The writer with Asha Bhosle in 2006. Pics/By Special Arrangement

My first encounter was with Asha tai over three-and-a -half decades ago as a rookie journalist, when she was recording for a Marathi song at a suburban recording studio. When the film’s director realized that I was a journalist, he was perturbed because he thought that I would leak the music of the film, and Tai promptly put her arm around me and said, “To lahan mula aahe. Tu tyachyaavar sanshay kasa gheu shakto?”

And her arm continued to be around me when I directed several music videos with her. Starting with the Aap Ke Dil Mein song with Sanjay Dutt as part of the Asha & Friends album. She would often make fun of me and mimic me pulling up my trousers during the shoot, as I had lost weight by then. She was a terrific mimic, and she even imitated the legendary Sunil Dutt, who was like a brother to her, when she met Sanjay Dutt.

In fact, how we got Sanjay Dutt to sing for her is a funny story. When we called Sanju and told him that Asha ji would like to speak to him, Sanju thought it was actress Asha Parekh calling him to attend a Cine Artists Association meeting. When he realized it was Asha Bhosle wanting to sing with him, he almost fell off his chair. Later at the recording, she narrated how she had even sung with Sunil Dutt once and put Sanju at ease. She did the same with Urmila Matondkar as well, telling her to calm down and just sing.

That’s the reason why she took on breezy numbers with O P Nayyar, the rocking ones with R D Burman and went on to collaborate a lot with international artistes from Boy George for Bow Down Mister in 1991, Kronos Quartet for You’ve Stolen My Heart, Michael Stipe for The Way You Dream, Code Red for We Can Make It, and finally with Gorillaz for The Shadowy Light in 2026.

Damon Albarn of Gorillaz was a fan of her psychedelic work with Panchamda in the 1970s, and was amazed at her ability to reproduce the same magic at the age of 92.

Once we had a 6 am call time for a music video shoot of hers with Urmila Matondkar at Mukesh Mills, Colaba, and she was there at 5.30 am, all cheery and perked up, gobbling up the breakfast she carried from home, also bringing extra for all those working on the shoot. No wonder she had everyone, from Tom Cruise to Amitabh Bachchan, to British boxer Amir Khan, eating out of her hands, be it in the music domain or at her global restaurants. She cooked so well, like her sister, the late Lata Mangeshkar. I have had the fortune of being fed by them and listening to her fun comments on not being able to taste their best dishes, as I am a vegetarian. 

Interestingly, when we were set to sing and shoot a collaborative song with Brett Lee, the Aussie pacer was a bit apprehensive. “My wife is delivering a baby, and I don’t want to be linked to a lady.” Then we showed him Asha tai’s picture and body of work and explained that she was 72 and 43 years older than Brett, who was 29 then. So Brett came in and recorded, and later, when he came to the shoot, she told him, “If you get a son, call him Sachin!” not after Sachin Dev Burman, but her favourite cricketer and Brett’s bête noire, Sachin Tendulkar.

The legend once spoke to me about the so-called rivalry that the entire industry and fans felt existed between her and her legendary sister. “We sang 80 songs together. How can she be a competitor? She was already a star when I started. How can one have two Taj Mahals? So, I had to pick a niche for myself. In fact, Geeta Dutt was a competitor. I was just her younger sister,” she said.

Incidentally, both sisters passed away at the age of 92 and died four years apart, as their age difference was four years. And both died on a Sunday at the Breach Candy hospital. It is as if fate itself aligned to a perfect symmetry, leaving fans in silence and to play their swansongs — that only their melodies can fill.

Kanhaiyalal played a shrewd money-lender in Nargis’s Mother India

Pick any film in the ’60s featuring a conniving money-lender, and chances are that the role was played by Kanhaiyalal. The late actor, who featured in over 100 films between the ’50s and late ’70s, is best remembered as Sukkhi Lala, the shrewd villain in Nargis-led Mother India (1957). Decades later, as Bollywood has moved on from the archetypal munimji and all-black villains, the veteran actor’s daughter Hemaa Singh (righ) is making a documentary to honour his contribution to Hindi cinema.

“The reason behind making the documentary is to highlight the [role] of veteran actors during that era, be it Motilal ji, Ishwarlal ji or my father. The [feature] will showcase all that is not known to the public — right from his childhood days in Varanasi, his migration to Mumbai, his struggles, personal life and work,” says Singh, who is hoping to release the yet-untitled project in the coming months. 

In his three-decade career, Kanhaiyalal served as the perfect antithesis to the well-meaning heroes, sharing screen space with Dilip Kumar in Gunga Jumna (1961), Rajesh Khanna in Apna Desh (1972) and Dharmendra in Dost (1974). Singh is touched that many celebrities have supported her endeavour. “Amitabh Bachchan ji, Dharmendra ji, Asha Parekh ji, Jackie Shroff ji and Govinda ji have paid their shraddhanjali [tribute] to my father in the documentary. When I approached them, they enthusiastically agreed to do it. Johny Lever went out of his way and reached out to other [stars] on my behalf. Sunil Dutt ji and Dilip Kumar ji were close to my bauji; unfortunately, Dutt ji is no longer with us.”

