Bollywood actor, director, and parliamentarian Sunil Dutt was born on June 6, 1930, as Balraj Dutt in Punjab province (now in Punjab, Pakistan). The story of his life is nothing less than a film script. He started his career as a radio jockey at Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia. He was introduced to the Indian cinema with 1955’s ‘Railway Platform’.
He shot to fame with the film ‘Mother India’ (1957) in which he is seen as a short-tempered son of Nargis. We all are aware of the fact that he was deeply committed to peace and it all started when he was 17 years old when he survived the massacre of partition.
In 1947, during the India-Pakistan partition, he along with his family became the victim of the bloody riot inciting Hindu-Muslim violence across the country. Fortunately, he and his family were given shelter by a Muslim neighbour, a close friend of Dutt’s father. The neighbour took care of Dutt’s family and after a month helped them to reach Haryana, India safely. This incident had a deep impact on Dutt and hence throughout his life, he fought for communal harmony.
On the occasion of his death anniversary, we bring to you 5 lesser-known facts about the legendary actor-turned-politician.
He survived a plane crash in 2001
This was a narrow escape for Sunil Dutt along with four others as their plane crashlanded and caught fire near Nasik in 2001. Dutt suffered injuries to his leg and shoulder and was rushed to the Lifeline Hospital. He was returning to Mumbai after attending the commissioning of a gold refinery in Shirpur of Dhule district. However, after initial treatment, he was shifted to Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.
His peace march from Amritsar to Jammu and Kashmir
Dutt was the epitome of peace and harmony. In 1987, he organised and let ‘Mahashanti Padyatra’ from Mumbai to Amritsar and covered a distance of 2,000 kilometres by foot in 78 days along with his daughter Priya and 80 other individuals. The march was for the peace and harmony in Punjab as there were a large scale violence and tension due to the ‘Khalistan Movement’. The death of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resulted in the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in Punjab. And this agitated the Sikhs and hence they demanded a separate Sikh nation in the Punjab region of South Asia. To calm the Sikhs, Dutt organised the peace march from Mumbai to Amritsar. After the Sikh militants heard the message of love and brotherhood they surrendered their weapons.
His secular take during 1994 Mumbai riots
Dutt was not just instrumental in bringing peace and harmony in Punjab but also in Mumbai. After the demolition of Babri Masjid and the aftermath of Mumbai serial blasts, he was the only politician who was ‘secular’. He visited both the Hindu and Muslim families and provide relief. While most people applauded his humanitarian act some section of the society were not happy and soon he and his family began receiving death threats. But that didn’t stop him from helping the victims’ family.
His employment at BEST services
After Dutt moved to Mumbai, he joined Jai Hind College and took a job at BEST Transport division in Mumbai to make a living. He worked as a clerk and was paid Rs 100 as compensation. A picture of Sunil Dutt can be seen at the BEST’s museum located at Wadala’s Anik bus depot in Mumbai. The museum displays a number of artifacts and pictures of BEST’s 140-year-old history.
His interview with Nargis (that never happened!)
Dutt graduated from Mumbai’s Jai Hind College and during the college’s farewell, he was assigned the anchor’s role. Director DJ Keymer who was a guest at the event was impressed by Dutt’s personality and his presentation skills offered him the job of a radio jockey at Radio Ceylon. The show was called ‘Liptons Ke Sitare’ in which he would interview Bollywood stars. During his tenure, he was assigned to interview actress Nargis (a well-established actress then). He was bowled over by the beauty of the actress that he was unable to utter even a single word and the interview was cancelled. And later when Dutt became an actor he got an opportunity to work with Nargis in ‘Mother India’ where she plays the role of his mother. During one of the scenes, Nargis was trapped in a ring of fire, where Sunil Dutt jumped into the flames to rescue her without a thought for his own life. Later, they both fell in love and got married.
