"I want my brother to be a free man"

Destiny has literally stonewalled Sanjay Dutt. Confined in the most secluded 10x10 barrack in Pune’s Yerawada prison, the only human contact he has is perhaps with the guard and sometimes co-accused and friend Yusuf Nulwala, a few barracks away. Apart from buzzing flies and mosquitoes of course. Someone who was once blinded by flashbulbs, Sanjay today, can barely see light. Someone who was chased by media and fans hardly talks – except perhaps to the images of deities he’s put up in a corner. Someone who perhaps picked up the pen only to sign autographs and cheques spends most of his time writing – writing letters to the loved ones he’s left behind. Sanjay’s life has hit the most sweeping extremes. The terrific and the terrible co-existing in mutual conspiracy. Drugs. Divorce. Death… he’s been through it all. Even incarceration in 1996 for his alleged involvement in the 1993 bomb blasts. But nothing can come close to the recent conviction where the Supreme Court upheld his five-year sentence for illegal possession of arms. The actor, who celebrates his 55th birthday this month, is neither young nor as healthy. Moreover, his wife Maanayata Dutt, who recently went through a critical spell with lung tumour, has four-year-old twins Shahran and Iqra to attend to despite her frail health. The children, who insist on Facetime with their father, have somehow been sweet-talked to believe that this time he’s way too distant from them...

Namrata Dutt, who’s been the quiet strength of the family all through, is gravely perturbed this time. Her prime concern being brother Sanjay Dutt’s health. “He’s a survivor and will adapt to any situation – even eating bajra rotis and wild spinach. But when you’re in bad health, things are not easy. He’s suffering from sciatica, which makes it difficult to sleep on a chatai (mat). He needs physiotherapy. He also has deep vein thrombosis (clots in the vein) on his legs. He needs to have another Doppler test done. His cholesterol and triglycerides are high. Plus, he has a fatty liver and borderline sugar. He needs a special diet. When he was out on parole this year, he was with Maanayata at the hospital day and night. He neglected his check-ups.” She’s saddened that his condition is not being taken ‘seriously’. “They are taking a huge risk with his health. God forbid if they neglect it... I don’t know how I will react. I don’t know whether I should be quoting the case of Rajan Pillai (the late industrialist, who was suffering from liver cirrhosis died in judicial custody in 1995 reportedly due to medical negligence)…,” she trails off her eyes turning sad.

LONE & ALONE
She’s also distressed with what she terms as a ‘hypocritical treatment’ meted out to Sanjay. “First they say he’s like a common prisoner. But common prisoners are granted more freedom. Yerawada jail is stretched across several acres. Prisoners come out of their barracks. They do physical work, even take walks. But Sanjay being ‘a high security risk prisoner’ is confined in the most secluded corner (reportedly where 11/8 terrorist Ajmal Kasab was lodged). His friend Yusuf Nulwala (co-accused) is lodged a few cells away. They can’t provide him gym equipment because what if he ‘attemps suicide’,” she says.“Confinement can drive you crazy. Unfortunately, he’s been treated as a terrorist it being a high profile case.” According to the ‘rule book’, the sisters were not even granted permission to tie a rakhi on him. “Priya (Dutt) and I had to leave behind the rakhis and mithai we had carried to Pune!” she laments.

HOPE AGAINST HOPE
Sanjay’s term supposedly ends in October 2015. But Namrata hopes that he is considered for remission (lessening of punishment). “He’s a first time offender, his conduct is good. To raise funds for the prison, he had directed and was also to act in a play based on the lines of Munnabhai. It was to be staged in Pune and the CM of Maharashtra (Prithviraj Chauhan) was to attend the event. The tickets were sold. We were half way to Pune when we were informed that the event was scrapped due to security concerns. It was heartbreaking. It was his chance to work towards the prison and build up his good conduct and reduce his term.” She continues, “I know acquiring weapons is a crime. He’s already served three years. They can put him onto some community service and monitor him. He’s not a threat to society.” She reflects on the 1992 riots that tore across Mumbai two decades ago, “There were many who acquired weapons. After Sanjay’s name came up, a large number of weapons were reported to have been found at the Carter Road beach. They were dumped by those who feared arrests. Those days we received threat calls like ‘we’ll burn your house’. Our house was turned into a refugee camp. People sent across grains, utensils, chaddars…All this was stocked at the Ajanta Arts theatre for the riot-affected. Sadly, the masterminds behind it all never got caught!”

