“I have realized that I am not at all cut out for politics of today” SANJAY DUTT tells JYOTHI VENKATESH

Sanjay Dutt has turned 62 years old today. We at bollyy.com wish him a happy birthday and take this opportunity to reproduce this free wheeling interview I had taken during the shooting of,his film Department almost nine years ago over a cup of hot coffee, where Sanjay Dutt bares his heart open and talks at length about his children and confesses that it was a mistake on his part to have joined politics - Jyothi Venkatesh

How do you look at competition in the form of young heroes these days?

It is my 32nd year ( 41st year today) in Bollywood ever since the time I had made my debut in ROCKY as the leading man with my father as the director.

Though I have always worked from my heart, I feel that it is high time that I did a reversal. I have seen several ups and downs, mostly downs in my career, and all that I’d say is that I really do not need to compete with the youngsters of today.

They are doing good work and let them romance with all the young heroines. I cannot go on doing song and dance numbers and have got to move on.

In what way has your fatherhood changed you drastically?

I am quite exuberant now. I am no longer restless like I used to be before I became the father of my two lovely kids.

Even as I am giving this interview to you, I am only waiting to finish this and rush home to hold them in my arms. To tell you the truth, before the birth of my twins, I could never experience fatherhood and I missed being the father of my first ever kid Trishala when she was born.

My wife Richa was very sick when Trishala was born and both Richa and Trishala were in USA and I had to shuttle between Indian and USA and strike a balance between working in my films here in India and being with them. It was quite a stressful period for me then.

Unlike your father Sunil Dutt, you did not pursue politics. Why?

My quota of politics is over.I do not think my dad could succeed in politics because he was a good human being and politics is not meant for good human beings.

If you have to succeed in politics, you have to fulfill all the promises that you make to your voters and it is an entirely different world altogether and I realized that I was just not cut out for that.

I think I made a mistake by joining politics though I respect people like Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh, who I thought will make a difference as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Do you think actors are not at all cut out for politics?

Yes. Actors are bhole bhaale and seedhe saadhe and any one can take undue advantage of them.

Shatrughan Sinha has not reached where he should have reached now after being in politics.

Shatrusaab should have been the Chief Minister but he has not been made one. Dharamji also isn’t happy being part of politics.

Hemaji also has not been able to what she had set out to do as a politician. Priya Dutt has succeeded in politics because she is not an actor.

Who would you give the credit for having made you a star today?

The journey began with my dad giving me my biggest break with his film Rocky but if I did not have it in me; I would not have been offered films by the industry.

It is the public which has made me a star. If the fans did not come to see my film, I definitely would not be where I am today.

Stardom needs you to pay a price and keep alert. My dad Duttsaab stood by me through thick and thin all through my life but today I’d not tell my kids to be what I was when I was young.

Sanjay Dutt

You are now all set to promote UFC in India. Why?

UFC is quite big in USA and the rules and the regulations there are quite strict. It is new in India but I am quite surprised that even thirteen year old kids are aware of it.

We need a different sport in India, where we worship only cricket. It is high time that we started promoting other sports like boxing and hockey too.

What next?

I am in the process of planning my next production and hope to go on the floors in the next six months.

Comedy is a different genre to play and I am also quite excitedly looking forward to the launch of the next in the series of Munnabhai, soon, though Vidhu Vinod Chopra has given up the idea of making Munnabhai In Amrika.