While he paved the way for Bollywood villains, Singh says her father was a real-life hero. “He offered financial aid to so many people, never turning anyone away,” she recounts, lamenting that he didn’t get his due. “He never got the Dadasaheb Phalke award for his remarkable contribution. He was an effortless actor who never rehearsed his dialogues.”

Mumbai: The Sushant Singh Rajput case has triggered a high-decibel debate on, among other issues, the tumultuous ties between politics and cinema.

In contrast, old-timers recall the days in the soft afterglow of the freedom struggle when actors and politicians coexisted harmoniously while maintaining a dignified distance from one another Politicians didn’t go beyond the ceremonious presence at special screenings of films once in a while. Back in 1936, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru attended a special screening of ‘Achhut Kanya’, a Bombay Talkies classic starring Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar, at Roxy, the iconic cinema hall.

For Nehru, though, Hindi cinema remained a distant land. During one of his visits to Mumbai, he agreed to meet a delegation of film producers and actors. Everyone present on the Raj Bhavan lawns were in for a shock when he declared with a wave of hand, “Come on, introduce yourselves.” The select gathering included several top-heavy stars of the time. Thespian Motilal, it is said, was too embarassed to utter his name, which he shared with the Prime Minister’s father, Motilal Nehru.

In 1962, the film industry leaders tried again for a brief meeting with Nehru in New Delhi, this time with an agenda: Concession on the raw stock tax. He refused to meet the delegates, even after Satyajit Ray put in a word. Instead, Nehru told them to hold talks with Morarji Desai, who then held the finance portfolio in the Union cabinet.

Vallabhbhai Patel would often send a word, through his emissary filmmaker Chandulal Shah, to cinema czars to help the Congress party raise funds for a national cause. “And money began to pour in like the Mumbai rains,” said cinema scholar Virchand Dharamsey. “But politicians, of whichever hue, never relied on glamour to win an election,” he added.

Lal Bahadur Shastri, it is said, was moved to tears when he saw ‘Shaheed’, actor-producer Manoj Kumar’s bio-pic on Bhagat Singh. Kumar once told an interviewer, “He asked me if I could translate on celluloid his famous ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ slogan, which had then taken the nation by storm amidst the 1965 India-Pakistan war.”

Atal Behari Vajpayee was a film connoisseur too. A Mumbai BJP MLA recalled how Vajpayee expressed his wish to see ‘Suraj Kaa Saatwaan Ghoda’, a 1992 Shyam Benegal film based on Dharmavir Bharati’s epic novel of the same name. “But he kept away from film people.”

Congress politicians from Maharashtra, said observers, generally shunned cinema, choosing rustic forms of entertainment: Tamasha, wrestling and elections to sugar cooperative mills. Balasaheb Thackeray, though, had a soft spot for filmdom and many stars would turn up at Shanmukhananda auditorium for Shiv Sena’s anniversary function every year. Sharad Pawar has “excellent equations” with Lata Mangeshkar and Dilip Kumar, though the Baramati strongman prefers the company of litterateurs.

The neta-abhineta (politician-actor) demarcation was by and large intact till the 1970s, said trade veterans. The first breach came when Rajiv Gandhi roped in Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Dutt and Vyjayantimala for the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.

Experts said the post-globalisation era saw the advent of a new middle-class that disliked politics mired in casteism and corruption. Alarmed over their dipping popularity, politicians turned to film folk to consolidate their vote bank. Cinema researcher Rafique Baghdadi said, “Filmstars and football players are hugely adored.”

Many more made a beeline to politics and the list reads like credit titles of a multi-starrer: Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Rajesh Khanna, Govinda, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Jayaprada, Rekha and Urmila Matondkar, to name a few.

Writer Rachana Shah, a niece of Lata Mangeshkar, has a word of advice: “Both politicians and film people should develop a brand of their own. No point in living off each other.”

Said Hindi cinema aficionado Deepali Mainkar, “Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan often make a good point while speaking in the Parliament.” Without the luxury of retakes.

As told to Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 25, 2020)

It was during the editing of the short film, Let’s Talk, shot on a handycam, that Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who was cutting his Mission Kashmir at the same studio, noticed me. He called me for a meeting and said that he wanted to work with me in his next. I asked him which film it would be for and he said he didn’t have any at the moment, but whenever he made one, I’d be in it. Eight months later, I got a call. He wanted me to play the antagonist, J C Asthana, the dean of a medical college, in a film titled Munnanhai MBBS, to be directed by his editor Raju (Rajkumar Hirani). The name was weird, but after a narration, I was convinced.

My first day on the set was the first day of the film’s shoot as well, which meant it was Raju’s first day as a director. My first shot was with Dutt saab (Sunil Dutt), who was facing the camera after 16 years. So, in a way, it was his first day too. You can imagine the nervous energy on the set.

As soon as I walked into the set, Dutt saab ushered me into his vanity van for rehearsals and started calling for tea. I offered to get it for him, but he insisted on doing it himself, confiding that he was a nervous wreck. Here I was sweating because my first shot was opposite the legend I’d grown up idolising. And he tells me he is nervous!