FATE & FAITH
She looks back at the upheavals the family has been through. “I don’t understand karma. The belief that you suffer for what you did in your last birth doesn’t make sense. Off and on, he’s taken away from the family,” she says continuing, “He was put in a boarding (The Lawrence School, Sanawar) when he was just seven. In retrospect, I disagree with what my dad (the late actor/politician Sunil Dutt) did. Yes, Sanju loves his school and has beautiful memories. But he had a tough time there because of who he was – Sunil Dutt’s son. Children can be vicious and mean. They made fun of him.” Sanjay returned home independent and it became difficult for him to adjust to a father with ‘strong views, rules and regulations’. There was tension at home. “Then my mother’s passing away (Nargis succumbed to cancer in 1981), affected him deeply. Sanju was closest to her.” Along the lines, Sanjay got into bad company and it took years to get him free of drugs. Later, he married Richa (Sharma) only to lose her to cancer. Then he married Rhea (Pillai) but the marriage didn’t work.  “He began saying marriage is not for me. But somewhere he started feeling lonely. He’s not the partying type. Then he met Maanayata and decided to marry her.” Initially, the sisters were upset ‘because of the way it happened’. “Because Sanju’s an impulsive guy. But when he had begun to settle down, this happens. He has been convicted now for what happened 21 years ago. He doesn’t seem to have family ka sukh!”

SOBER SANJAY
Every month the family is granted just 10 minutes of mulaqat with him. “The last time I met him, he looked better. He’s made up his mind that he will finish his term. He’s working out with buckets filled with water instead of  weights. He reads the Bhagwad Gita again and again. Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk To Freedom inspired him. He writes a lot. He’s made a temple of sorts in the cell. He also does jap (chanting). Thankfully, he’s not turned cynical. He has too much of faith for that.” Nonetheless, some from the industry have not spared him in his rough spell. “He wrote that he was disturbed about not being able to make money for his family. Sanju had signed a couple of films before being sentenced. Some filmmakers are harassing him to return that. One person directly wrote a letter to him demanding money. Someone else wrote to Maanayata. He’s not the one to not pay back. Give him time. Priya and I can sign a guarantee for him.” “Lots of people have taken him for a ride in the past. I don’t think that anyone who has come into his life has not taken advantage of him. I’m not a possessive sister. I don’t get into his life at all. As long as he’s happy with ‘so and so’, we are fine. But if that ‘so and so’ makes an ullu out of him, then I get upset,” she sighs adding, “I wrote to him, ‘Everyone of us has got their air-conditioners, cold drinking water, good food, we sleep on proper beds... So don’t worry about us. Worry only about yourself.” She hopes this trial by fire will make him ‘sensible’. “One thing that annoys me is his drinking. That alters who he is. I don’t like the Sanjay he becomes. He becomes aggressive, which he’s not. He’s so lovable otherwise. Of course, in the morning it’s all forgotten. Now he’s alcohol free. Yes, but he’s been smoking a lot of beedis. That’s all he can afford because all his ‘budget money’ goes in paying for the letters he speed posts.” The last word? “I want my brother to be a free man!”

The tragic TIMELINE

A teenaged Sanjay Dutt was devastated by the death of his mother Nargis to prolonged cancer on May 3, 1981.

Three days later, on May 7, his debut Rocky premiered.

By now Sanjay was deep into drugs. He was put in rehab in Germany and Mumbai. Finally, he was sent to the US for treatment.

He married actress Richa Sharma in 1987. The year 1988 saw the birth of daughter Trishala. But soon Richa was diagnosed with brain tumour. She passed away in 1996.

A TADA court booked Sanjay Dutt for suspected terrorist links and illegal possession of weapons on April 19, 1993. He was granted bail in October ’95. He was
re-arrested in December ’95.

In 1998, Sanjay married Rhea Pillai. They filed for divorce in 2005.

Father Sunil Dutt died of a heart attack in 2005.

Sanjay married Maanayata at in 2008 and was settling in after the birth of twins Shahran and Iqra when in March 2013 the Supreme Court convicted him for illegal possession of arms in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. He was sent to Yerawada jail in Pune in May, 2013.

He was out on parole since December 21, 2013 to March 2014, as wife Maanayata underwent lung surgery. He’s  suffering from severe health problems too.