MID-DAY (October 6, 2014)

If recent reports are to be believed, Sanjay Dutt, who is serving his three and a half year sentence at the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, is suddenly getting flooded with mails from his colleagues in the film industry and we wonder why. Right from Ranbir Kapoor and Rajkumar Hirani to Bunty Walia and Sanjay Gupta, many of his coactors and filmmaker friends are writing letters aare are seem to writing to Sanju baba, even as he spends his time making paper bags in prison.

Says a source, “Many Bollywood folks are writing letters to the actor; they want him to know that he is being missed. Since sending letters is the only way to communicate with him, they have been sharing their thoughts on paper.”

Interestingly, it’s not just personal letters that are being exchanged, people from the industry are reportedly also discussing film scripts with the Munna Bhai MBBS actor. What’s more, some personal letters are said to have made his friends very emotional. At the same time, some other sources are skeptical about the wave of letters and the timing of it all. “It all seems a little absurd that all these stories about letters being exchanged with him have started doing the rounds only recently. It’s just a few months before the release of his film, PK, which is scheduled to hit the big screen in December this year,” says an industry source.

It may be pointed out that it all started when the actor reportedly wrote a letter addressed to Ajay Devgn when his film, Singham Returns, was nearing release. Sanjay apparently conveyed his best wishes to the actor and Ajay was reportedly moved to tears after reading the letter.

Next we hear that Sanjay Gupta wrote to Sanjay Dutt in what is being construed as an attempt to extend an olive branch. The two were once good friends but they had a falling out, so much so that they were not on talking terms. A source says that Gupta discussed a film script with the actor in his letter, though nothing more has been revealed about this letter.

Apart from this, there have been reports about Sanjay Dutt keeping in touch with wife Manyata by writing letters to her on a daily basis. The actor has apparently also written letters to director Rajkumar Hirani who he has worked with in several films (read: the Munna Bhai series). It is being said that the actor has been enquiring about his upcoming film, PK, and sources say that Hirani too was in tears after reading the letter.

“The actor gets to read only old newspapers in jail; he doesn’t have any other access to the outer world and its happenings except for writing and receiving letters,” says a source close to the actor.

It’s indeed interesting that for someone who has been away from the public glare due to his jail sentence, Sanjay Dutt continues to stay in the news.

His letters, for one, have piqued the curiosity of many. It remains to be seen whether this wave of letters will continue in the future too.