The Indian film industry has seen several periods of upheavals over the years. One of them was in the 90s when Sanjay Dutt, a bankable star in his own right, was convicted in an anti-terror case linked to the 1993 Bombay blasts. Wry of being associated with an artiste who was now considered tainted, many in the industry turned their backs on him. This is the story of how he returned.
When Sanjay Dutt was banned by the entire industry
In 1993, Sanjay Dutt was arrested under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) as he allegedly possessed banned AK-56 assault rifles. The case dragged on and Dutt even spent time in prison. By the early-2000s, Sanjay Dutt was a pariah in the industry. As he was convicted and jailed, offers dried up. He eventually made his comeback in Munnabhai MBBS, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. In a chat at the Kellogg Management School, the filmmaker recently said, “I didn’t know him at all. The whole industry banned him, but I thought this was very wrong, so I went to his house and announced a film with him. His father said that I’ll be banned as well, but I said, ‘I don’t care.”
Sanjay Dutt’s subsequent incarceration and cancer battle
In 2007, Sanjay Dutt was cleared of all terror-related charges in the case. However, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment for illegal possession of weapons. The actor spent time in Pune’s Yerwada Jail from 2013-16. In 2020, as he was on his comeback trail, Dutt was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He underwent treatment in Mumbai and recovered.
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Sanjay Dutt’s grand comeback
Even as Sanjay Dutt was undergoing treatment for cancer, he had signed his first Kannada film – KGF Chapter 2, in which he played the antagonist Adheera. The actor shot the film while recovering from cancer, sometimes performing gruelling stunts himself. In 2022, the film released in theatres and broke all box office records, grossing Rs 1200 crore worldwide. He followed it up with a cameo in Jawan in 2023 and another negative role in Tamil film Leo. Together, the three films grossed almost Rs 3000 crore, making Dutt’s comeback a grand one. The actor now has five films lined up in 2024.
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