Sources say Sanjay Dutt has got five-year visa; expected to seek lung cancer treatment at New York hospital where mother Nargis was admitted
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; August 25, 2020)

Last week, as wife Maanayata, sisters Priya and Namrata, and the rest of the family huddled around him, Sanjay Dutt waved out to the photographers lined outside his Bandra residence and urged them to pray for his well-being, before heading out to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. The actor, 61, has since been undergoing preliminary treatment for stage three lung cancer at the Andheri hospital. In the latest development, it is heard that Dutt has procured a US visa and will soon be headed to New York for further treatment.

A source reveals, "Sanju had applied for the visa as soon as he learnt of the diagnosis. However, initially, it wasn't easy to get the clearance since the actor was among those convicted in the 1993 Bombay blasts. Fortunately, one of his close friends helped the actor secure a five-year visa on medical grounds. He is expected to fly to New York with Maanayata and Priya, where he will pursue treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre." Dutt's mother Nargis, who battled pancreatic cancer between 1980 and 1981, had been admitted to the same hospital. In the recent past, late Rishi Kapoor, Manisha Koirala and Sonali Bendre too put their faith in the hospital, which is the world's oldest private cancer centre.

Sanjay Dutt's eldest daughter Trishala lives in the Big Apple. Maanayata, Priya and Namrata are expected to fly to and from New York during his treatment. The source adds, "Sanju was considering travelling to Singapore if the US plan did not materialise. Thankfully, everything has worked out swiftly, and he is expected to leave at the earliest."

Earlier this month, Dutt announced that he is taking a short break from work to seek medical treatment. Soon after, Maanayata issued a statement, saying, "God has yet again chosen to test us to overcome the challenges ahead. All we seek are your prayers and blessings."

mid-day reached out to Maanayata, who did not respond till press time.


Nargis, Rishi Kapoor, Manisha Koirala and Sonali Bendre had sought treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre

Sunil Dutt with Sanjay, Rhea, Priya and Namrata; A still from Munna Bhai MBBS

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 25, 2019)

He was always Dutt saab for me. A real-life hero who had jumped into an inferno, raced towards his on-screen mother, then, as everyone watched with bated breath, had swept her up in his arms and made a dash back for safety. His spontaneous knight-in-shining-armour action had ensured that though bruised and slightly burnt, both Nargis ji and he lived to see another dawn. That incident which took place on the afternoon of March 1, 1957, in the village of Umra in Gujarat, on the sets of Mehboob Khan’s epic drama Mother India, is Bollywood history today.

Sunil Dutt saab and Nargis ji went on to quietly get married in an Arya Samaj ceremony the following year on March 11. The romantic in me loved the fact that in an era when cell-phones didn’t exist and traffic jams roadblocked you for hours, Dutt saab did not stir from his position outside the Arya Samaj Hall for three hours as he waited for the bride. Sitting in her car, Nargis ji was convinced her groom had left while he worried that if she turned up to find him gone even for a second, she might drive off. The marriage that happened close to midnight, was not expected to last even six months. It lasted 23 years till Nargis ji’s demise on May 3, 1981.

I met Dutt saab under trying conditions. Sanjay had been arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), after being whisked off for questioning, minutes after he got off the plane on April 19, 1993. Dutt saab moved heaven and earth to get his son out of jail. On May 5, after Sanjay’s lawyers moved the High Court, he was granted bail. TADA was lifted, he was put under the Arms Act. There was a sigh of relief as Baba drove home to his Pali Hill bungalow past 9 pm the following day.

Sanjay however was still in Arthur Road Jail when I took a seat opposite Dutt saab at the same bungalow. He looked drained and admitted that he was in Germany, on his way to the US for a medical check-up, having undergone a bypass surgery just six months ago, when he heard that his son was in trouble over illegal possession of arms. By the time he reached London, the reports had got stronger. When his elder daughter Namrata got a call from Sanjay telling her to inform him that he wanted to return home from Mauritius where he was filming Aatish, Dutt saab didn’t think twice about booking himself on a flight back to Mumbai. “I knew he needed me,” he told me simply.

When Nargis ji was around, Sanjay had always been closer to his mother. By the time he lost her to cancer, he was heavily into drugs. Dutt saab didn’t work for three years as he tried to wean him away from drugs. “At that point of time he needed me. I stood by him. I made sure he got off drugs and his career started picking up. And I am still doing what I can… For my boy,” he told me that day, his elder daughter beside him, eyes tired from lack of sleep but spirit still strong.

After Sanjay returned home, I got a personal letter from him thanking me for all the support. A letter with a lot of heart that I still treasure.

Five years later, I spotted him at an award show. I was backstage when he strode past, fit and smiling. At the time of his death, on May 25, 2005, Dutt saab was a sprightly 75, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. He gave my locality in his Mumbai North-West constituency, a joggers’ track that still draws residents.

