Inder Jeet S ‘Prince’
Sanjay Dutt can well be described as destiny’s favourite child. No one else would have been able to rise over the calamities that struck him one after the other. Even before the release of his first film “Rocky’’ (produced by his father) he had quite a bad reputation in the film industry. His late nights, drug addiction and womanising ways were known to all. Rumours about Sanjay Dutt going bonkers, that he boozed and ran around with loaded guns were rife. At a time, when his Ist film “Rocky’’ was being readied for release, the death of her mother Nargis (due to cancer) came as a severe blow to him. Deeply entrenched in drugs, he was shaken when his girl friend Tina Munim ditched him. At that time Rati Agnihotri helped him cope with what was wrong in his life.
By now Sanjay Dutt admittedly had been plagued by the drug problem. Father Sunil Dutt was so sick of his ways that he sent Sanjay Dutt to USA to be cleaned up.
When all looked good, rumours suggesting that Sanjay had run away from the American Hospital where he was admitted for de-addiction started doing the rounds in Mumbai. That he had developed serious liver and kidney trouble. Sunil Dutt, later, confirmed that his son was getting treated at Miami Hospital and that he was showing will to regain control over himself.
Sanjay apparently returned a reformed man. “Bekrar’’ was his next released movie which flopped miserably. Although Sanjay worked in about 30 films during this decade (80’s) the only one worth mention were “Rocky’’, “Vidhaata’’ and “Naam’’. It was in this decade that Sanjay got married to Richa Sharma and was blessed with daughter Trishala in 1988.
The 90’s again proved the darkest decade for Sanjay Dutt. In the very beginning of this decade, his wife Richa was diagnosed with cancer and left with daughter Trishala to the USA for treatment. It was the period when Sanjay’s alleged link up with Madhuri Dixit did much harm to his relationship with his wife and in-laws. The severest blow came when Sanjay Dutt was arrested on April 19, 1993 soon after his return from Mauritius where he was shooting for “Aatish’’. Sanjay was put in jail for allegedly possessing arms and having connections with the underworld vis-a-vis ‘ 93 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai. At that time Sanjay was having 12 films in various stages of production. By now, Richa’s family did not want anything to do with him and the Mumbai police was not letting him leave the country.
By the end of that decade (‘90s), Sanjay lost his wife Richa to cancer. His relationship with Madhuri went ‘Kaput’ thanks to his court case. After Richa’s death, Sanjay wanted his daughter Trishala to return but Richa’s parents took him to court. They filed a case in USA forbidding Sanjay from visiting Trishala. Sanjay had to fight a legal case to get the custody of his daughter from his in laws !
Sanjay’s 2nd marriage with model Rhea Pillai ended in a divorce. And then came further imprisonment. Sanjay spent nearly 551 days in jail.
The year 2000 came like a new beginning in the life of Sanjay Dutt. The Munna Bhai series of films made Sanjay hero of masses. His 3rd marriage with Maanyata stabilised him as a family man. Sanjay is blessed with twin sons Iqra and Shahraan. In 2005, Sanjay lost his father Sunil Dutt. Sanjay’s 3rd marriage did cause a temporary rift between Sanjay and his sisters but the birth of twins brought the family close together. If Sanjay’s “Agneepath’’ was his biggest hit of 2012, “Son of Sardar’’ released early this year was also a block buster hit at the box office. Sanjay is required to serve 3 and a half year in jail for which he surrendered before TADA court in Mumbai on May 16. Sanjay’s lawers are planning to file a curative petition before the Supreme Court very soon.
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