev Jankar claimed that Dutt would join his party on September 25, the actor clarified that he would not be joining any political party. "I will not be joining any political party. Mr. Jankar is a dear friend and brother of mine and I humbly wish him good luck for his future endeavours," said Dutt.
Dutt admitted in many interviews that during his initial years in Bollywood, he consumed drugs even during the shoot of his films. Once he was so high on LSD that he jumped on to his father because he hallucinated his father’s head melting due to a lit wick. Another time he was intoxicated with drugs so much so that he woke up only after two days of sleeping. That day he realized that his drug addiction would someday lead to his death. He went up to his father and told him that he didn't want to die. Then he was admitted in Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. After 21 days of treatment, he was sent to the rehabilitation center for 2 years in Texas by his father. Dutt recalled that saying "No" to a drug peddler who visited him again after his rehab days was that one decision that changed his life entirely.
He changed the spelling of his name from Sunjay to Sanjay after his drug rehabilitation as he wanted to start a new life with a new name.
During his days in the jail, he wouldn’t speak to the men who were convicted of rape. Dutt believes that women are an embodiment of the divine.
Dutt considered Shatrughan Sinha God because instead of being in BJP, he supported him and his father when he was in jail. In his own words: "Shatrughan Sinha has done so much for me when I was in jail. I don't know how I will ever repay him. He is BJP, but he didn’t care. He went against the party and supported my dad and me. That’s what I call a man. He took the initiative and then the other people in the industry woke up. For me he is God. What I liked about him is that he’ll fight for the truth. He believed I was innocent, so he spoke his mind."
Dutt believes in a fortune teller who assured him that bad phase of his life is over now. And that he will progress in his life both emotionally and financially.
Quotations:
"I keep the bad-boy image just to make my fans happy."
"With the kids around, this is a different world to me. I spend a lot of time with them till they go to their playschool. I wake up early, have breakfast with them. I come back from work and am with them again till they go to bed by 10 p.m. This is what I always wanted."
"Your lineage and surname become irrelevant after your first film. Audiences do not care."
"It's fun playing the villain now and again; villains are so simple, and you don't have to worry about the audience loving you."
"I have done all kinds of roles, but Tony Montana's role in 'Scarface' is something I would love to play."
"A good script and a good brief from the director is enough to let me know what is expected of me."
"I work out like a maniac, three times more than anything I did in the past. I am off carbs, salt, sweets, and live on a fish diet. And I promise I am not going to indulge in food again. See, when I was 49 years old, I was fine, but the moment I touched 50, I felt that something within me had changed drastically. My metabolic rate dropped."
"As a person, I'm pretty much the same except that I've come to terms with who my real friends and supporters are. I don't get particularly friendly with new people at first go."
"I don't get particularly friendly with new people at first go. Call that a strength or a failing, whatever."
"I would never go into the 'Bigg Boss' house even in a hypothetical situation. I have been to jail, so if I were to be confined in that house, I'd get rattled."
"The film industry is a lovely family and I respect it."
"I'm getting some really good work. And because I'm delivering what they want, more good work is coming my way."
"I know I was very unstable and unhappy all through my life. I lost my mother and then my father. Losing dad was like losing the bearings of my life. My sisters took it badly, but I took it worse. Throughout my lean phases, dad was like a solid rock, supporting me, whether it was work, or my jail term."
"As an actor, I've grown considerably. For example, it's taken me years to get comfortable doing a romantic scene and dancing on stage in front of a live audience. I do it a lot better than I ever did. I've really opened up a lot. And I'm glad I have because I'm being appreciated for it."
The Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM) was impressed by Dutt’s mediation of Gandhigiri in Lage Raho Munnabhai and appointed the actor as its Goodwill Ambassador to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for eradication of malnutrition and hunger. IIMSAM’s Director General Ambassador Remigio Maradona said: "I am confident that Mr. Dutt, who brought relevance to the Gandhian values through his Munnabhai character, will help us free the world of malnutrition and hunger." Dutt replied: "It is a privilege to be associated with a cause that will shall provide me with an opportunity to contribute towards eradication of malnutrition and to secure UN's Millennium Development Goals. I pledge my commitment to the cause 200% and will be available whenever and wherever IIMSAM requires me for its mandate to bring nutritional security in calamities; and other peace and educational initiatives of the organisation."
During an interview, Dutt revealed that although he was very close to his mother, Nargis, he didn't weep on her death. He also said that once his father, Sunil Dutt, sent him an audio record of Nargis, and when he played the audio, he wept for almost next 4-5 hours, remembering his deceased mother. In the audio, Nargis asked him to keep his natural instinct throughout his life and to never show off.
Dutt was such a fitness freak that he used to workout in jail using trash cans and mud pots in place of weights and dumbbells. Even after coming out of the jail he prefers going the natural way of workout instead of using gym equipment.
Being in jail for several years had a deep impact on Dutt as a person. He doesn't like to socialize anymore and prefers to stay at home with his family. When he was released from the jail, it was difficult for him to sleep for the first 15 days. He was so used to sleeping on the floor that it was difficult for him to sleep on the bed.
His favourite actors are Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, and Nargis.
His favourite singers are Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar.
Dutt's favourite book is A Stone For Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins.
He plays the guitar very well and has won the Gold medal for playing the guitar in a competition in the United States.
He follows a non-vegetarian diet, and also drinks and smokes. He had his first cigarette when he was just 9 years old. His father would often host parties at the Dutt residence and during those parties, little Sanjay got fascinated by watching people smoke. Dutt began taking unfinished cigarettes from the ash tray and this is how he started smoking.
He is called Sanju Baba, Deadly Dutt, and Munna Bhai by the fans; his mother used to call him Chand. His Nigerian fans call him Dan Daba Mai Lasin which literally means a hooligan with a license.
Physical Characteristics:
Dutt's height is 6' (183 cm), and he weighs around 187 lbs (85 kg). His hair colour is black, and his eye colour is dark brown. His approximate body measurements are the following: chest is 44 inches (111 cm); waist is 36 inches (91 cm); biceps are 16 inches (40 cm).
Dutt is very fond of tattoos. He tattooed his mother's name in Urdu and his father's name in Devanagari script on his chest. He also has the phrase "Om Namah Shivaya" written in Sanskrit on his left shoulder; a dragon breathing fire on his right shoulder; two Samurai soldiers one below the other, one in black and white, the other colourful, with Japanese flowers falling over them, on his right arm; a lion and the words "Simba Rules" on his right forearm; a snake and the words "Dilnawaz," his wife Maanayata's real name on his left forearm; Shiv Gayatri Mantra on his left shoulder blade; and a Tibetan Om, his birth sign Leo and a red-inked tattoo of the numerical one on his neck.
In the early 1980s, Dutt had a relationship with his co-star from his first film, Tina Munim. After this relationship ended, Dutt married actress Richa Sharma in 1987. She died of a brain tumour in 1996. The couple have a daughter, Trishala, born in 1988, who lives in the United States with her maternal grandparents. Dutt's second marriage was to air-hostess-turned-model Rhea Pillai in February 1998. The divorce finalised in 2008. Dutt married Manyata (born Dilnawaz Sheikh) first registered in Goa in 2008 and then, in a Hindu ceremony in Mumbai, after two years of dating. On October 21, 2010, he became a father to twins, a boy and a girl.
