Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt; 6 June 1929 – 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director and politician.
Dutt was honoured with Padma Shri, in 1968, by the Government of India, for his contribution to Indian cinema.
Sunil Dutt | |
---|---|
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports | |
In office 22 May 2004 – 25 May 2005 | |
Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
Preceded by | Vikram Verma |
Succeeded by | Mani Shankar Aiyar |
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
In office 1984–1996 | |
Preceded by | Ram Jethmalani |
Succeeded by | Madhukar Sarpotdar |
Constituency | Mumbai North West |
In office 1999–2005 | |
Preceded by | Madhukar Sarpotdar |
Succeeded by | Priya Dutt |
Constituency | Mumbai North West |
Personal details | |
Born | Balraj Dutt 6 June 1929 Khurd, Punjab, British India (in present Punjab, Pakistan) |
Died | 25 May 2005 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | (aged 75)
Cause of death | Heart attack |
Political party | Indian National Congress |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including Sanjay Dutt and Priya Dutt |
Relatives | See Dutt family |
Residence(s) | Bandra, West Mumbai |
Alma mater | Jai Hind College |
Occupation |
|
Awards | Padma Shri (1968) |
Dutt debuted in 1955 with the Hindi film Railway Platform. He rose to prominence with highly successful and acclaimed films, such as Ek Hi Raasta (1956), Mother India (1957), Sadhna (1958) and went on to deliver many hugely popular and iconic films in a career that spanned 48 years.
Dutt married his Mother India co-star Nargis in 1958. Together they had three children, including the actor Sanjay Dutt. 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. He was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government (2004–2005) and also a former Sheriff of Mumbai.
Sunil Dutt was born on 6 June 1929 in Nakka Khurd, Jhelum District, Punjab Province, British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan) into a Hussaini Brahmin family as Balraj Dutt to father Diwan Raghunath Dutt and mother Kulwantidevi Dutt. He belonged to a family of landlords. When he was five years old, Dutt's father died. When he was 18, the Partition of India began inciting Hindu-Muslim violence across the country. A Muslim friend of Dutt's father named Yakub, saved their entire family. The family resettled in the small village of Mandauli on the bank of the river Yamuna located in Yamunanagar District, East Punjab, which is now a district in Haryana. Later he moved to Lucknow, United Provinces with his mother, Kulwantidevi Dutt, and spent a long time in the Aminabad Bazaar neighbourhood during graduation. He then moved to Bombay, Bombay State, where he joined Jai Hind College, University of Bombay in Churchgate, South Bombay as an undergraduate and took up a job at the city's BEST Transportation Engineering division. He graduated with B.A. (Hons.) in History in 1954.
Director Ramesh Saigal was instrumental in giving Dutt a break in the film Railway Platform (1955) when the latter was hosting the show, Lipton Ki Mehfil on Radio Ceylon. While covering the Dilip Kumar film Shikast in 1953, Dutt met director Saigal, who impressed by his personality and voice, offered him a role in his upcoming film. Saigal came up with the new screen name "Sunil Dutt" for the debutante actor whose real name was Balraj Dutt to avoid name conflicts with the then veteran actor Balraj Sahni.
He shot to stardom with B.R. Chopra's family drama Ek Hi Raasta (1956) and Mehboob Khan's epic drama Mother India (1957). While Ek Hi Raasta was a superhit, Mother India went many steps ahead and emerged an All Time Blockbuster along with being the most successful film of the 1950s. It was dubbed in several European languages including Spanish, French and Russian; it did substantial business in Greece, Spain and Russia and was released in the Eastern Bloc countries. Technicolor arranged one screening of the film in Paris on 30 June 1958, under the name Les bracelets d'or ("The Gold Bracelets"). It did minimal business in Paris, but fared better in French colonies. It was successful in the Latin American countries of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Mother India was also acclaimed across the Arab world, in the Middle East, parts of Southeast Asia, and North Africa and continued to be shown in countries such as Algeria at least ten years after its release. Mother India went on to win several accolades and got featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.
