Sanjay Dutt has been given permission by the Supreme Court to travel to Africa to work on two films. The CBI has been ordered to release his passport. The CBI raised no objections to the request. Sanjay is currently on bail following his conviction for weapons infringements linked to a terrorist bombing in 1993. During the trial, which lasted from 1996 until 2006, Sanjay was given permission to travel abroad 44 times and always strictly adhered to the conditions set. He will be returning from filming in Thailand on Sept 18th and then two days later, he will leave for Africa.
Sanjay’s Big Bear features have won him a host of awards over the years for films including Vaastav, Munnabhai MBBS, Mission Kashmir, Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Kaante. One of the hardest working actors in Bollywood, he is currently holding a portfolio of about a dozen movies lining up for release including Blue, EMI, Baseera, Aladdin & the Mystery of the Lamp, Gangs of London, Charles & I, Luck, Mr Fraud, Chatur Singh Two Star, Lamha, Mamu I Love You and the interesting 21 Battle of Saragarhi – From Ashes to Glory. His next release is Kidnap which opens on October 2nd and co-stars Minissha Lamba and new star on the horizon Imran Khan.
Sanjay has recently fallen out with his sisters over his third marriage – to the much younger Manyatta. Sanjay understands their concern but will make his own decisions in life. “Going by my past record, I don’t blame anyone for being suspicious of this relationship,” he says. “For my family, especially my sisters, this was just another mistake that I was making. However, I feel no one has the right to interfere in my personal life. Whether they liked it or not, they had to accept it.”
Sanju is known for his generosity in his personal life and nothing illustrates that more than an incident that occurred earlier this week. Actress Achala Sachdev had heard from a friend that his little niece had developed cancer and money was needed for treatment. Achala approached Sanju for support from the Nargis Foundation, a charity run in his mother’s honour. But, as Achala puts it, “When he (Dutt) heard the seriousness of the situation he said, ‘Forget the foundation. I’ll help the girl myself.’ He immediately agreed to a large sum of money for little Saishaa’s treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital. The girl’s distraught mother wept when she heard about Sanjay’s generosity.” Adding, “Just goes to show, the industry has its share of good people. And it’s people like Sanju who make our world a better place.”
