Filmfare – July 15, 2019

us. But sometimes I’d hear
him sobbing in his room,”
recalled daughter Namrata
Dutt in an interview
with Filmfare. After an
excruciating period in
New York, a frail Nargis
was brought home.
Sanjay’s debut film,
Rocky, was to release
on May 7, 1981. She
expressed a wish to see
the film. Arrangements
for an ambulance and a
wheelchair were made
to take Nargis to the

Sanjay was packed off

to boarding school in

Sanawar, an experience

that was initially

traumatic for him. “During

his teens, he lost interest

in academics. He got into

bad company and started

smoking marijuana,”

shared Namrata.

After Nargis’ demise,

Dutt had to contend with

his son’s drug addiction.

“I spent three-and-a-half

years to get him out.

He was put in rehab in

Germany and Mumbai

but nothing worked.

I took him to America,

I took him everywhere for

treatment. When he was

clean, I told him, ‘You’re

on your own now... find

yourself a job.” Dutt once

shared in an interview.

While Sanjay got a

grip over his career, the

Dutts endured a series

of calamities including

Sanjay’s first wife Richa

Sharma’s terminal illness

and his own arrest

under the Terrorist and

Disruptive Activities Act

(TADA) in April 1993.

Even though Sanjay got

bail, the fear of conviction

and incarceration under

the Arms Act played

heavily on Dutt’s mind

right till his last breath.

LOVED LAWMAKER

Personal tragedies

couldn’t distract Dutt

from working for the less

privileged. After Nargis’

demise, he formed The

Nargis Dutt Foundation

for cancer patients.

Whether it was the China

war in 1962 or the Kargil

war in 1999, he visited

the borders to boost the

morale of soldiers. For

the Hands Across the

Borders mission, he drove

through India, Sri Lanka,

Gumrah

Mother India

Sujata

Milan

Mujhe Jeene Do

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S

‘‘DAD WOULD FEED MOM (NARGIS), CLEAN HER, HELP

HER BRUSH HER TEETH WHEN SHE WAS IN HOSPITAL.

HE NEVER SHARED HIS FEELINGS WITH US.

BUT SOMETIMES I’D HEAR HIM SOBBING IN

HIS ROOM,’’ SHARED NAMRATA DUTT

auditorium. But she

passed away on May 3,

1981. A seat was kept
      vacant between father
      and son at the premiere of
      Rocky in her memory.

SUPER FATHER

Sanjay was a born rebel.

“As a little boy, he’d

pick up my father’s

stubs and take puffs,”

recalled Namrata in

Filmfare. Between an

indulgent mother and

a disciplinarian father,

HIT MOIVES

OF SUNIL DU T T

With Nargis and Prithviraj Kapoor

With late Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi

Being honoured by late

President Dr Zakir Hussain