He once again collaborated with B.R. Chopra for Sadhna (1958) opposite Vyjayanthimala. The film did extremely well at the box office and went on to become a superhit. The following year, he starred in Bimal Roy's Sujata and Shakti Samanta's Insan Jaag Utha. While Sujata was a hit, Insan Jaag Utha could only manage average profits. Sujata also received critical accalaim and went on to win National Film Award for Third Best Feature Film (Hindi). From 1960 to 1962, he only delivered moderately successful films, such as Hum Hindustani in 1960, Chhaya in 1961 and Main Chup Rahungi in 1962. The year 1963 brought him in the big league with superhits in Gumrah and Mujhe Jeene Do. Apart from commercial success, both the films received highly positive reviews from critics and for his portrayal of a notorious bandit in Mujhe Jeene Do, Dutt won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In 1964, he directed, produced and starred in Yaadein, an experimental film having him as the sole actor. It didnt do well at the box office, but received critical praise and won National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film (Hindi) as well as an entry in Guinness Book of World Records in the category Fewest actors in a narrative film.
Dutt reached the peak of his career in mid-60s. He began 1965 with Yash Chopra's ensemble masala film Waqt. It opened to excellent response from the audience and proved to be a major blockbuster as well as the highest grossing film of the year. Today it is widely regarded as a cult classic. His next release of the year was A. Bhimsingh's family drama Khandan which also performed well and proved to be a hit with Dutt receiving immense acclaim for his portrayal of a dedicated family man and winning his second and final Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In 1966, he had a superhit in Raj Khosla's thriller film Mera Saaya and a flop in Lekh Tandon's historical drama Amrapali. The soundtrack of Mera Saaya composed by Madan Mohan was also highly successful having songs that remain popular till date, such as "Jhumka Gira Re" sung by Asha Bhosle and "Mera Saaya Saath", a solo by Lata Mangeshkar. 1967 proved to be the best year of Dutt's career as he delivered three back-to-back major hits. His first release of the year was Adurthi Subba Rao's reincarnation drama Milan. A remake Of Telugu hit Mooga Manasulu (1964), it proved to be an equally successful venture at the box office with the songs "Sawan Ka Mahina", "Bol Gori Bol Tera Kaun Piya" and "Ram Kare Aisa Ho Jaye" topping the musical chart that year. For his performance in the film, Dutt received a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category and won his first and only BFJA Award for Best Actor (Hindi). His next release was Bhimsingh's drama film Mehrban which also had Ashok Kumar, Nutan, Mehmood, Sulochana Latkar and Shashikala in the lead. Mehrban like Milan was also a commercially hit venture. He concluded the year with B.R. Chopra's suspense thriller Hamraaz which received positive reviews from critics, eventually emerging a superhit and Dutt's third consecutive hit of the year.
In 1968, he delivered another solid hit in Jyoti Swaroop's musical comedy film Padosan. Indiatimes ranked the film amongst the "Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films". Amit Upadhaya of ThePrint in a retrospective article on film's 50th anniversary wrote ″As cult comedy films go, Jyoti Swaroop’s Padosan is one of the few in Hindi film history to never run out of laughs. With its bare-bones plot about an innocent naïve young man Bhola, who falls in love with his dancer-singer neighbour Bindu and wins her over in a not-so-honest but oh-so-charming way, the focus in Padosan is entirely on scene mechanics and individual performances. In a similar 50th anniversary article, Devansh Sharma of Firstpost gave credit to RD Burman's soundtrack for changing the state of comedy genre in Hindi films as he felt that ″Burman's music gave wings to the camera that was otherwise doomed to sit still. Krishan's poetry also allowed the editor and director a lot of freedom as they could choose the appropriate shot for every emotion expressed in the songs.″ The year 1969 saw the rise of superstar Rajesh Khanna, who stormed the nation with mega blockbusters in Aradhana and Do Raaste. With his rise, many stars saw a decline in their career graph and Dutt was one of them. That year he only saw a moderate success in Raj Khosla's Chirag while rest of his films didnt do well. The series of failures continued from 1970 to 1972 with films, such as Reshma Aur Shera (which he also directed), Jwala, Zindagi Zindagi and Zameen Aasmaan.
With his films facing rejection at the box office, Dutt decided to reinvent himself and this helped him in making a comeback. In 1973, he starred in Sultan Ahmed's Heera which also had Shatrughan Sinha, Asha Parekh and Farida Jalal in the lead. Heera proved to be a superhit at the box office and re-established his career making him one of the few bankable stars of the decade. Next year, he solidified his comeback with hits, such as Geeta Mera Naam, Pran Jaye Per Vachan Na Jaye and received praise for his performance in 36 Ghante, a crime thriller based on the 1954 novel The Desperate Hours. Dutt's two major releases of 1975 were – Raja Thakur's Zakhmee and Sikandar Khanna's Umar Qaid. Zakhmee which also had Asha Parekh, Rakesh Roshan and Reena Roy in the lead proved to be a surprise hit at the box office. His other release Umar Qaid also did reasonable business and went on to become a commercially successful venture.