Going by my get-up, he thought I was older than him and started addressing me as ‘Doctor saab’. When Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) dropped by, he saw me hanging out with his father and I became his ‘uncle’. I wanted to tell him that, at 44, I was four months younger to him but I was just so happy being around such established actors in my first film.

In my first shot, I bump into Dutt saab’s character, Hari Prasad Sharma, while buying nariyal pani after attending a laughter club at the park. Happy at this chance meeting with an old friend, Dr Asthana is dumbfounded on learning that Sharma’s son, who he had dismissed as a good-for-nothing boy was now a doctor and ran a hospital. Simultaneously, he is irritated because the nariyal pani wala (Rohitashv Gour), planted there by Munna, keeps interrupting them. He shouts at him, then, laughs out loud. I fumbled and forgot my lines the first time. Even Dutt saab wanted another take because he thought he could do better than the first.

The script had the words ‘laughs’ pencilled next to my dialogue. Dutt saab assumed it would be a short laugh. The surprise on his face when I broke into a full-throated guffaw was real. Raju told me we’d shoot one take with the laugh and one without it. After a while, we figured the laugh added to Dr Asthana’s quirks and finally stopped shooting a scene twice.

At the film’s premiere, when I walked up to Dutt saab, he greeted me with a cursory smile and hurt, I wondered where had all the warmth disappeared. When I told him I was ‘Doctor saab’, he looked lost, asking me which hospital I worked for. It was then that I realised he didn’t recognise me because I was sporting a full head of hair and he had only seen me with my bald pate. We had a good laugh over it.

After 38 years in Bollywood and five films in the pipeline, actor Sanjay Dutt is only getting hungry for more meaty roles
Shreya Mukherjee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 19, 2019)

Every performer adopts a certain methodology while choosing a project. For an actor, it is sometimes the role, sometimes the script, or sometimes the team, which draws him towards the film. For Sanjay Dutt, it’s the balance of all these elements.

“Character and story go hand-in-hand. If the character is amazing but the story isn’t, then it’s a futile endeavour and vice versa. For me, both of them are equally important. However, if I strongly feel for a character, I might do it, irrespective of the length of the role in that film. As actors, our hunger for playing challenging role increases with every character that we portray on screen,” says Sanjay.

Having spent 38 years in the industry, Dutt is still going strong with five upcoming releases — KGF 2, Panipat, Sadak 2, Shamshera and Torbaaz. And the actor says that the length of a role has never really bothered him. “It really doesn’t matter, but the gravity of the role does. I’ve done double-hero films at the peak of my career, so I don’t have any insecurity. I get attracted to strong characters backed by powerful stories,” adds Dutt.

Well, that explains why the 60-year-old actor is still offered meaty roles and filmmakers are keen on collaborating with him. Dutt’s talent and amiable nature, many contemporaries feel, is a legacy that he carries forward well from his parents — two legendary actors, late Sunil Dutt and late Nargis Dutt. So, does he still feel the burden of expectations every time his film hits the theatres? “Though expectations have ridden high on me because of my family, I’m grateful for it. I don’t see my inheritance as a burden, but as a gift. I cherish this gift by giving my best in all the films I do,” says Dutt, humbly.

The actor has had a chequered life and feels grateful for the constant support received from his fans. Expressing gratitude, he says, “I feel blessed when audiences start expecting so much more from their favourite actors. It makes us push our envelope and raise the bar. It throws you out of your comfort zone and helps you deliver something new, every time.”

On his 150th birth anniversary, authors of two new books on the Mahatma discuss how cinema and music of the time, drew inspiration from him
Jane Borges (MID-DAY; September 29, 2019)

As historian, Lakshmi Subramanian has always been curious about the peculiar—researching odd-ball stories, where previously unrelated facts come together to create a whole. Her new book, Singing Gandhi's India: Music and Sonic Nationalism (Roli Books), is an exercise in that direction. Yet, when she was first approached to write a book on Mahatma Gandhi and music, Subramanian recalls her response as being a "resounding no". "My initial reluctance was partly informed by a sense that Gandhi would have had very little and substantive to say about music per se; and about the complex public history that music threw up in the 20th century. Equally, I was convinced that Gandhi would have unproblematically endorsed the bhajan as it had emerged as a form of marking an exclusive Hindu identity," she shares, in an email interview.

London-based journalist Sanjay Suri (right)'s tryst with the Mahatma in his new book, A Gandhian Affair: India's Curious Portrayal of Love in Cinema (HarperCollins India), was more organic. "I did not set out to research Gandhi," he admits. The book, he says, grew out of watching hundreds of Hindi films over many years. "Gandhi just kept popping out of them."

Where biographies and academic texts have been forever been engaged with examining Gandhi, the leader, and his role in pre-independent India, close on the heels of his 150th birth anniversary, Subramanian and Suri have explored how he culturally influenced the nation.

