BOMBAY, 26 May 2005 — Legendary film star and federal Minister of Sports Sunil Dutt died here yesterday of heart attack. He would have been 76 on June 6.
Two days ago Dutt had gone to Kanpur, in Uttar Pradesh, where he suffered heat stroke. He was rushed back to Bombay and admitted in a private hospital, where he breathed his last yesterday morning, sources close to the deceased’s family said.
He leaves behind two daughters Namrata and Priya and son Sanjay Dutt. His wife Nargis, an actress with whom he fell in love at first sight and married, died in 1981.
Across the city of Bombay and indeed all over the country, people from all walks of life and cutting across political barriers mourned the death of the gentleman par excellence.
Tens of thousands of people ranging from Bollywood stars and politicians to poor slumdwellers poured into his residence for a final glimpse of the humble man who represented Bombay North-West constituency in the Parliament, having won all five elections he contested.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party President Sonia Gandhi led the nation in bidding an emotive farewell to the legendary actor-turned politician. Sanjay lit the funeral pyre at Santa Cruz cremation ground.
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, now in Russia, and Sonia, who counted him as a family friend, were among the scores who paid their tributes, calling him a gem of a human being.
Striking a personal note, Sonia recalled that Dutt was constantly at her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi’s side even when she was not in power. “He was a good friend of the family. He was a good friend of ours,” she said. “He had a rare quality. Wherever there was problem, he was there first. He was truly secular. All his life he stood for secularism.”
India’s “nightingale” Lata Mangeshkar, who knew him for years, spoke for millions when she said: “He was a rare human being. People like him are difficult to find.”
“A colorful and charismatic personality and a celebrity in the world of cinema, Sunil Dutt touched the millions in our country through many of his purposeful and socially relevant roles in numerous films and became a household name,” said Manmohan in his condolence message.
Added actress Shabana Azmi: “I can’t believe that Dutt Saheb is no longer with us. It comes as such a deep shock not just to those who work in the industry but also to the people of the country.” Fellow Congress MP and actor Govinda almost broke down when he reached the Dutt’s residence.
Born on June 6, 1929, in a village called Khurd in present-day Pakistan’s Jhelum district, Dutt’s hit movies among the 100 in which he acted included “Padosan”, “Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai”, “Mother India”, “Waqt”, “Humraaz”, “Reshma Aur Shera”, “Yadein”, “Gumrah”, “Yeh Raastein Hain Pyar Ke” and the very recent “Munnabhai M.B.B.S.”
The Dutt family moved to Ambala in Haryana and lived virtually on the pavement before the authorities allocated them a plot of land. A hardworking Punjabi, Dutt came to Bombay to start a new life.
He first held a clerical job with the Bombay Bus Service. A chance encounter with a British advertising company helped him to interview leading actors for Radio Ceylon, making him a mini celebrity.
His first film was “Railway Platform”. But the movies that fetched him stardom were “Ek Hi Raasta” and “Mother India”, both released in 1956. He reigned supreme in the 1960s and 1970s. Nargis’ death in 1981 shattered Dutt and he took to politics, joining the Congress, and began to do social work on an extensive scale, quickly winning the admiration of people all over India.
He contested the parliamentary elections in 1984 for the first time, and won from Bombay North West again in 1989, 1991, 1999 and 2004. At the height of Sikh militancy in Punjab, Dutt, accompanied by his daughter Priya, walked from Bombay to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a distance of 2,500 km over 76 days in 1987.
Later, he motored through five South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka preaching peace, and again walked from Hiroshima to Nagasaki in Japan to protest wars. — Additional input from Nilofar Suhrawardy
