Sunil Dutt


Sunil Dutt was an Indian film actor, producer, director and politician. He was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government. He was a former Sheriff of Mumbai. His son is actor Sanjay Dutt and his daughter Priya Dutt is a former Member of Parliament.
In 1968, he was honoured by the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 1984 he joined the Indian National Congress party and was elected to the Parliament of India for five terms from the constituency of Mumbai North West.

Early life

Sunil Dutt was born on 6 June 1929. in Punjab Province, British India. When he was five years old, Dutt's father, Diwan Raghunath Dutt, died. When he was 18, the Partition of India began inciting Hindu-Muslim violence across the country. A Muslim named Yakub, who had been friend with Dutt's father, saved their entire family. The family resettled in the small village of Mandauli on the bank of the river Yamuna located in Yamuna Nagar, Punjab, which is now a district of Haryana. Later he moved to Lucknow with his mother, Kulwantidevi Dutt, and spent a long time in Aminabad Galli during graduation. He then moved to Bombay, where he joined Jai Hind College as an undergraduate and took up a job at the city's BEST Transportation Engineering division.

Career

Starting out in radio, with his command over the Urdu language, Sunil Dutt was hugely popular on the Hindi service of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia. He moved to acting in Hindi films and got introduced to the industry with 1955's Railway Platform.
He shot to stardom in the 1957 film Mother India in which he co-starred with Nargis as her short-tempered, angry son. During the making of this film a fire happened on the set. It is believed that Dutt braved the raging fire to save Nargis and thereby won her love. They went on to marry in 1958. They had one son Sanjay Dutt, also a successful film actor and two daughters, Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. His daughter Namrata married Kumar Gaurav, son of Rajendra Kumar. The two fathers were co-stars in Mother India.
Dutt was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s and continued to star in many successful films which included Sadhna, Sujata, Mujhe Jeene Do, Khandan and Padosan. His collaboration with B.R. Chopra proved to be successful in films such as Gumraah, Waqt and Hamraaz. One of his favourite writers and friends was Aghajani Kashmeri. Dutt created a record of sorts by directing and starring in the unique film Yaadein in which he was the only actor in the cast. He later turned producer of the 1968 film Man Ka Meet which introduced his brother Som Dutt who was unsuccessful in films. In 1971, he produced, directed and starred in Reshma Aur Shera which was a huge failure at the box office. Dutt had worked with Madhubala in two films - Insan Jaag Utha and Jwala, the latter being Madhubala's last film which releases after her demise in 1969. He continued to star in hits that included Heera, Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye, Nagin, Jaani Dushman , Muqabla, and Shaan. He also starred in a series of Punjabi religious movies in the 1970s: Man Jeete Jag Jeet, Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam, and Sat Sri Akal. Even in 1980s he starred in a both leading and supporting role in several successful movies such as Dard Ka Rishta, Badle Ki Aag, Raaj Tilak, Mangal Dada, Watan Ke Rakhwale and Dharamyudh.
He launched his son Sanjay's career with Rocky in 1981 which was a success. Shortly before the film's release, Nargis died of pancreatic cancer. He founded the Nargis Dutt Foundation in her memory for the curing of cancer patients. He was a sponsor of the India Project, an organisation akin to Operation Smile for the treatment of Indian children with facial deformities.
In 1982 he was appointed as the Sheriff of Bombay, an apolitical titular position bestowed on him by the Maharashtra government for a year.
He retired from the film industry in the early 1990s to turn to politics after his last few releases including Yash Chopra's Parampara and J.P. Dutta's Kshatriya. His political career was halted for some years in the early 1990s when he worked to free his son from jail after he was arrested for keeping an AK-56 that he claimed was for protection of his family after bomb blasts in Bombay.
In 1995 he won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the film industry for four decades. He returned to acting shortly before his death in 2003's Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. in which he shared the screen with son Sanjay for the first time although they had appeared earlier in Rocky and Kshatriya but not in the same scenes together.