A Song For The Community
It was only after Sumbramanian, a professor at the Humanities and Social Sciences faculty of BITS Pilani in Goa, decided to engage with Gandhi's relationship with music that she realised "that not only had he a lot to say about sound and its use in politics, he was curious and inquisitive and inconsistent making his writings a treasure trove for a student of history".

In the book, she writes of how Gandhi was moved, when he first heard 'Vande Mataram' [written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee] in 1915 in Madras. "You have sung that beautiful national song, on hearing which all of us sprang to our feet. The poet has lavished all the adjectives we could possibly do to describe Mother India," he told the assembly.

Gandhi, she says, saw music as one of the many tools to infuse a feeling of community. "I think Christian singing made a deep impact on Gandhi and the idea of a congregation had definite appeal. This was evident in his experiences in England, and while in South Africa, congregational singing became a form of political communication. The idea was to feel a oneness that went beyond narrow self-interest and work around a moral basis for political action. Prayer, music and spinning were all tools of individual self-regeneration and community building," says Subramanian, who read his collected works in great detail to contextualise her research. Her work also helped quell any misgivings about Gandhi propagating religious music. "At no point did he equate the Hindu religion with music of a particular kind; nor did he espouse the cause of devotional singing in public as an essential feature of the Hindu religion."

Subramanian, however, admits that Gandhi, unlike his contemporary Rabindranath Tagore whose contribution to music nationalism was immense, was not a "rasika". "He did not appreciate the technicalities or even profoundness of the classical traditions in India, but as an inquisitive person responding to debates and public discussions was not unaware of the emerging discourse on music reform and revival. He responded to the emotional dimensions of music and certainly insisted on a trained teacher for his ashram experiments," she says, adding, "He listened to music with great attention and was convinced that it had the power to move millions and to still them into contemplation."


The hero (Dev Anand) of Kala Pani (1958) finally declares satyagraha as his way of securing justice

A Moral Code For Cinema
Suri, on the other hand, discusses how Gandhi's values and virtues were so deeply enmeshed in the Indian psyche that the heroes of Hindi cinema—at least till late into the 1970s—sub-consciously replicated his virtuosity. They did it in two ways, he says. "One, and always, at pivotal points through the scripted story path of the hero. These are the decisive moments when choices have to be made. Those turn out always to be moral choices of a kind—rejection of wealth and a turning away from sex. It's these moral values that turn the plot, and which then give this phase of cinema that feeling of sameness. The hero is always confronted with those temptations, and it is the rejection of both that establishes him as heroic. Those are the very two temptations that Gandhi, the man most sought to overcome," says Suri, who has previously authored, 1984: The Anti-Sikh Violence and After.

He adds, "Secondly, countless invocations to Gandhi himself surface—images of Gandhi show up in one scene or another particularly when the moment of truth comes. These images didn't just happen, in this carefully crafted business of set by set, scene by scene."

According to Suri, Gandhi was far too complex a figure and his experiments in life were both controversial and fascinating. But cinema didn't grapple with any of that. "The Gandhi brought into this cinema is a man identified by a few broad strokes: the one who turned away in his personal life from wealth and sex, the vegetarian who believed in non-violence and who found strength enough through that bare simplicity to take on the greatest power on earth and to dislodge it."

The Hindi film, he feels, that first broke out from this Gandhian narrative was B R Chopra's Ek Hi Raasta (1956). "The hero [Sunil Dutt] is a junior manager killed by a corrupt employee. So she [his wife, played by Meena Kumari] marries his rich boss [Ashok Kumar], and repeats the love song she had sung with the first hero on his bicycle with the second hero in his long American convertible, the kind that ran only in studios. Through a look at the top 10 films of every year from 1948 to 1959, this was the only striking exception to the dominant pattern," says Suri, adding, "We would have to wait for Manmohan Singh to come along for the hero to come into wealth without guilt." While the fascination with Gandhi seemed to have petered out by the late 1980s, Gandhi is once again resurrected in Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), where he literally becomes the alter ego of the protagonist, Sanjay Dutt, getting him to propagate the now famous, Gandhigiri.

Did Gandhi ever reciprocate this adulation bestowed to him by cinema? "From what is known, Gandhi seemed to have thought very little of it. But in the invocations to him that followed, in the resurfacing portraits and dialogues, in the binding spell his ideals would have on the hero, Gandhi found a career in Bollywood far from his own world."


Shammi Kapoor, the hero of China Town (1962) is led away from romancing to the path of seeking justice under the watchful eyes of Gandhi. Pic courtesy/A Gandhian Affair by Sanjay Suri, HarperCollins India


The innocent man, played by Raj Kapoor, on the run in Jaagte Raho (1956), finds refuge at last under the blessings of Gandhi

‘Sanju’s swag & style is inbuilt; I don’t think that will change with age’
Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; September 19, 2019)

At 60, Sanjay Dutt still has the swag, style and subtle sexiness that comes with the streaks of salt and pepper, which he wears with pride. The lines on his face tell a long and deep story — one that has seen trials, trauma, surreal highs and devastating lows. But now, he’s calm and at peace. His boat is steady, and he’s set sail all over again. And his firm anchor, wife Maanayata, has also stepped into showbiz as producer, and together, they are rolling out their first Bollywood film, Prassthanam. In a chat with Bombay Times, the couple talks about their partnership (in the movies and at home), family bonds, lessons learnt and unspoken love. Read on...