In 1976, Dutt appeared in Rajkumar Kohli's horror thriller Nagin. Despite being a fantasy type film, it did extremely well at the box office and emerged a blockbuster. After not tasting any success in 1977, he donned director's hat once again for Daaku Aur Jawan which released in 1978 and proved to be a critical and commercial hit.
The success streak continued in 1979 with another massive blockbuster in Jaani Dushman which was also one of the most profitable films of the year along with Noorie, Dada and Sargam. Apart from Jaani Dushman, he also delivered a semi-hit with Muqabla. His final release as a central character came with Ramesh Sippy's mega-budget action crime film Shaan (1980). The film received positive reviews from critics and did well at ticket counters, but owing to the huge costs, it was declared an average grosser.
Dutt launched his son Sanjay Dutt's career with Rocky (1981) which was a hit at the box office. 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. In 1982, he appeared alongside Dharmendra and Jeetendra in Rajkumar Kohli's action thriller Badle Ki Aag which was a box office success. He then directed, produced and starred in critically acclaimed film Dard Ka Rishta. After gap of a year, he appeared in two multi-starrers – Raaj Tilak and Laila. While Raaj Tilak emerged a hit at the box office, Laila proved to be a disaster.
None of Dutt's release in 1985 and 1986 worked at the box office, but this changed in 1987 with the T. Rama Rao's superhit actioner Watan Ke Rakhwale. After appearing in Dharamyudh (1988), he took a brief hiatus and returned with Deepak Bahry's successful drama film Kurbaan in 1991. Apart from Kurbaan, he also appeared in biggies, such as Pratigyabadh (1991), Kshatriya and Parampara (both 1993), but none of them did well at the box office. After this, he retired from the film industry to focus on his duties as a politician.
Dutt returned to films once again in 2003 with Rajkumar Hirani's satirical comedy drama Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. which had his son in the lead. Munna Bhai opened to highly positive reviews from critics and proved to be a hit at the box office. Today it is considered a classic and one of the best films ever made in the history of Indian cinema. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. also proved to be the last film of Sunil Dutt as he passed away shortly after its release.
In 1982, he was appointed as the Sheriff of Bombay, an apolitical titular position bestowed on him by the Maharashtra government for a year. In 1995, he won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the film industry for four decades.
In 1987 when Punjab was facing heightened militancy, Dutt, accompanied by his daughter Priya undertook a 2,000 km 76 day long Mahashanti Padyatra (journey by foot) from Bombay to Amritsar (Golden Temple) to establish communal harmony and brotherhood. During the padyatra, he attended more than 500 roadside meetings and suffered a bout of jaundice.
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 the protection of his family after bomb blasts in Bombay.
Dutt married actress Nargis, a Muslim, also of Punjabi Mohyal descent, on 11 March 1958. Prior to their marriage, Nargis converted to Hinduism and adopted the name Nirmala Dutt. Reportedly, Dutt had saved her life from a fire on the sets of Mother India. They had three children: Sanjay Dutt, Namrata Dutt, and Priya Dutt. Sanjay went on to become a successful film actor. Namrata married actor Kumar Gaurav, son of veteran actor Rajendra Kumar who had appeared alongside Nargis and Dutt in Mother India. Priya became a politician and a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha).
With his wife, Dutt formed the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe, which involved several leading actors and singers of the time, and performed at remote frontiers to entertain the Indian soldiers at border. It was the first troupe to perform in Dhaka, after the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.
Dutt's wife Nargis died in 1981. One year after her death, the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation was established by Dutt in her memory.
Dutt died of a heart attack on 25 May 2005 at his residence in Bandra, West Mumbai, at age 75. At the time of his death, he was the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Union Government led by 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.
Dutt is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is known for his acting, mannerism and to dare to take up risky and non-commercial projects in his prime years, such as Mujhe Jeene Do, Yaadein and Reshma Aur Shera. He was also noted as a serial talent-spotter. He gave a major break to Ranjeet who went on to establish himself as one of the greatest villains in the history of Bollywood as well as giving lead roles to the then struggling actors Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Shakti Kapoor in his home productions Reshma Aur Shera and Rocky respectively. Dutt appeared in Box Office India's "Top Actors" list two times, (1966 and 1967). In 2022, Dutt was placed in Outlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.
