When Sanjay Dutt's first wife Richa Sharma said, ''Madhuri Dixit has ditched him, he is going to be a shattered man"

Unlike the Gen-Y stars who parrot PR-approved statements in interviews when asked about their love life, '90s actors lead more carefree lives. There was a time when Madhuri talked about Dutt without any inhibitions.

An excerpt from Yasser Usman’s book ‘Sanjay Dutt: The Crazy Untold Story of Bollywood’s Bad Boy’ mentions Madhuri’s quote on Dutt from her earlier interviews. “My favourite partner is Sanjay Dutt, he’s a real joker…and his stories make me laugh all the time, but he is also a gentleman,” told Madhuri to an interviewer. 

To another, she said, “Sanju is a fantastic person. He has a loving heart and, in contrast to the widely held view, a good sense of humour. He is the only guy who makes me laugh all the time. He does not play games. He is open and uncomplicated.”

It was these very interviews that led to strong whispers of a mutual attraction between the two. However, the actors always maintained silence on the subject and never officially accepted their relationship. 

Yasser Usman's book also qouted a director of one of Sanjay and Madhuri's films saying, "He was always following Madhuri around and whispering 'I love you'."

When Sanjay walked out of the prison [he was arrested under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for illegal possession of arms during the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts] for a short period in October 1993, he talked at length about his relationship with Madhuri in an interview to Movie Magazine. He told the magazine quite categorically, and with a 'straight face' that there was 'nothing' between him and Madhuri.

“I wish I had a scene going on with Madhuri. But I don’t. Look I get friendly to every co-star of mine. If you see me with Raveena Tandon, you will feel I am having an affair with her too," Dutt said, when asked if he was implying that he and the 'Tezaab' star were not dating.

He further revealed that he went up to Madhuri to apologise for all the ongoing rumours about them being together. He said, “This story broke out around the time of Saajan. In fact, when the story broke out in the press, she was shooting for Khel in Kenya. So, when we had a schedule of Saajan after that, I went up and said sorry to her. Because she was under public scrutiny for no fault of her.”

How did Madhuri take the apology? "She took it well," was Sanjay's answer.

Though the two never admitted being in a relationship, industry insiders tell that they were quite serious about each other and were infact planning to get married. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who directed Sanjay and Madhuri in Khalnayak, had once said that he was '100 per cent sure' that Dutt would not marry Madhuri (perhaps because Sanjay never wanted his women to work post marriage).

When asked about the same in an interview, Sanjay replied, "He knows me very well, no doubt, but not that well enough to know what's going on in my mind. But why should the press ask Subhash Ghai the questions pertaining to my personal life in the first place," and went on to say, "There has to be something on between us for me to marry her."

Yasser Usman mentions in his book that when the buzz around Dutt’s extra-marital affair reached his first wife Richa Sharma (Sanjay married Richa in October 1987) in New York, where she had gone for her cancer treatment, she returned to India in 1992 with daughter Trishala. On returning, she gave an interview where she expressed her wish of getting back with her husband, “We’ve been apart for so long, we’re not totally in tune with each other. But it is nothing serious, we can overcome it. I did ask Sanjay if he was going to divorce me and he said absolutely not. As for me, I don’t want a divorce. I’ve come down because I want to be with him again.”

But, within fifteen days Richa returned to New York and gave another interview and said, “I love him with all my heart. Whatever happens, I will always stand by him. He treated me very shabbily when I came down to meet him.”

Her sister Ena Sharma, in an interview with CineBlitz in December 1992, blamed Madhuri for her sister’s separation with her husband Sanjay. “Madhuri is so inhuman…I mean Madhuri can get any man she wants. How can she go for a man who’s behaved in such a way with his wife?…I know they are good friends because he’s called her from our house. And he does talk to her brother and her sister here. But we never looked at it as if “okay the guy’s involved with Madhuri”. We’re very open, we’ve always given Sanjay his space,” she was quoted as saying.

Their much-talked-about love affair came to a grinding halt after Sanjay got arrested for illegal possession of arms in 1993 Mumbai serial blast case. Madhuri reportedly decided to cut off all contact and entirely dissociate herself from Sanjay after the latter was imprisoned. Sanjay and Madhuri were last seen together on the big screen in the 1997 film 'Mahaanta'.

According to a story in Stardust entitled ‘Madhuri Dumps Sanjay', she refused to take his calls and told his sister, "Please tell Sanju not to call me up ever. Tell him that it's all over".

Richa, still married to Dutt, summed it up quite accurately in an interview: "At every point in his life, he needs someone he can lean on emotionally. Like he was dependent on Madhuri. Now that she has ditched him, he is going to be a shattered man."

In his 1993 interview to Movie Magazine, Sanjay Dutt opened up on how Madhuri denying that she was involved with him did not have any effect on him. Dutt was in jail when Madhuri said that she had nothing to do with him.

"I didn't get affected by her statement. I have been her colleague and I have done a lot of films with her. See, I need to establish a proper rapport with all my co-stars, it may be Madhuri or Sridevi. For instance, during the first few days of Gumraah I wasn't comfortable, because you know how Sridevi is. She is aloof and I had to get talking to her. So what Madhuri said didn't bother me that much, in fact it didn't bother me at all," Sanjay said.

For the longest time, Madhuri and Sanjay not just avoided each other in public, but also evaded questions on each other. While Sanjay got married to Manyata Dutt, the Dhak Dhak girl moved to US with her doctor-husband Ram Nene. While Madhuri maintained a stoic silence all these years, Sanju baba never shied away from expressing his admiration for Madhuri. In fact, in 2017, at an event, Sanjay Dutt was asked which actress would he want to marry, if given a choice today. The 58-year-old actor without any hesitation said, "I would like to marry Madhuri Dixit."

Earlier in 2010, during his appearance on 'Koffee With Karan', when Karan Johar asked Sanjay whether he had met Madhuri after her return to Bollywood, Sanjay had said, "No, I have heard she is. But I just want to tell her to go home and take care of the kids. Be with the children, abhi kya acting karni hai."

When Sanjay Dutt's biopic 'Sanju' hit the screens last year, there were reports that Madhuri had asked director Rajkumar Hirani to remove all reference of her from the movie. Parallels were also drawn between her and Sonam Kapoor's character in the film. Despite being head over heels in love with Sanju (played by Ranbir Kapoor), Sonam's character chose to get married to a doctor in the film. 

However, Madhuri later cleared the air and told Mid-Day in an interview, "For where I am today, this [the topic of Dutt] has become redundant. Life has come a long way since then. I don't know where these reports are coming from. In any case, it doesn't make a difference to me."

Considering their history, it was no surprise then that Karan Johar bringing back the iconic Bollywood couple in his film 'Kalank' was touted as one of the biggest casting coups of the decade. 

Recently, in an interview to a daily, Sanjay Dutt opened up on the experience of reuniting with Madhuri after two decades. He said, "Yes, working with her is a pleasure (smiles). What is the time frame that we hadn't met or seen each other? Two decades, perhaps a little more. Madhuri is such a great actor. I've done many films with her - Thanedaar (1990), Saajan (1991), Khalnayak (1993), Mahaanta (1997)... I can't even recall in one go. So, to work with her again in that one scene that we did together in Kalank was amazing."

"She's got that command as an actor. It's a pleasure to share screen space with her after so many years. So much has gone past, people have matured. She herself comes across as such a matured actor,’’ he added.