Sanjay and Maanayata, now, both of you are a team in the movie business. Sitting here and giving interviews as an actor-producer duo... how does it feel stepping into this new zone?
Sanjay: It is a great feeling. She has turned producer and handled Prassthanam entirely on her own, without any help from me. I am happy about the focus with which she has handled it.
Maanayata: Cuts in… Without Sanju, I would not be able to move an inch into this zone. That is the reason I put this project on hold while he was away. As a company, we are working on interesting projects and I needed him by my side to guide me through this journey. Prassthanam was the first project that we started working on. The Marathi film Baba (which released earlier this year) just came our way; we loved the script and wanted to back it as producers. It was a small-budget film, with a smaller cast, so we could pull it off with more ease.

Sanjay, did you have a huge role to play in Maanayata turning producer? Were you more invested in this project creatively as compared to your other films?
S: I have always encouraged her to do her own thing and create her own identity. It makes me proud. This space is new to her, and I wanted her to be on her own and learn the ropes. I didn’t want to get too much into the production area, I was there mostly as an actor.
M: On set, he was always the actor. But at home, as a wife, I would take his inputs and turn to him for advice.

Maanayata, did you have to go through the process of getting Sanju on board as an actor, or was Prassthanam his idea?
M: A different producer had approached him with this film quite some time ago, and Sanju had agreed to do it. But then, we lost three-and-a-half years during his jail term. Post that, I took over the film as producer.
S: When I heard the story, I liked the way the characters were weaved in, and how the relationships played out. My character does something which he regrets all his life and then tries to mend it. The film also has romance. Well, I don’t romance in it, but Ali (Fazal) does. Even the dialogues are loaded and clap-worthy.

Now, are there more conversations at home around movies and the business of movies?
M: Not really, even earlier, he would never bring work home.
S: Home has always been about family time and hanging out with our children. That takes up all our time.

Prassthanam is adapted from the Telugu film directed by Deva Katta, who is helming the Hindi version, too. It is believed that the sensibilities of filmmakers and the audience down South, are different compared to Bollywood movies and the audience that mostly consumes Hindi cinema. Were there doubts or fears about being able to adapt the film well?
M: We have a very good writer on board — Farhad Samji — who has a good body of work. He took the core idea from the original and adapted it into a Hindi film. He understands the audience here and has written it in a way that it will appeal to them.

Sanju, your character in this film has grey shades. Earlier, you have said that you enjoy playing roles that are dark and layered. Has the all-out good boy on screen become a tad boring for you?
I don’t know about that, but for the longest time characters with grey shades have attracted me. In fact, most of my successful films are the ones in which I have played dark characters. It has worked with the audience, too. I believe that no one is black or white, we all have some grey in us. So yes, I get drawn to such roles.

You turned 60 this year. In a typical corporate job, at this stage one often goes into retirement mode. For you, it’s like a new innings in your career. A lot to look forward to?
I am truly happy in my professional space. And in my personal space, too, I am at peace seeing my children grow up. I want to see our production house grow, too, and I hope that in the next few years, this company will be known for good cinema and people will want to work with our team. There is a lot to look forward to.

Maanayata, in all these years, what do you think has changed the most about him?
He is much calmer and more at peace now. The sword that was hanging over his head for years, has gone. Also, I think that age and the fact that he is fathering two young kids, have contributed to his current state of mind. From the Sanju, who I knew a decade ago, he is a far more composed person now.

Even after all these years, Sanju’s trademark style, swag and persona... none of that has changed. Does it ever feel like you are living with a 60-year-old, Maanayata?
M: Most actors are young at heart and vulnerable, Sanju is, too. As an actor, I guess you have to be young at heart to play multiple roles. Off screen, I still don’t feel that he is a 60-year-old. Sanju’s style and swag is inbuilt; I don’t think that will change with age. I remember that my sister-in-law, Priya, once told me that their father (Sunil Dutt) would often say, ‘Sanju ne itna drugs kiya hai ki uska dimaag grow hona bandh ho gaya hai’. Sanju always says that his dad loved Priya more, but I feel that his father had that unspoken love for him. Priya would tell me how dad would defend him and say these lines. So, I still feel that he is young, and I am dealing with three kids at home. Shahraan, Iqra (their twins) and Sanju gang up together. At home, the kids are supposed to have pizza and burgers only over the weekend, but he breaks that rule and allows it on weekdays, too. You see what I mean!

Are your kids aware of your stardom, Sanju? Have they watched any of your films?
M: They are aware, because it is spoken about in their school. They are nine years old now, and they know when he goes to shoot. We haven’t taken them out that much in public, so they don’t know about the kind of adulation he enjoys or his fan following. They know that he is an actor, and there is a certain kind of attention they get because of it.
S: We haven’t seen any of my films together. I watch kiddie films with them.
M: We all saw Sanju (2018) together. I am not an avid movie watcher in that sense. Lately, I have started watching more films, because as a producer, I need to do that. In fact, I haven’t seen Bhoomi (2017) or Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 (2018).

