Sanjay Dutt`s jail term may sink crores in Bollywood

Gayatri Sankar

Bollywood has come out strongly in support of its very own Sanjay Dutt, who has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment by the Supreme Court, Thursday, for possessing arms in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. But the virtual support might not come to the actor’s rescue, for he might have to eventually serve the remaining jail term of three and a half years. Dutt can, however, file a review petition in the SC. Read: I’m strong, will remain so: Sanjay Dutt on 1993 Mumbai blasts verdict Hypothetically, if Dutt, 53 were to surrender in four weeks, producers and filmmakers associated with his projects will land in troubled water. Reportedly, over Rs 200 crores ride on the actor. Dutt is yet to finish shooting for Apoorva Lakhia’s ‘Zanjeer’, which is a remake of 1970s Amitabh Bachchan starrer blockbuster. The actor was roped in to play Sher Khan, a role originally reprised by Pran. And now that the actor will have to surrender following the Supreme Court’s verdict, the makers of the film might have to cast someone else for the role in question. The character of ‘Sher Khan’ seems to be jinxed, for right from the beginning, actors chosen for the role haven’t been able to continue for some reason or the other. The actor’s much loved and appreciated film series ‘Munnabhai’s’ latest franchise was recently in news and the actor was gung-ho about the same. Dutt had shared screen space with his late father, actor-politician Sunil Dutt for the first time in ‘Munnabhai M.B.B.S’. The film turned out to be a blockbuster and was followed by ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’. The latest edition of the film was scheduled to go on floors next year but now the project might have to be pushed further ahead. Dutt had expanded his horizons by venturing into entrepreneurship along with Raj Kundra in 2012. The two launched India`s first professionally organized mixed martial arts league — the Super Fight League. And apart from this, Dutt made his presence felt on the small screen by co-hosting reality show ‘Bigg Boss 5’. The actor, of late, was seen making appearances in multi-starrers that failed to impress the critics and the Box Office. ‘Zila Ghaziabad’ was one such film that proved to be a dud. ‘Chatur Singh Two Star’, ‘Department’, ‘Kidnap’ too failed to add accolades to his career graph. Not just that, for reasons unknown, Dutt worked in films that never came across as promising ones. In a career that spreads over three decades, Dutt has had his own share of luck and ill-luck. However, with films like ‘Khalnayak’, ‘Thanedaar’, ‘Sadak’, ‘Saajan’, ‘Vaastav: The Reality’, ‘Mission Kashmir’, Munnabhai Series’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Agneepath’, ‘Son of Sardaar’, the actor has proved his metal and wooed audiences by his performances. The industry’s heavy weight has been in news more often than not for all wrong reasons. But that has never come in the way of his huge fan following. Moreover, his camaraderie with his superstar colleagues Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and many others has only seen him garnering support with time. But what one would wonder is whether or not Sanjay will be able to bounce back after completing the jail term. Five year hence, the actor will be 58 and that might hamper his acting career. The actor, who is father to Trishala, in her mid-twenties (from first wife Richa Sharma), and twin toddlers Shahraan and Iqra (from Manyata Dutt) has an uphill task ahead - to continue his legendary father’s legacy as an actor and beyond. Will Dutt be able to strike back? Going by what the actor said, “I a strong and will remain so”, he might succeed in seeing through perhaps the toughest time of his life and re-emerge stronger. And it will be interesting to see if his friends from the industry stand by him through thick and thin.