Covering Bollywood and the Hindi Cinema

While the law may have taken the right course in Sanjay Dutt’s Arms Act Case, however one cannot but empathize with the actor .To say the man has a tumultuous life is an understatement. His life has been full of heartbreaks and misguided choices and however he somehow always manages to bounce back and win love of the people around him and his loyal fans. Dutt is planning to appeal to the Supreme Court and I though it was befitting to go through his turbulent journey.

Born to one of the Bollywood's most revered and respected star couples, Nargis Dutt and Sunil Dutt, Sanjay was never destiny’s favourite child. Sanjay started experimenting with drugs when he was in school, which escalated on losing his mother Nargis Dutt to Cancer a few days before his debut film. Thus began a long hard battle with Drug Abuse, which only stopped when his father shipped off Sanjay to a Rehab Center in Texas US.

A sobered Sanjay returned to Bollywood and started making a name of himself and gave a number of hit films in the 1980s, including Vidhaata (1982), Naam (1986), and Hathyar (1989). However this happiness didn’t last for long.

Two months after his daughter’s Trishala's birth, Dutt learned that his wife had a brain tumor and ultimately lost her. Many feel that this was one of the darkest periods in Sanjay’s life as a long bitter custody battle ensued between the Dutts and his in-laws. Dutt became estranged from his daughter who was with her grandparents in the US and missed out on her growing years. He started concentrating on his film career and always found support from his immediate family.

However many feel that in the nineties that Dutt started becoming friendly with a number of gangsters as Bollywood of was practically run by Underworld. In 1993, the nation was shocked when Sanjay, the son of Sunil Dutt, respected Indian politician and humanitarian was linked to the 1993 Bomb Blasts. He spent a year in jail and his alleged relationship with superstar Madhuri Dixit came to an end (even though they never admitted to be a couple publicly).

On his return from jail, Dutt married Rhea Pillai and reconciled with his daughter. He once again enjoyed stupendous success in Bollywood however he was investigated for alleged money-laundering deals between the Mumbai underworld and Bollywood. The charges were dropped as there was not enough evidence and his recorded conversations with certain gangsters were inadmissible in court.

With Munnabhai, Dutt enjoyed sky-rocketing success but once suffered heartbreak in his personal life. In 2005 he divorced his wife and also lost his father who was not only mourned by the family, but the entire nation. Dutt sought comfort in work by launching a production house and also started looking after his father’s various charities, doing some genuine work. But once all this has come to a halt with the 6 year sentence. Till yesterday around 100 crore of Bollywood money was riding on Dutt, which makes us wonder what’s in store for the actor.

Sanjay has always been controversy's favourite child and the latest sentencing is yet another disappointment in the actor’s life. Only time will tell where Sanjay’s life will lead him next however he has never fallen short of support be it family, friends or fans. So what do you think? Is 6 years of imprisonment justified or has Sanjay Dutt suffered enough?