Sanju, talking about what Maanayata just shared with us, do you think there was unspoken love between your father and you?
Yes, absolutely. It is much later in life that he started expressing himself more. The hug that he gave me at the end in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S (2003), was so real that both of us were crying. Towards the last phase of his life, my dad started expressing his love for me, and he was proud of the way I handled myself. For any father, it is a good feeling to see things turn around — from people saying that ‘Sanju Sunil Duttji ka beta hain’, to they saying ‘Sunil Duttji Sanjay Dutt ke pitaji hain’.

Maanayata, what is your first memory of seeing Sanjay Dutt on screen? In what kind of films do you like to see him the most?
My first memory of him is from Aatish: Feel The Fire (1994). There was this scene where he burns down a godown, I still remember it. Sanju is a fantastic actor, you give him any role and he does it with ease. His filmography is so diverse — from dark roles in films like Khalnayak (1993) and Agneepath (2012), to the lovable goon in Munna Bhai, and funny roles in films with David Dhawan and Govinda. He has this larger-than-life presence on screen. I remember once I was on the same flight with Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan, from London to Mumbai, and we were talking about how he has worked with both, my father-in-law and my husband. Mr Bachchan told me, ‘Sunil saab toh bahut acche actor the, aur Sanju ke saath kaam karne mein bahut mazaa aata hai, kyunki agar aapke saamne bahut takkar ka actor ho, toh aapki performance badhti hai’. And he also said that Sanju looks ‘itna chauda’ on screen. It feels great that someone who is an institution in himself, speaks so highly of Sanju.

Back in the day, a hero had to be a certain type. But you were not like that and we saw you playing the good boy and the baddie on screen with as much conviction…
Every actor comes with this baggage of an image, which the audience has formed based on the roles he has played. For instance, Salman Khan can’t attempt something too different. Even if he tries, it is really tough. His fans want to see him in a certain way. They want to see action and songs in a Salman Khan film. I am in a similar situation. I have tried to do different kinds of roles, but it didn’t work. Like in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3, the reaction of my fans was, ‘Gangster bola kyun, gun kidhar hai?’ In Bhoomi, so many people told me, ‘Aapko courtroom ko tod dena chahiye tha’. I told them, ‘Courtroom kaun todta hai?’ They don’t want to see me standing haath jod ke in front of people. They want to see me in the avatar that they like me best in.

But you have done some prominent films as a lover boy…
Yes, I have. But during our time, a romantic hero did more than just romance on screen. They were romantic-action heroes, you know what I mean. The only full-on romantic film that I have done (without any action), which was accepted by the audience was Saajan (the 1991-film, also starring Madhuri Dixit Nene and Salman Khan). I play a physically-challenged character, who is all heart. It was a lovely love story with great music.

What has been your biggest regret and biggest learning?
I have no regrets in life. The court case went on for about 25 years and the jail term happened, but now, I look back at all of it positively. I know that I lost many years of my youth, but I have taken every learning from it positively. That experience taught me a lot, but very late in life. I wish that it had happened when I was a bit younger. It really mellowed me down.

Sanjay, with wife Maanayata, discusses life after his incarceration, making films together and bringing up kids Iqra and Shahraan
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 10, 2019)

It’s another rainy day in Mumbai and the traffic is nightmarish. At one point, one wonders if the journey to Sanjay Dutt’s Santacruz office will ever end. It does, two hours after one had left from home. Maanayata Dutt is already there, the actor strolls in a few minutes later and is ready for a chat. When suggested that his wife join him, he asks Maanayata to come along. The couple complements each other in black-andwhite and is in-sync as the words flow. Excerpts from an interview:

Your first Hindi production, Prassthanam, has the tagline, ‘earn the legacy’. Sanjay, is this film your way of taking the legacy of your parents, Sunil and Nargis Dutt, forward?
Maanayata: It’s just the tagline of the film and has nothing to do with his family. Yes, dad (Sunil Dutt) had a production company, but he didn’t keep making films to set Sanju up as a star. He was a self-made man, so is my husband. But Sanju is among the few actors who will always wear his boots. Since acting is age-bound, we had to figure how to take his career a step up. Producing films is another way of entertaining.
Sanjay: I know that both my parents will be very happy that my production company is taking off.

Maanayata, even when Sanjay was away, you had kept his production dreams going. There was talk of a Satte Pe Satta remake…
Maanayata: We were planning to make Satte Pe Satta jointly with Ashtavinayak. When that company wound up operations, the project was put on the backburner. But during Sanju’s incarceration, I developed a lot of scripts. But since I didn’t have his expertise and practical knowledge on how a film is made, I waited till he was there to guide me before rolling with my first film.

But you have been dabbling in other things, including interiors and corporate trading. You could bring that experience into this company; besides you’ve been an actress too.
Maanayata: Every business is about building a product, branding and marketing it. You could build yourself or another entity, but the crux of any business is profit and loss. That’s what any business school teaches you. Then, it’s how you implement it. I’ve done just one film and even after I married Sanju, I didn’t hang around the sets like a star wife. Even today, I can only answer questions related to our productions. If you were to ask me what films Sanju is doing, I’d turn to him and ask, “Aap kya kar rahen hain?” That’s why I held back from producing a film till he returned.

