Sanjay Dutt reached the hospital to meet Saif Ali Khan! Saif Ali started crying after seeing Sanjay Baba!

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Sanjay Dutt’s life has been no less than a roller coaster ride. No movie star in the history of Indian cinema has had a life as eventful and turbulent as his. At one point he was not just looked at as a drug addict but also as a terrorist by the society. While his biopic, Sanju, directed by Rajkumar Hirani is on the verge of release, we bring you 36 unknown facets about Sanjay Dutt’s life. Read on…

1.When Sunil and Nargis Dutt were about to become parents, they put out an add in the newspaper asking the readers to suggest names for their newborn baby. Amongst all the suggestions that came in, Nargis became extremely fond of the name ‘Sanjay’ and this is when they decided that if they were to have a baby boy, they will name him Sanjay.

2. In 2013, when Sanjay Dutt was arrested, he was given duties just like every other prisoner. During his time in prison, he was assigned the duty of making paper bags for which he received a salary of Rs 50 per day.

3. When Sanjay Dutt was released from jail in 2016, his total earnings had exceeded ₹ 30,000 but since he spent most of it for purchasing food from the jail canteen, the balance left with him was only ₹ 450 which he gave to his wife Manyata Dutt.

4. Sanjay Dutt has won the Filmfare Award twice in his career. His first award was as the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) for his performance in the film Vaastav (2000) and his second win came for his performance in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S (2004). He received the award of Best Performance in a Comic Role.

5. During the shoot of his debut film, Rocky (1981), Sanjay Dutt was heavily addicted to drugs. In fact, while he was travelling for a shoot scheduled in Kashmir, he carried 1 KG of heroin which was hidden in his shoes. He also spoke about the same in an interview with a leading daily. He said, “I was already on drugs when my mother was being treated for cancer. ‘Rocky’ was being made and I remember that I was so addicted that once I travelled with 1kg heroin hidden in my shoes. Both my sisters were also with me on the same flight. At that time, checking at airports was not so strict. Today, when I think about the incident, I get scared. Main pakda jaata toh theek tha, but what about my sisters? Drugs do this to you. You don’t care about your family or anything else.” He has confessed in many of his interviews that during the early phase of his career, he was high even during the shoot.

6. Sanjay Dutt had his first cigarette when he was just 9 years old. Sanjay’s father, Sunil Dutt would often host parties at the Dutt residence and during those parties, little Sanjay got fascinated by watching people smoke. Sanjay Dutt began taking unfinished cigarettes from the ash tray and this is how he started smoking. Sunil Dutt once found Sanjay smoking in the bathroom after which he took him in a room and beat him with shoes.


7. After graduating from school, Sanjay Dutt got admission in Elphinstone College in Mumbai. It was during his college days that he got addicted to heavy drugs.

8. Sanjay Dutt made up his mind in college itself that he wanted to become an actor as he considered it to be an ‘easy’ job. When he shared this with Sunil Dutt, it made him extremely angry. Sunil Dutt explained that if acting was such an easy job then every other person would try their hand at it. He forced Sanjay to undergo two years of training before doing a movie.

9. During the release of his debut film Rocky (1981), Nargis’ cancer had reached at a very severe stage. The actress’ last wish was to watch her son on the big screen. Unfortunately, Nargis passed away just 5 days before the release of Rocky. Eventually, when the premiere happened Sanjay kept an empty seat in the theatre to feel the presence of his mother.

10. Sanjay Dutt met his ex-girlfriend Tina Munim on the sets of Rocky (1981). The two were good friends before they worked together in Rocky. However, they grew extremely close during the shoot of the film. They were dating for almost two years, but Tina Munim eventually broke up with Dutt due his destructive drinking habits.


11. During the shoot of Rocky, Sanjay Dutt noticed a man who was harassing Tina Munim. A furious Sanjay started beating the person publicly. He later revealed in many interviews, that at the time he was young and extremely protective about Tina. So, he couldn’t control himself when he saw a man harassing her.

12. After Sanjay and Tina broke up, she was shooting a film with Rishi Kapoor. During the shoot of the film, rumours began to spring that Tina Munim is having an affair with Rishi Kapoor. Upon hearing the rumours, Sanjay Dutt decided to go and beat Rishi Kapoor at his own house. He also took his good friend Gulshan Grover along with him. It was after Neetu Kapoor’s intervention that Sanjay Dutt left the house and Rishi Kapoor was saved from his wrath. Gulshan Grover spoke about the indecent in an interview with a leading daily. He said, “It’s true. Sanju was having an affair with Tina Munim at the time, and he thought that Chintu (as Rishi is referred to by his friends) was having one with her too. Sanju and I were like brothers, and he told me one day, ‘We have to go to Chintu’s house and beat him up’. We went to do that, but his fiancée Neetuji managed to convince us that Chintu was not in any such relationship. So we left.”

13. Sanjay Dutt revealed that once he slept off after under the influence of heroine (drug) and woke up after 2 days. It was at that point he realised that if he doesn’t get rid of his addiction, it will lead to his death. During an interview with a leading daily, Sanjay Dutt spoke about the same. He said, “One day I had taken heroin and went to sleep. Woke up after sometime… My servant on seeing me, started crying and said that ‘baba you’ve woken up after two days.’ I was shocked. I went and saw myself in the mirror. My face had that drenched look and I knew it that if I don’t stop myself now I will probably die. So I went to dad and told him to save me. He sent me to a well-known hospital and soon after that I was sent to America to a rehabilitation centre.”


