Filmfare – July 2019

NOSTALGIA

HE AT &DUT T

PARTITION

BornonJune6, 1928

ina Punjabizamindar

familyinKhurd,onthe

banksoftheJhelum,

BalrajDutt(laterSunil

Dutt)spenthischildhood

inPakistan.Helosthis

father,DiwanRaghunath

Dutt,at theageoffive.

Whenhewas18,the

Partition(1947)unleashed

Hindu-Muslimviolence

acrossthecountry.His

father’sMuslimfriend,

Yakub,escortedthe

familytosafety.Duttand

hisfamilyrelocatedto

Mandauli,Haryanaonthe

bankofYamuna.Despite

witnessingthewrathof

thePartition,Duttcarried

noangst.Helivedbyhis

mother,Kulwantidevi

Dutt’swords,“Leaveyour

pastbehind.If youkeep

wallowingintheravages

ofthePartition,youwill

onlyintensifythehatred

sideyou.”

HEQUEREDCAREER

movedtoMumbaiin

e early’50s,joinedJai

ndCollegeandtookup

at theBESTtransport

divisionto survive. He

livedina small room in

SouthMumbai which

heshared with eight

peopleincluding tailors

andbarbers. Feeling

stuffy,they’d sleep on

thepavement at night

bangoutside an Irani

restaurant. “It would

openat 5.30 am and

thatwasour wake-up

call,”recalled Dutt in an

interview adding that tea

fromthecafé kick-started

hisday.His participation

incollege dramatics got

himanopportunity to

hosttheshow, Lipton Ki

Mehfilon Radio Ceylon,

wherehe interviewed

filmpersonalities. While

coveringthe Dilip Kumar

starrerShikast (1953),

Duttmetdirector Ramesh

Saigal,who impressed

byhisdemeanour,

offeredhim a role. Dutt

declinedthe offer as he

hadpromised his mother

thathe’dfirst complete

hiseducation. Eventually,

hewenton to do his first

filmRailway Platform

(1955)with Saigal. But

heshotto stardom with

A

s a youngster,hewitnessedthebrutalrealityof thePartition.
Buthedidn’tallowhateto discolourhisview.In fact,he
remainedanadvocateof peaceallhislife.Hehitstardom
playingthenegativeBirjuinMotherIndiaandsetthe
templateforthebêtenoirein Hindicinema.Hethenrisked
hisownlifeandrescuedNargisfromthefireonthesetof thefilm.Later,
hemarriedhernotbecauseshewasa superstarbutbecauseshewas
a superperson.Heputeverythingonholdto nurseherwhenshewas
diagnosedwithpancreaticcancer.Thoughemotionallybroken,heplayed
saviourto sonSanjayDuttwhenhisdrugaddictionwasdiscoveredafter
Nargis'passingaway.Hebravedthetrialsandtheincarcerationthat
Sanjayunderwentin the 1993 Mumbaiserialblastscasewithstoic
strength. 58 PaliHill,thehomeof theDutts,wasindeedprivyto several
heartbreakingmomentsthroughthedecades.
Yet,SunilDuttwasnotsomeonewhocouldbeconsumedbyhisown
tragedies.Hisdesireto contributeto thelargergoodcouldn’tbestymied
byhisowndespair.HelpingNGOsforAIDScampaigns,bettermentof
slum-dwellersandsex-workers,reachingoutto thejawansandriot
victims,hisallegiancetowardsthepeoplewaswaybiggerthanhis
politics.Hemayhaveactedin over 100 films,buttheliveshetouched
asa humanbeingdefycount.Rememberingtheman,themessiah...

w

o

o

CH

the

Hin

With wife Nargis Dutt a b

Actor,filmmaker,politician,familyman...butabovealla humanist.

SunilDuttwaswaybeyondhisfilms,writesFarhanaFarook

JUNE 6, 1929 - MAY 25, 2005