What made you zero in on a remake of a Telugu film as your first Hindi production?
Maanayata: The size of cinema, technology and the faces of actors and directors have changed. What remains unchanged is emotions. Our film is high on the E-quotient.
Sanjay: Yes, it’s a content-driven film which is about life, values, morals and entertainment. My character, Baldev, has many shades in his relationship with his wife and sons; the role offers me scope to perform. Even though it’s set against a political background, it’s an earthy, massy film.

Talking of politics, the ruling coalition partner Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) chief and state minister Mahadev Jankar recently announced that you will be joining his party on September 25.
Sanjay: He’s family… like my brother… but I no longer have any political aspirations. I’m happy being an actor and our dream today is for this company to make good cinema.

Is this company something you’d want to pass on to your twins, Iqra and Shahraan?
Maanayata: I don’t believe materialistic things should be passed on, they should be earned. I could build an empire for my children, but if they can’t keep it together or expand it, they might lose it. What we can give them is education and values.

Do the children show interest in any aspect of filmmaking?
Maanayata: My daughter, who will turn nine soon, is an artist. From her grade—two divisions of 24 kids combined—her paintings get selected every year for the school magazine. I’m planning an exhibition of her canvases soon. My son is more interested in sports—cricket, football and taekwondo.

The family has always been the centre of your existence. Do you see your life changing now that you are a film producer?
Maanayata: You have to evolve with time, growth lies in change. The kids are busy with school and an activity class every day, be it skating or swimming. They don’t have much time for us and as they grow older, they will get busier. So, it is better that I, too, get busy with something else. This company is like my baby too.

What’s the next film after Prassthanam?
Maanayata: There’s a Punjabi comedy which rolls in mid-November. It will be shot in Punjab in three schedules over 55 days. Habib Faisal is directing a slice-of-life film for us, it starts in January. We have also signed (director) Mudassar Aziz.

Sanjay, do you feature in these films too?
Sanjay: No, but there’s another film with Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan, titled Pandit Galli Ka Ali, which I will be doing with Chintu sir (Rishi Kapoor), with whom I’ve worked in many films. God bless him, we’re waiting for him to return to start that one.
Maanayata: There’s also a horror-comedy, Virgin Tree, being directed by ad filmmaker Siddhant. It has Sanju playing a virgin baba.

That’s an interesting one.
Sanjay (smiling): Yeah, I have some interesting films lined up, from Shamshera, Panipat and Prithviraj Chauhan to Bhuj: The Pride of India, a film with Vikas Bahl, and two sequels, KGF 2 and Sadak 2. The latter reunites me with (Mahesh) Bhatt saab after two decades. He has the same energy and madness, and after a long time, I felt he was really happy, to be back in the director’s chair. KGF 2, which rolls soon, is an action-packed drama with me as Adheera, the villain’s brother, who returns to take revenge. Maanayata was insistent I do it.
Maanayata: I loved the promos, very intriguing, with a silhouette of the lead actor Yash, and publicised with just a one-line dialogue, “Iss duniya mein sabse bada yoddha maa hoti hai.” For me, it worked big time; I watched the film twice. Sanju couldn’t do the original because of date issues. When the sequel came along, he was contemplating. I told him he had to do it.

Sanjay, talking about mothers, Nargis ji was the centre of your existence and vice versa. I guess it’s the same for Maanayata and your children?
Sanjay: Yeah, they are alike in the way they conduct themselves. Mom was louder than Maanayata but she’s the same with our kids.

You’ve often said that Maanayata made a home out of your house…
Sanjay: I’m proud and fortunate to have a wife like her. Her focus has always been home, husband, kids and her work. I’ve never interfered in her trading, knowing she has a business acumen. After my father passed away, Maanayata has been my support system. She never let me fall, she was always there to pick me up.
Maanayata: For all those who say I am his anchor, I say, he is the sail I set up to protect myself from storms. He’s always stood strong for the kids and me. Even when he was inside, he was worried for us.

Any changes you’ve noticed in him in the last few years?
Maanayata: Earlier, he used to be disturbed, his father didn’t live to hear the court say that he was not a terrorist and acquit him from TADA charges. That had tarnished the family name and bothered him for years.
Sanjay: The dark clouds are gone, I am finally at peace. Like Chintu sir, I am happiest on a film set and now, I can do the work I want to do. Films like Bhuj, which is about the 1971 Indo-Pak war during which my tribal character and some ladies help Ajay’s (Devgn) Air Force officer by building an air-strip overnight in Bhuj. It’s a lovely story of heroism.

Kalank, came with a lot of expectations but left one disappointed over the amount of footage you got.
Sanjay: I know people were disappointed, but I only did this small role for my relationship with Yash (Johar) uncle and his production house, which goes back by several years. Even in the credits it was mentioned as a special appearance.

