Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema in addition to a few Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi and Telugu films.
Dutt made his Bollywood film debut with the moderately successful Rocky in 1981.[19] Dutt then went on to star in Vidhaata, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1982, along with film veterans Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. He also starred in movies like Main Awara Hoon (1983). In 1985, he shot Jaan Ki Baazi, his first film in two years.[20]
The 1986 film Naam was a turning point in Dutt's career, it was a major critical and commercial success.[21][22][20] Dutt appeared in successful films throughout the '80s such as Imaandaar, Inaam Dus Hazaar (1987), Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988), Mardon Wali Baat (1988), Ilaaka (1989), Hum Bhi Insaan Hain (1989), Kanoon Apna Apna (1989) and Taaqatwar (1989).[20]
His performances in both Kabzaa (1988) and J. P. Dutta's Hathyar (1989) were both well received by critics, although both films only managed average collections at the box office.[23][24][25] In the late 1980s, he was seen in a number of multi-starrers alongside leading actors like Govinda, Mithun, Dharmendra, Jackie Shroff and Sunny Deol.[20]
Rise to prominence (1991–1993)[edit]
His successes continued in the 1990s, with films that include Tejaa (1990), Khatarnaak (1990), Zahreelay, (1990) Thanedaar (1990), Khoon Ka Karz (1991), Yalgaar (1992), Gumrah (1993), Sahibaan (1993) and Aatish: Feel the Fire (1994). He went on to star in some of the most era-defining Indian films of the early 1990s such as Sadak (1991), Saajan (1991) and Khalnayak (1993), earning two nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the latter two.[20]
The Hindu wrote that "Dutt's earlier films (like Naam and Sadak) got him a lot of favourable attention", and "Saajan established Dutt as the conventional soft hero."[22]Saajan was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1991, and Sadak was the fifth highest grosser of 1991.[26] Khalnayak became a blockbuster and was the second-highest grosser of 1993.[27] This was followed by another box office success Gumrah, this was Dutt's second consecutive hit of the year.[28]
Involvement in 1993 serial bombings and later career (1993–1998)[edit]
Bombay (now Mumbai) suffered a series of serial bombings in 1993. Dutt was among several people associated with Bollywood who were accused of involvement. It was alleged that Dutt accepted delivery of weapons at his house from Abu Salem and co-accused Riyaz Siddiqui, who had also been implicated in relation to the Mumbai blasts.[29] It was claimed that the weapons formed a part of a large consignment of arms connected to the terrorists.[30] Dutt, however, in his confession stated that he took only one Type-56 from the producers of his movie Sanam, for his own family protection.[31] It has also been reported that Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt's political rivalry caused Sanjay Dutt's conviction.[32] Dutt's first film after his 1993 arrest was Daud (1997). It did average business at the box office despite getting a lot of publicity.[33] This was followed by Dushman (1998) which did well financially.[34]
Resurgence (1999–2002)[edit]
1999 was an excellent year for Dutt and one that is regarded as his comeback, with all of his five releases being amongst the highest-grossing films of that year. He began it by starring in the Mahesh Bhatt-directed film Kartoos, followed by Khoobsurat, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Daag: The Fire and Vaastav: The Reality, for which he won many awards, including his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor.[35][36] His role in 2000's Mission Kashmir won him critical acclaim and a number of awards and nominations, including his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.[20] Dutt was also invited by the President of India to Rashtrapati Bhavan for his performance in the film.[37]
As the decade went on, he continued to play lead roles in critical and commercial successes such as Jodi No.1 (2001), Pitaah (2002) and Kaante (2002), which earned him his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Munna Bhai and prolonged success (2003–2014)[edit]
He played the lead role in the National Award-winning film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), which garnered him several awards, including his first Filmfare Award for Best Comedian.[20] At the box office, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. achieved a silver jubilee status (25-week run) being one of only eight films to have achieved this status since the year 2000. In its 26th week of release, the film could still be found playing on 257 screens throughout India.[38][39] Later successes came with Musafir (2004), Plan (2004), Parineeta (2005), which earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Dus (2005). He also won critical acclaim for his performances in Shabd (2005) and Zinda (2006).[20]
The sequel of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Lage Raho Munna Bhai was released on 1 September 2006, for which Dutt received a number of awards, along with an award from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his work in the Munna Bhai series.[40] NDTV India counted the character Munna Bhai as one of top 20 fictional characters in Bollywood.[41] Dutt earned his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.
In January 2008, the Indian film Institute Filmfare listed 12 films featuring Dutt in its list of the top 100 highest-grossing movies of all time. In its May 2013 edition "100 years of Indian cinema", Filmfare listed three films featuring Dutt in its top 20 list of highest-grossing Hindi films of all time, adjusted for inflation these films were Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Khalnayak and Saajan.[42] Later, Dutt starred in movies like Dhamaal (2007), Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007), All the Best (2009), Double Dhamaal (2011), Son of Sardaar (2012) Agneepath (2012) and PK (2014).[43]
Setbacks and expansion into South Indian films (2016–present)[edit]
Vidhu Vinod Chopra on 29 September 2016 announced that the third part of Munna Bhai series, starring Dutt in the title role, would begin soon.[44] However, as of 2024, production on the film has still not commenced.[45]
In 2017, Dutt appeared as the lead in Bhoomi, directed by Omung Kumar.[46] In 2018, he starred in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3.[47][48] On 29 June 2018, his biopic Sanju released in which he made a special appearance.[49] He then produced and starred inPrassthanam, which released on 20 September 2019.[50]
Due to the COVID pandemic, Dutt then had four OTT releases. First was Sadak 2, a sequel to his 1991 film Sadak, co starring Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur. The trailer for the film became the most disliked trailer of all time, with fans critical of nepotism following the death of Sushant Singh Rajput.[51] The film was universally panned and some claimed it to be one of the worst films in Dutt's career.[52] Then came Netflix release Torbaaz, an action thriller set in Afghanistan. His 2021 release Bhuj: The Pride of India, which featured an ensemble cast consisting of Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha and Nora Fatehi, also received negative reviews.[53] However, in 2022, Dutt appeared in Toolsidas Junior, a sports drama which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Also in 2022, Dutt made his debut in Kannada cinema as Adheera, the main antagonist in K.G.F: Chapter 2, the sequel to the blockbuster Kannada film, K.G.F: Chapter 1. The movie was a financial success and became the third highest grossing Indian film. However, his other 2022 theatrical releases were financial flops - the period epic Shamshera, directed by Karan Malhotra and starring Ranbir Kapoor, in which he again played a key antagonist, and Samrat Prithviraj alongside Akshay Kumar.
In 2023, Dutt first appeared in a cameo role in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan. He then played a key antagonist in Lokesh Kanagaraj's Leo (2023), alongside Vijay, which marked his debut in Tamil cinema.[54] Both were huge financial successes.
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