Death

Sunil Dutt died of a heart attack on 25 May 2005 at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai, twelve days before his 76th birthday, At the time of his death, he was the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Union Government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh and was the Member of Parliament from North-west Mumbai. He was cremated with full state honours at Santacruz Crematorium in Mumbai. He was succeeded as Minister by Mani Shankar Aiyar. His seat in the Parliament was contested by his daughter, Priya Dutt, who won it and was a Member of Parliament until May 2014.

In popular culture

played the role of Sunil Dutt in the biopic on his son titled Sanju.

Awards and honours

;As an Actor
FilmYearRoleDirectorNotes
Railway Platform1955RamRamesh Saigal
Kundan1955AmritSohrab Modi
Rajdhani1956Naresh Saigal
Kismet Ka Khel1956Prakash VermaKishore Sahu
Ek-Hi-Raasta1956AmarB.R. Chopra
Mother India1957BirjuMehboob Khan
Paayal1957MohanJoseph Taliath
Sadhna1958MohanB.R. Chopra
Post Box 9991958VikasRavindra Dave
Insaan Jaag Utha1959RanjeetShakti Samanta
Didi1959GopalK. Narayan Kale
Sujata1959AdhirBimal Roy
Usne Kaha Tha1960NanduMoni Bhattacharjee
Hum Hindustani1960Surendra NathRam Mukherjee
Ek Phool Char Kaante1960SanjeevBhappi Sonie
Duniya Jhukti Hai1960Mohan / BankelalJ.B.H. WadiaDouble Role
Chhaya1961Arun/Poet RaheeHrishikesh Mukherjee
Main Chup Rahungi1962Kamal KumarA. Bhimsingh
Jhoola1962Dr. ArunK. Shankar
Aaj Aur Kal1963Dr. SanjayVasant Joglekar
Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke1963Anilkumar G. SahniR. K. Nayyar
Nartakee1963Professor Nirmal KumarNitin Bose
Mujhe Jeene Do1963Thakur Jarnail SinghMoni BhattacharjeeWon 1964 Filmfare Best Actor Award
Gumraah1963RajendraB. R. Chopra
Yaadein1964AnilSunil DuttAlso Director & Producer
Gazal1964EjaazVed-Madan
Beti Bete1964Ramu/KrishnaL. V. Prasad
Waqt1965Advocate RaviYash Chopra
Khandan1965Govind Shankar. LalA. BhimsinghWon Filmfare Best Actor Award
Mera Saaya1966Thakur Rakesh SinghRaj Khosla
Maitighar1966SunilB.S. ThapaSpecial Appearance in Nepali Film
Gaban1966RamnathHrishikesh Mukherjee
Amrapali1966Magadh Samrat AjatashatruLekh Tandon
Milan1967Gopi/GopinathAdurthi Subba RaoBFJA Awards for Best Actor — Sunil Dutt
Hamraaz1967KumarB. R. Chopra
Mehrban1967KanhaiyaA. Bhimsingh
Sadhu Aur Shaitaan1968Catholic Priest D'souzaA. BhimsinghGuest Role
Padosan1968BholaJyoti Swaroop
Gauri1968Sunil KumarA. Bhimsingh
Pyasi Sham1969RajaAmar Kumar
Meri Bhabhi1969RajuKhalid Akhtar
Jwala1969SunilM. Krishnan NairGuest Role
Chirag1969Ajay SinghRaj Khosla
Bhai Bahen1969Surendra PratapA. Bhimsingh
Darpan1970Balraj DuttAdurthi Subba Rao
Bhai-Bhai1970Deep/Ashok/SangramRaja NawatheDouble Role
Reshma Aur Shera1971Shera SinghSunil DuttDirector & Producer
