)
For the past several months, Sanjay Dutt has been seeking all the divine help he can get. As the date of the Supreme Court verdict on his role in a series of bombings in Mumbai, which killed 257 people, came closer, he pursued the gods even more earnestly. He visited temples, churches and mosques, pleading for his acquittance and to calm his nerves.
Dutt, 53, has maintained his innocence all along. He was arrested in 1993 at the prime of his life and career for possessing arms and ammunition in his Mumbai residence. Dutt spent 18 months in jail before being released on bail. Upon his release, in an interview to Simi Garewal, he had said, "Initially I was scared, but I wanted to come out of it as I had not done anything wrong. I am innocent."
On Thursday, the Supreme Court, though, was unambiguous in its verdict. It found Dutt guilty of possessing arms that were part of the main consignment used in the blasts and sentenced him to five years in prison. (1993 RETURNS TO HAUNT DUTT GETS 5 YEARS IN JAIL)
While his lawyers are exploring the options left with them, the verdict means another three-and-a-half years for the actor in the prison after adjusting the 18 months spent initially.
The jail term would perhaps mark an end to his career and put a pause on his life. The son of late Sunil Dutt and Nargis has stumbled from one personal tragedy to another. His tumultuous life has been ridden with drug addiction, his mother and first wife's untimely death from cancer, his involvement in the Mumbai blast and divorce with his second wife. All this has also won him the sympathy of many.
But despite the setbacks on the personal front, Dutt has gone on to build a successful Bollywood career for himself. With both his parents in the film world, it was pretty obvious that he too would join the line.
He started his career as a gawky young man in Rocky in 1981, which was made by his father, Sunil Dutt. There have been a series of hits and misses since then. Some of his best works include Sadak, Sajan and Khalnayak in which he played a character with negative shades. It was soon after Khalnayak that Dutt was arrested under the now-defunct Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act. What followed were some of the darkest days of his life as he kept going in and out of jail. He finally came out of jail in 1997, after serving 18 months of his six-years of prison term.
To Garewal he had said he "wanted to start life all over again." A series of blockbuster performances followed. His role in Vaastav won him a Filmfare award. In Munnabhai MBBS, he played the role of a gangster with a heart of gold. In all, he has starred in over 100 films by now. His career was on a roll, but the verdict now is set to disrupt his future plans. At least five of his films are yet to release, while a sequel to the Munnabhai franchisee, Munnabhai Chale Delhi, was announced recently.
"The impact of (the verdict) on box office revenue will be in the range of Rs 150-Rs 200 crore for films like Policegiri, Zanjeer, Ungli and Ghanchakar (special appearance). Peekay has a potential of clocking around Rs 200 crore," says Suniel Wadhwa, a trade expert.
Dutt has never shied from reinventing himself. He even briefly embarked on a political career with the Samajwadi Party but quickly called it quits. "Actors don't fit into the world of politics as they are innocent people," he had said later.
