From alleged underworld connection to drug-abuse: Sanjay Dutt’s BIG controversies over the years!

Sanjay Dutt’s first movie ‘Rocky’ was released in 1981. But unfortunately, his mother and veteran actress Nargis Dutt died a few days ahead of its premiere. The movie was directed by Sanjay’s father, Sunil Dutt, and was a box office success. Many reported that the pain of his mother’s death is regarded as one of the reasons why Sanjay Dutt turned to drug addiction.

Sanjay, who had got into drugs from a young age, suffered from severe addiction after his mother’s demise. The actor’s father Sunil Dutt, however, became his son’s pillar of strength in fighting his addiction and admitted Sanjay into a rehabilitation centre in the US in 1982. “My journey with substance abuse has been about 12 years. There are no drugs in the world that I have not done. When my father took me to America [for rehab], they gave me a list [of drugs] and I ticked every drug on it, because I had taken all of them. The doctor told my dad, 'What kind of food do you eat in India? Going by the drugs he did, he should be dead by now,” Sanjay shared in an old interview with a media outlet.

Rumour mills were rife with news of Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit having an affair in the late 80s and early 90s, while the latter was still married to his first wife Richa Sharma. The affair is reported to have ended after Sanjay Dutt was caught by police in 1993 in relation to Mumbai blasts. However, neither ever spoke about their relationship status in public ever.

They were seen in Karan Johar's 'Kalank' after decades. 

In 1993, Sanjay was charged by Mumbai police for allegedly accepting weapons and explosives from gangsters responsible for the deadly Mumbai blasts the same year. As a result, the actor was arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act for illegal possession of arms. Sanjay got bail from the court in 1995.

In 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction for illegal possession of a weapon by Sanjay Dutt in relation to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast. Sanjay was sentenced to a reduced five years jail term, out of which he had already spent 18 months in jail during the trial of the case earlier.

In 2016, the actor was released from jail, ahead of his term on grounds of “good conduct.”

After the death of his first wife Richa Sharma in 1996 due to brain tumour, the actor married again in 1998 to model Rhea Pillai. The two however parted ways in 2005 and Sanjay married his current wife Maanayata Dutt in 2008. It was then reported that Sanjay’s sisters Priya and Namrata were not happy with the union and did not even attend their brother’s wedding.

Rajkumar Hirani directed biopic on Sanjay Dutt called ‘Sanju’ starring Ranbir Kapoor released in 2018. The film was a blockbuster but is accused of whitewashing Sanjay Dutt’s image and missing many elements from his life. The film did not show the actor's first two marriages or his alleged involvement with the underworld.