Last year, I saw Paresh Rawal play him in the Dutt biopic, Sanju. Dutt saab had himself returned to acting two years before he passed away in his sleep, as Sanjay’s reel-life father in Rajkumar Hirani’s 2003 film Munnabhai MBBS.

While discussing Sanju, Raju recalled that when they were shooting the last scene of his debut directorial, Dutt saab had a frozen shoulder and could not lift his arms to give Sanjay a proper hug. “Sanju whispered to me not to pressurise him,” Raju recounted. “Dutt saab heard him and told me not to worry, he would do the scene the way I wanted. And after a few painful tries, he finally gave Sanju a jadoo ki jhappi.”

As Ramu announces a warts-and-all biopic on Sanjay, sister Namrata Dutt on why the family should not have to relive their disturbing episodes, time and again
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; July 21, 2018)

Hours after it was reported that Ram Gopal Varma has set into motion a biopic on Sanjay Dutt — one that critically appraises the actor and his run-ins with the law — sister Namrata Dutt says she doesn’t understand the need to put the spotlight on episodes that Sanjay has put behind him.

Namrata tells mid- day, “Doesn’t Varma need Sanjay’s approval to make it? If Sanjay gives a go-ahead, we are nobody to say no to him.”

Despite it being a runaway hit, Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju has been accused of glossing over the actor’s laid on his strained relationship with father Sunil Dutt. In sharp contrast, Varma’s biopic, tentatively titled Sanju: The Real Story, will focus on Sanjay’s arrest for possessing an AK-56 rifle in connection with the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

Stating that it was “painful to watch” the Hirani-directed venture as it brought back the dark days that the family had been through, she says that another cinematic outing would only affect them further. “We have been through every phase of what Sanjay has gone through. When he became a drug addict, we at least knew that we could help him out of it by sending him to rehab. But we had no control over the other incident [going to jail]. It was painful as we helplessly watched him suffer,” she recollects, adding that Sanjay has strived to emerge stronger from his past incidents. “It was an unfortunate episode in Sanjay’s life. He has moved past it. Why is Varma bringing up the past again?”

Though Varma and Sanjay have collaborated on two films, Namrata states that she doesn’t trust the director’s gritty style of filmmaking. “His movies are dark. Why do you want to go on and on about Sanjay’s life? Why is he putting us through so much pain again?”

Rumours suggest that husband Kumar Gaurav hasn’t watched Sanju yet as he’s hurt that despite being thick friends for decades, his character didn’t find a place in the movie. “Bunty is not upset. He wasn’t well during the screening. He will watch it soon.”

She adds that she would have liked if Sanjay’s former wife Richa and daughter Trishala were depicted in the biopic. “I missed watching their characters. But I haven’t mentioned it to Sanjay.”

 
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; November 20, 2016)

The actor who had brought in his birthday in prison for the last three years, made it an occasion to remember this year with his wife, children, sisters and the media
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 30, 2016)

Sanjay Dutt who turned 57 on Friday celebrated his first birthday as a 'free' man with wife Manyata, sisters, Namrata and Priya, and their husbands, Kumar Gaurav and Owen Roncon, cutting the first cake at midnight.

A source close to the actor adds, "Sanjay's kids, Shahraan and Iqra, who go to bed by 9 pm, missed out on the midnight celebrations. So the doting dad made it a point to wake up early the next morning despite the late night before they left for school and cut another cake with them. The kids gifted the birthday boy a card while Manyata gifted him a hot pair of wheels, an Audi Q7. The family then proceeded to lunch with Manyata and all of Sanjay's favourite dishes were laid out. The day ended with a family dinner at the couple's favourite restaurant in Bandra."

However, before calling it a day, Sanjay cut a third cake with the media at 6 pm, telling them how great it felt to celebrate as a free man. "I spent the last three birthdays in jail. Today, I'm glad I can celebrate it with my kids," he exulted.

The actor also took the opportunity to address rumours of a rift with Salman Khan, making it a point to underline the fact that the actor had called to wish him. "He is my younger brother, there is no fight between us and can never be. I had called him too when he got a clean chit in the court cases. I'm happy for him, I don't want anyone to go through what I did," he said emotionally.

However it's not all play and no work for the Dutt who has his hands full. "Marco Bhau, with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, will begin in November. I'm doing a film with Mahesh Manjrekar too which is a remake of the Marathi film De Dhakka. And the next Munnabhai film is expected to roll by 2018," he informed, adding that he has resumed his workouts and is also practising martial arts. "I have also given up alcohol and follow a strict diet to keep fit," he concluded.

Priya always gets sentimental on this day
Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; August 29, 2015)

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 24, 2014)