An actor who shook the country with his work done outside and inside the industry. The man has given over 100 movies, and out of that, hardly 10 to 15 movies can be called noteworthy work. By any standard, this can’t be called a spectacular career, but he is.
He has still managed to have a cult-like fan following, many of whom have transformed their lifestyle to match the characters in his movies. “50 tola”, “Ji haan, main hoon khalnayak” or “jadoo ki jhappi de na baba'' are some patent dialogues of Sanju baba which people quickly caught on.
Sanjay Dutt was named Sunjay (with a “u”) based on the suggestions from people in a film magazine. The man was a rule breaker since childhood. To straighten him up, he was sent to boarding school, away particularly from Nargis. The rumours about his mother’s relationships with her co-stars and even insinuations of him being an illegitimate love child became the bread and butter of kids in school who teased him.
This became a probable reason for his “chauvinism” and distaste for women of his family becoming actors. He has admitted on record that he doesn’t want his wife going on a night shift while he comes back home. He would rather prefer her waiting for him with food. When his daughter Trishala told him she wanted to be an actress, he was furious, forgetting that he dated some of the most successful actresses.
He tried to run away from the school, flouted many rules and received punishments for each rule broken. After some time, he adjusted to his school life but couldn’t distinguish himself as an exemplary student, not for the girlfriends there, but his sheer lack of interest.
Sanju came back from school and geared up to become an actor. He changed his name’s spelling to “Sanjay.” His father was engaged in teaching him work ethics & his debut movie while he was engaged in experimenting with drugs. Nargis was super excited & wanted to be at the premiere of his first movie, even if she had to be there on a stretcher. Her sudden demise left her wish unfulfilled and left Sanju finding solace in drugs. The rebel has never minced his words to look good. He has openly admitted that he has taken all the drugs, but he prefers cocaine & heroin. He even made some dangerous acquaintances. The man never shied away from showing his true self. Wearing leather jackets, long hair, cigarettes, drugs, drinks, and parties was a lifestyle he openly adopted.
He got into many affairs in the industry, even when he was married. He has admitted to date three women at a time and even more. People in the industry who’re seen escaping questions on relationships, he daringly says he wants to marry Madhuri Dixit just before the release of his image-cleaner movie.
He’s possessive about his women, and many incidents prove that. A man made some obscene gestures towards Tina Munim, his girlfriend. He tore the man’s clothes before everyone and then kept him tied and naked in his van for an hour.
He has never interfered in his girlfriend’s career but admits to intervening when it comes to her clothes. He didn’t like “his women” to expose on screen. However, when it came to his wife, he made Richa Sharma leave acting. He’d instead prefer her to be in any “respectable” career except acting.
Sanjay Dutt was a wild man. On slightest provocation, the man would take his sword out to tear one apart.
In the initial days of his career, the man had a string of crazy and improbable stories about him. Someone was saying that he slit his forearm when he was high. While another story was told, he slit a lizard's neck and drank its blood. Then he exercised for 2 hours to get the toxins out. All because Shakti Kapoor had challenged him.
Sanjay is a hunter, and he owned licensed firearms, which included a bolt-action Bruno .270 rifle for hunting animals like deer, which weigh less than 100 kg, a .375 Holland and a Holland Magnum for large animals like tigers and elephants.
But the man lost his guns when in the influence of substance abuse and break-up with Tina Munim, he aimlessly fired in the air. The noises of gunshots and shattering the mansion’s windows and car’s windshield scared neighbours, who then called the police. When the weapon licence & passport were taken, baba questioned how a target practice in his premises could hurt anyone.
Acknowledging his Muslim descent, he kept firearms during the 1993 Bombay riots because he disapproved of whatever was happening in the city. Sunil Dutt had received threat calls regarding his charity work for Muslims. When Sanjay heard about these and the likeliness of an attack on their bungalow, he acquired AK-56 guns & ammunition from Dawood Ibrahim’s brother. Incarcerations and the terrorist tag followed him after this incident. But he redeemed himself.
Sanju baba is the actor known for his forthrightness and badassery apart from his films. He hasn’t cared for his image and bared it all for everyone to see. He is upfront & unpretentious and doesn’t care about what anyone thinks about him. In an industry where everybody has a PR team to maintain their image, baba is among the rare birds in Bollywood who don’t care about appearance. He remains true to himself, his work & his fans.