Another grouse was that Kalank seemed disconnected with today’s world. Did you feel that way too?
Sanjay: It was too small a role for me to feel anything. Everyone tried their best, there was a lot of hard work involved.

Is Torbaaz, about young suicide bombers, shelved?
Sanjay: No, it’s definitely happening. It has a lot of special effects and it takes time to get them right, so scenes with tanks and helicopters look authentic.

A film and two books on your life have come out. Are you still going ahead with your plans of an autobiography?
Sanjay: The two books are what’s in public domain and while Sanju is a brilliant film, how much can you show in two hours? I want to write the book because there are things that only I know. But it will require time, and right now, with so many good movies, I don’t want to get distracted. I also want to direct entertainers, but that, too, has to wait.

While in jail, you were working on a script with two inmates…
Sanjay: Four inmates and many scripts. Two are hilarious, and we are thinking of making them too.

Do your kids watch films?
Maanayata: My son likes the ones with superheroes, my daughter is into animated features. They haven’t seen Bhoomi or Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3, which Sanju made after he came out, because both films are in the 13-plus bracket.

Have they seen the Munna Bhai films?
Maanayata: Yes, they have watched both and liked Munna Bhai MBBS more.

When is Munna Bhai 3 rolling?
Sanjay: I keep telling Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) to do it. He’s still writing, I hope it happens next year.

Maanayata, is there any film of Sanjay’s that you’d like to remake or take forward?
Maanayata: Khal Nayak. It’s a great film and Sanjay’s character has so many layers. Negative characters have always worked for him, be it Khal Nayak, Vaastav or Munna Bhai, which was about a lovable rogue.

Any possibility of seeing Sanjay and you together in a home production?
Maanayata: No, my hands are full, and I am in a happy space. I just did one film and at times, I feel I was made to do it so I could meet Sanju. Things happen for a reason. Had acting been a passion, I would have pursued it. If I want something, I go for it but I don’t see myself acting again.

When you look back, what will you recall Prassthanam by?
Maanayata: It will always be special as it’s my first film with my husband. Its title means journey and not just on screen. It encapsulates Sanju’s real-life struggle and the adulation that kept him going, Manisha’s (Koirala) battle with cancer and the highs and lows in Jackie Dada’s graph. It’s my journey with them and I can only hope that our destination is success.

Stills from Phagun, Trishul

MUMBAI MIRROR (September 6, 2019)

For a recent guest turn on a TV show, Amitabh Bachchan came armed with lesser-known anecdotes from his early days in films. And most of them featured former co-star Waheeda Rehman. The Big B started off by revealing that the senior actress and Dilip Kumar are his two idols.

“The first time I got an opportunity to work with her (was) in Reshma Aur Shera. During the shoot, there was a sequence where Sunil Dutt and Waheeda ji had to sit bare-feet in the desert. I was worried about how she was managing to shoot in high temperature without footwear. So, as soon as the director announced a break, I took Waheeda ji’s juttis and ran towards her,” the 76-yearold actor reminisced, going on to add that she is still the most beautiful woman to him and is the perfect example of an Indian woman.

During the show, Bachchan also shared an interesting trivia about his family. “Waheeda ji has worked with three members of our family and has played the role of mother with all three of us. In Phagun (1973), she played a mother to my wife (Jaya Bachchan), she was Abhishek’s mother in Om Jai Jagadish (2002; right), and worked with me in Trishul (1978),” he said.

Waheeda Rehman, who was on the show through videoconferencing, laughed her heart out. “It feels happy and ajeeb (weird) at the same time. If it continues this way, perhaps I will play mother or grandmother to Abhishek’s kids someday!” she exclaimed.

As he forays into regional cinema with his production Baba, Sanjay Dutt says he is open to the idea of acting in Marathi films
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; July 18, 2019)

Months after announcing his foray into production with Prasthanam, Sanjay Dutt has ventured into regional cinema with the Marathi offering, Baba. The actor says that it was an emotional decision to back the project as the Deepak Dobriyal starrer revolves around the deep bond between a father and son. "When I sat for the narration, I was sure that I wanted to produce this film, as I want to be associated with good subjects. It isn't a deliberate attempt to dedicate the film to my father [Sunil Dutt], but he was my rock. I believe that the first person a child looks up to is his father."

The actor is fondly known as 'Baba' in Bollywood. Point this out to him, and he calls it a happy coincidence. "The credit goes to the director [Raj Gupta]. When they came to me, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the title." As he throws his weight behind regional fares, the star is also open to the idea of acting in them. "If something interesting comes my way, I wouldn't mind trying my hand. It's always interesting to try something new."

There is no denying that, at 59, Dutt finds himself busier than ever. While his recently opened production house needs his attention, the actor also has been dividing his time between his four films, Panipat, Shamshera, Prasthanam and Bhuj: The Pride Of India. But he shows no signs of slowing down — his banner is gearing up to bankroll a Punjabi film titled Bank Loan. "We want to create a balance between content-driven and commercial entertainers. A film like Sairat (2016) was a huge success, but at the same time, Lai Bhaari (2014) also did fantastic business. So the idea is not to compromise on content."

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.”