Sunil Dutt

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Sunil Dutt

Date of Birth

: 6/6/1930

Place of Birth

: Khurd

Awards

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Biography : Sunil Dutt (June 6, 1930 – May 25, 2005), born as Balraj Dutt was an Indian Bollywood actor, producer, director and politician. He was the cabinet minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government (2004-2005). His son, Sanjay Dutt, is currently also a Bollywood star. In 1984 he joined the Congress (I) party and was elected to Parliament for five terms from the constituency of Mumbai North West. Sunil Dutt, a Mohyal by caste, was born in the village of Khurd in the Jhelum District of Punjab in British India (now located in Pakistan). His family moved to India during the Partition of India (1947) and they settled in a small village on the bank of river Yamuna called Mandoli which is in Yamunanagar district of Haryana. Later he moved to Mumbai to fulfill his dreams. In Mumbai, he joined Jai Hind College as an undergraduate and took up a job.

Filmography : Starting out in radio, Sunil Dutt was a hugely popular announcer 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 film industry in the 1955 film Railway Platform. He shot to the stardom in the 1957 film Mother India in which he co-starred with Nargis, whom he married on March 11, 1958. He had one son Sanjay Dutt, also a successful film actor and two daughters, Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt(Anju). His daughter Namrata married Sunil Dutt's good friend and also Mother India co-star Rajendra Kumar's son Kumar Gaurav. He continued to star in many successful films from the late 1950s through to the 1970s which included Sadhna (1958), Sujata (1959), Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (1963) and Padosan (1967). His collaboration with B.R. Chopra resulted in many hits such as Gumraah (1963), Waqt (1965) and Hamraaz (1967).He created a record of sorts by starring in the movie "Yaadein" which is the only single actor movie in Hindi filmdom till date. In 1971 he produced, directed as well as starred in Reshma Aur Shera which was appreciated by critics but was a failure at the box office. He then went on to appear in many multi-starrer films which included Nagin (1976), Jaani Dushman (1979) and Shaan (1980). He launched his son Sanjay's career in the film Rocky in 1981. In that same year, his wife died of pancreatic cancer. He set up Nargis Dutt foundation in memory of his wife for the cure of cancer patients. He was also a sponsor of the India Project, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated organization akin to Operation Smile for the treatment of Indian children with facial deformities. In 1982 he was appointed as the Sheriff of Mumbai, an apolitical titular position, a position bestowed on him by the Maharashtra government for the period of a year. He acted in fewer films in the 1980s and 90s and retired from the film industry after his last few film releases Parampara (1992) and Kshatriya (1993).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 following Hindu-Muslim clashes in Mumbai.He returned to films shortly before his death in the 2003 Bollywood film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.. In this film he shared the screen with son Sanjay for the first time although they had both appeared earlier in Rocky (1981) and Kshatriya (1993) but did not appear in any scenes together.He died of a heart attack at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai in his sleep. His seat in Parliament was contested by his daughter, Priya Dutt who eventually won it and is a Member of Parliament from North West Mumbai. His death coincided with the death of film producer Ismail Merchant who was famous for his Merchant-Ivory productions.

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