Few episodes in Sanjay Dutt‘s career have drawn as much public attention as his arrest and jail time over illegal arms possession. The actor was ultimately acquitted of the terrorism-related charges, but he was found guilty under the Arms Act and went on to serve several stints behind bars. Dutt has spoken openly about that painful chapter on many occasions, and in a recent conversation he reflected on how he held himself together through it all.
Sanjay Dutt on never losing his sanity in jail
During a conversation on Shekhar Suman’s talk show Shekhar Tonite, Sanjay revealed that officials had tried to wear him down while he was in prison, but he didn’t allow the situation to get to him. Turning to the audience, Shekhar remarked, “Sanjay Dutt was put in an anda cell, yet he kept his sanity.” He then put a direct question to the actor: “Did you ever feel like ending your life in such situations?” Sanjay’s answer was short and firm: “Never.“Shekhar observed that most people rarely admit their faults, whereas Sanjay had owned up to his. Then came the question: “Which was the moment when you felt the weakest?” Sanjay responded, “I knew my dad and family went through a lot of things. But I never felt weak.” Shekhar followed up by asking, “What are you made of?” and recounted the actor’s long list of struggles: “He lost his mother. He lost his father. He lost his first wife. He went to a rehabilitation centre. He overcame fourth-stage cancer. He went behind bars multiple times. But yet, he is intact.”
Sanjay Dutt recalls being handcuffed in front of his father
Amid cheers from the audience, Sanjay looked back on the day he was first handcuffed in front of his father, veteran actor Sunil Dutt. “When for the first time the police came and put handcuffs on me, my dad went into shock. With tears in his eyes, he said, ‘What are you doing with my son?’ I hugged him tight and told him, ‘Why are you letting these handcuffs bother you? Don’t be like that. It is just a procedure; please don’t be upset.‘ In reality, it was killing me from the inside. But I had to be strong for him,” he recalled. He went on to say, “That’s how I moved throughout this trial. It went on for 24 years.”Sanjay also spoke about the time he spent in cells with other inmates, saying that a lifetime of privilege never made him feel he was above the people around him. “You know, for so many years, I am not someone who is egoistic about his stardom. I don’t have that in me,” he said. He gave credit to his parents for enrolling him at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, which he feels shaped how he sees life. “So many times, we have sat on the ground on a set and have eaten food. I sat with workers so many times to eat food on set. I don’t care about these things,” he said.
Sanjay Dutt’s bidi reply to the cop who denied him cigarettes
He said the authorities assumed that stripping away the privileges that came with his stardom would eventually crush his spirit. “But nothing happened to me. Because I didn’t break. They went in shock. Unki phat gayi. They mocked me. One of them came to me and said, ‘You won’t get any cigarette here. Now, what will you do?’ So my reply was, ‘Sir, yahan bidi toh milegi,'” he recalled. The actor further said, “All these changes didn’t bother me, so they got tensed that how is he so grounded and unaffected.“
Sanjay Dutt’s recent projects
Professionally, Sanjay Dutt’s most recent release was Ahmed Khan’s ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, with Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, Suniel Shetty and Jacqueline Fernandez in key roles. The comedy packs in a huge ensemble, including Raveena Tandon, Disha Patani, Lara Dutta, Shreyas Talpade, Aftab Shivdasani, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Daler Mehndi, Tusshar Kapoor, Mika Singh, Mukesh Tiwari, Zakir Hussain, Yashpal Sharma and Sayaji Shinde. Dutt also starred in “Aakhri Sawal,” a political drama directed by Abhijeet Mohan Warang, in which he shared the screen with Namashi Chakraborty, Amit Sadh and Sameera Reddy. The film hit theatres in India on May 15, 2026.