Jwala1971JwalaM.V. RamanDelayed Film
Zameen Aasmaan1972RaviA Veerappan
Zindagi Zindagi1972Dr. SunilTapan Sinha
Jai Jwala1972SunilManohar Deepak
Man Jeete Jag Jeet1973Bagga Daaku / Baghel SinghB.S. ThapaPunjabi Film
Heera1973HeeraSultan Ahmed
Geeta Mera Naam1974Suraj/JohnnySadhanaNegative Role
Kora Badan1974SunilB.S. GhadGuest Role
Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye1974Raja ThakurS. Ali Raza
Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam1974SadhuB.S.ThapaGuest Role in Punjabi Film
36 Ghante1974Himmat SinghRaj TilakNegative Role
Zakhmee1975AnandRaja Thakur
Umar Qaid1975RajaSikandar Khanna
Neelima1975SunilPushprajGuest Role
Himalay Se Ooncha1975VijayB.S. Thapa
Nagin1976VijayRajkumar KohliSupernatural Thriller
Nehle Pe Dehla1976SunilRaj Khosla
Darinda1977Krishna/YogiduttKaushal Bharati
Gyaani Ji1977Pilot Sardar Hari SinghChaman NillayPunjabi Name : Sat Sri Akal
Paapi 1977Raj KumarO. P. Ralhan
Ladki Jawan Ho Gayi1977SunilAnand Dasani
Charandas1977Advocate TondonB.S. ThapaGuest Role
Aakhri Goli1977VikramShibu Mitra
Ram Kasam1978Bhola/ShankarChandDouble Role
Kaala Aadmi1978BirjuRamesh Lakhanpal
Daaku Aur Jawan1978BirjuSunil Dutt
Muqabla1979Vikram 'Vicky'Rajkumar Kohli
Jaani Dushman1979LaakhanRajkumar KohliHorror Thriller
Ahinsa1979BirjuChand
Salaam Memsaab1979Naresh SaritAsraniGuest Appearance
Shaan1980DSP Shiv KumarRamesh Sippy
Yari Dushmani1980ShambhuSikandar Khanna
Lahu Pukarega1980JituAkhtar-Ul-Iman
Ganga Aur Suraj1980Inspector GangaA. Salaam
Ek Gunah Aur Sahi1980Shankar RamdasYogi Kathuria
Rocky1981ShankarSunil DuttGuest Appearance
Badle Ki Aag1982LakhanRajkumar Kohli
Dard Ka Rishta1982Dr. Ravi Kant SharmaSunil DuttProducer & Director
Laila1984Dharamraj Singh / Thakur Prithviraj SinghSaawan KumarDouble Role
Yaadon Ki Zanjeer1984Ravi KumarShibu MitraFilm delayed for 5 years
Raaj Tilak1984Jai SinghRajkumar Kohli
Faasle1985VikramYash Chopra
Kala Dhanda Goray Log1986Gauri Shankar / MichaelSanjay Khan
Mangal Dada1986Mangal DadaRamesh GuptaFilm Delayed for 6 Years
Watan Ke Rakhwale1987Jailor Suraj PrakashT. Rama Rao
Dharamyudh1988Thakur Vikram SinghSudarshan Nag
Yeh Aag Kab Bujhegi1991Prof. KishnaSunil Dutt
Kurbaan1991Prithvi SinghDeepak Bahry
Pratigyabadh1991PascalRavi Chopra
Hai Meri Jaan1991Telegram WalaRoopesh KumarGuest Role
Virodhi1992Police CommissionerRajkumar Kohli
Kshatriya1993Maharaj Bhavani SinghJ.P. Dutta
Parampara1993Thakur Bhavani SinghYash Chopra
'Phool'1993Balram ChoudharySingeetam Srinivasa Rao
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.2003Hari Prasad SharmaRajkumar Hirani
Lage Raho Munna Bhai2006Shri Hari Prasad SharmaRajkumar HiraniPhoto used in many scenes as Munna's Father
Om Shanti Om2007Magadh Samrat AjatashatruFarah KhanRecreated Via CGI during the song "Dhoom Tana"