14. During his time in rehab, Sanjay decided that he will not return to India again but start a business of his own in the U.S. However, his dad insisted that he must give acting another shot and Sanjay couldn’t refuse.

15. After his return to India, Sanjay wanted to lead a disciplined lifestyle which is why he developed an interest in building his body. He also revealed that during his time in the U.S, he saw many movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger which inspired him to work towards his fitness.

16. After his return to cinema from rehab, Sanjay Dutt starred in two films – Do Dilon Ki Dastaan (1985) and Jaan Ki Baazi (1985). Both of these movies turned out to be box office duds. Sanjay was in a desperate need for a hit. Mahesh Bhatt, who was relatively new in the industry at the time casted Sanjay in his film Naam (1986). The film was not only a hit at the box office, but Sanjay Dutt also received massive praise from critics for his performance. After the success of Naam, Sanjay began getting many film offers. He is thankful to Mahesh Bhatt for giving him an opportunity to work in Naam even today.

17. Sanjay Dutt got married to actress Richa Sharma and the two had a daughter, Trishala. Just four months after their daughter was born, Richa started getting severe headaches. When they consulted a doctor about it, they found out she had brain tumour. Sanjay admitted her in the same hospital that his mother Nargis was treated in.

18. Aamir Khan was approached before Sanjay Dutt for Saajan. But, since he didn’t come on board the makers of the film approached Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt’s performance in the film earned him his first nomination for the Filmfare Award, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male).

19. During the investigations of the 1993 blasts, Sanjay Dutt told the court that he kept the guns for the protection of his family. At the time, there were riots across several places in the country due to the Babri Masjid controversy. However, the court didn’t buy the statement of Sanjay Dutt since besides the AK – 56 rifles he had registered guns at his house.

20. When Khalnayak released in 1993, Sanjay Dutt was doing his time in jail. The line “Yes! I am the villain” from the film was heavily used during the promotions which helped the film gamer a lot of hype. Khalnayak went on to become the second highest grossing Bollywood film of the year.

21. Before going to jail, Sanjay didn’t believe much in spirituality. But his time in jail changed all of that. Once he was out, he began reading Hanuman Chalisa and Ramayana and also stated that he had learned the value of life.

22. During his time in jail, Priya Dutt had come to visit him for Raksha Bandhan. Sanjay gave her a meal coupon which was used in the canteen of the jail for his meals. He sacrificed two meals that he worked for by giving the coupon away. Touched by this special gesture from her brother, Priya Dutt has still kept that coupon with herself.

23. In 1998, Sanjay Dutt proposed to Rhea Pillai on Valentine’s day and the two got married without informing anyone.


24. A few years after the wedding, rumours of extra marital affairs of Rhea started doing the rounds. Rhea started dating the tennis player Leander Paes after which Sanjay decided to separate. The two stayed separately without getting a divorce for several years and divorced officially in the 2005.

26. The iconic scene from Vaastav (2000) in which Raghu is asking his mom to kill him was given by Sanjay Dutt in a single take. He requested the director Mahesh Manjrekar and the scene was shot in one take while using a total of seven cameras.

27. During the release of Vaastav, Sanjay Dutt revealed that he was inspired by Scarface actor Al Pacino for the film. He revealed that he wanted to do something similar to his character in Scarface with Vaastav.

28. In the year 2000, reportedly, a voice recording of a conversation between Sanjay Dutt and Underworld don Chota Shakeel got leaked, which made it clear that Sanjay still had connections with the underworld. Sanjay later clarified saying that at that time, Bollywood was dominated by the underworld and so every actor, director and producer had to maintain good relations with them.

29. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan. However, he refused the role since he felt that he wasn’t the right fit for the character and then the role was passed on to Sanjay Dutt. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S gave a complete makeover to Sanjay’s image in the eye of the public. The movie became a blockbuster and the character, Munna Bhai, became extremely popular.

30. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S was the first film in which Sanjay Dutt was seen in the same frame with his father Sunil Dutt. Even though they were both featured in Rocky earlier, they were never seen together on-screen.

31. During the filming of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S, Sanjay and Sunil Dutt were required to hug each other. It was an emotional scene for the father and son. Even after the director called for cut the two didn’t separate.

32. In 2009, Sanjay Dutt joined the Samajwadi party as a candidate for elections. However, supreme court disqualified him as a candidate since he was involved in a court case.

33. Sanjay Dutt offered his personal vanity van to the band Guns N Roses for their concert in Mumbai as he was a big fan of their music.

34. Along with making paper bags, Sanjay Dutt also had the duty of being an RJ for the radio station in the jail.

35. He was released 60 days earlier than his statement suggested due to good conduct in jail. When he was released, he saluted the Indian flag hoisted outside the prison and said that his time in jail had completely changed him as a man.

36. Sanjay Dutt wanted to play the role of his father which is essayed by Paresh Rawal in the film Sanju. He felt he was closest to his father and could play the character better than anyone. The makers of the film considered the idea but decided otherwise.