Film | Year | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Railway Platform | 1955 | Ram | Ramesh Saigal | |
Kundan | Amrit | Sohrab Modi | ||
Ek-Hi-Raasta | 1956 | Amar | B.R. Chopra | |
Rajdhani | Naresh Saigal | |||
Kismet Ka Khel | Prakash Verma | Kishore Sahu | ||
Payal | 1957 | Mohan | Joseph Taliath | |
Mother India | Birju | Mehboob Khan | ||
Sadhna | 1958 | Mohan | B.R. Chopra | |
Post Box 999 | Vikas | Ravindra Dave | ||
Sujata | 1959 | Adhir | Bimal Roy | |
Insaan Jaag Utha | Ranjeet | Shakti Samanta | ||
Didi | Gopal | K. Narayan Kale | ||
Usne Kaha Tha | 1960 | Nandu | Moni Bhattacharjee | |
Hum Hindustani | Surendra Nath | Ram Mukherjee | ||
Ek Phool Char Kaante | Sanjeev | Bhappi Sonie | ||
Duniya Jhukti Hai | Mohan / Bankelal | J.B.H. Wadia | Double role | |
Chhaya | 1961 | Arun / Poet Rahee | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | |
Main Chup Rahungi | 1962 | Kamal Kumar | A. Bhimsingh | |
Jhoola | Dr. Arun | K. Shankar | ||
Gumraah | 1963 | Rajendra | B. R. Chopra | |
Aaj Aur Kal | Dr. Sanjay | Vasant Joglekar | ||
Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke | Anilkumar G. Sahni | R. K. Nayyar | ||
Nartakee | Professor Nirmal Kumar | Nitin Bose | ||
Mujhe Jeene Do | Thakur Jarnail Singh | Moni Bhattacharjee | Won – Filmfare Award for Best Actor | |
Yaadein | 1964 | Anil | Sunil Dutt | also director and producer |
Gazal | Ejaaz | Ved-Madan | ||
Beti Bete | Ramu / Krishna | L. V. Prasad | ||
Waqt | 1965 | Advocate Ravi | Yash Chopra | |
Khandan | Govind Shankar. Lal | A. Bhimsingh | Won – Filmfare Award for Best Actor | |
Mera Saaya | 1966 | Thakur Rakesh Singh | Raj Khosla | |
Gaban | Ramnath | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | ||
Amrapali | Magadh Samrat Ajatashatru | Lekh Tandon | ||
Maitighar | Sunil | B.S. Thapa | Special appearance in Nepali film | |
Milan | 1967 | Gopi / Gopinath | Adurthi Subba Rao | Won – BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actor |
Hamraaz | Kumar | B. R. Chopra | ||
Mehrban | Kanhaiya | A. Bhimsingh | ||
Padosan | 1968 | Bhola | Jyoti Swaroop | |
Sadhu Aur Shaitaan | Catholic Priest D'souza | A. Bhimsingh | Guest role, uncredited | |
Gauri | Sunil Kumar | A. Bhimsingh | ||
Pyasi Sham | 1969 | Raja | Amar Kumar | |
Meri Bhabhi | Raju | Khalid Akhtar | ||
Jwala | Sunil | M. Krishnan Nair | Guest Role | |
Chirag | Ajay Singh | Raj Khosla | ||
Bhai Bahen | Surendra Pratap | A. Bhimsingh | ||
Darpan | 1970 | Balraj Dutt | Adurthi Subba Rao | |
Bhai-Bhai | Deep / Ashok / Sangram | Raja Nawathe | Double role | |
Reshma Aur Shera | 1971 | Shera Singh | Sunil Dutt | Also director and producer |
Jwala | Jwala | M. V. Raman | Delayed Film | |
Zindagi Zindagi | 1972 | Dr. Sunil | Tapan Sinha | |
Zameen Aasmaan | Ravi | A Veerappan | ||
Jai Jwala | Major Anand | Manohar Deepak | ||
Man Jeete Jag Jeet | 1973 | Bagga Daaku / Baghel Singh | B.S. Thapa | Punjabi film |
Heera | Heera | Sultan Ahmed | ||
Kora Badan | 1974 | Sunil | B.S. Ghad | Guest role |
Geeta Mera Naam | Suraj / Johnny | Sadhana | ||
Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye | Raja Thakur | S. Ali Raza | ||
Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam | Sadhu | B.S.Thapa | Guest role in Punjabi film | |
36 Ghante | Himmat Singh | Raj Tilak | ||
Zakhmee | 1975 | Anand | Raja Thakur | |
Umar Qaid | Raja | Sikandar Khanna | ||
Neelima | Sunil | Pushpraj | Guest role | |
Himalay Se Ooncha | Vijay | B.S. Thapa | ||
Akela | Khalid Sami | |||
Nagin | 1976 | Vijay | Rajkumar Kohli | |
Nehle Pe Dehla | Sunil | Raj Khosla | ||
Darinda | 1977 | Krishna / Yogidutt | Kaushal Bharati | |
Ladki Jawan Ho Gayi | Sunil | Anand Dasani | ||
Paapi | Raj Kumar | O. P. Ralhan | ||
Gyaani Ji | Pilot Sardar Hari Singh | Chaman Nillay | ||
Charandas | Advocate Tondon | B.S. Thapa | Guest Role | |
Aakhri Goli | Vikram | Shibu Mitra | ||
Sone Ki Lanka | 1978 | Satpal | ||
Ram Kasam | Bhola / Shankar | Chand | Double role | |
Kaala Aadmi | Birju | Ramesh Lakhanpal | ||
Daaku Aur Jawan | Birju | Sunil Dutt | ||
Muqabla | 1979 | Vikram 'Vicky' | Rajkumar Kohli | |
Jaani Dushman | Laakhan | Rajkumar Kohli | ||
Ahinsa | Birju | Chand | ||
Salaam Memsaab | Naresh Sarit | Asrani | Guest appearance | |
Lahu Pukarega | 1980 | Jitu | Akhtar-Ul-Iman | |
Shaan | DSP Shiv Kumar | Ramesh Sippy | ||
Yari Dushmani | Shambhu | Sikandar Khanna | ||
Ganga Aur Suraj | Inspector Ganga | A. Salaam | ||
Ek Gunah Aur Sahi | Shankar Ramdas | Yogi Kathuria | ||
Rocky | 1981 | Shankar | Sunil Dutt | Guest appearance, uncredited |
Meena Kumari Ki Amar Kahani | Himself | Sohrab Modi | ||
Badle Ki Aag | 1982 | Lakhan | Rajkumar Kohli | |
Dard Ka Rishta | Dr. Ravi Kant Sharma | Sunil Dutt | Also producer and director | |
Film Hi Film | 1983 | Himself | Hiren Nag | Uncredited |
Raaj Tilak | 1984 | Jai Singh | Rajkumar Kohli | |
Laila | Dharamraj Singh / Thakur Prithviraj Singh | Saawan Kumar | Double role | |
Yaadon Ki Zanjeer | Ravi Kumar | Shibu Mitra | ||
Faasle | 1985 | Vikram | Yash Chopra | |
Kala Dhanda Goray Log | 1986 | Gauri Shankar / Michael | Sanjay Khan | |
Mangal Dada | Mangal Dada | Ramesh Gupta | ||
Watan Ke Rakhwale | 1987 | Jailor Suraj Prakash | T. Rama Rao | |
Raj Kapoor | Himself | Siddharth Kak | ||
Dharamyudh | 1988 | Thakur Vikram Singh | Sudarshan Nag | |
Akarshan | Himself | Tanvir Ahmed | ||
Yeh Aag Kab Bujhegi | 1991 | Prof. Kishna | Sunil Dutt | Also director and producer |
Kurbaan | Prithvi Singh | Deepak Bahry | ||
Pratigyabadh | Pascal | Ravi Chopra | ||
Hai Meri Jaan | Telegram Wala | Roopesh Kumar | Guest role | |
Virodhi | 1992 | Police Commissioner | Rajkumar Kohli | |
Kshatriya | 1993 | Maharaj Bhavani Singh | J.P. Dutta | |
Parampara | Thakur Bhavani Singh | Yash Chopra | ||
Phool | Balram Choudhary | Singeetam Srinivasa Rao | ||
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. | 2003 | Hari Prasad Sharma | Rajkumar Hirani | |
Lage Raho Munna Bhai | 2006 | Shri Hari Prasad Sharma | Rajkumar Hirani | Photo used in many scenes as Munna's Father |
Om Shanti Om | 2007 | Magadh Samrat Ajatashatru | Farah Khan | Recreated Via CGI during the song "Dhoom Tana", (archive footage) |
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