A free man and a busy man

After his release today from Yerwada Jail, Sanjay Dutt will be both — a free man, and a busy one. From meeting with the media to offering prayers at Siddhivinayak Temple, here’s what he has in store.

After spending close to three years within the confines of the Yerwada Jail in Pune, Sanjay Dutt walks out today, a free man. And his first day out as a free man is choc-a-block with things to do. The Dutts have chartered a special flight for Sanjay, to bring him back to Mumbai. Once back in his home city, he intends to stop off at the Siddhivinayak Temple to offer prayers, visit his mother Nargis’ grave and then head home with wife Manyata and his twin children.

While there have been no celebrations planned, the actor’s well-wishers and friends like Bunty Walia, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra are expected to meet with him. A puja has been planned for the evening, post-which, Sanjay intends to address the media.

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai is among those who are rejoicing at Sanjay’s release. Ghai adds that Sanjay is clear that he wants to focus on his career after walking out of jail. “If I know Sanjay like he was during his Vidhata and Khalnayak days, he will come out this time with much more maturity and a greater sense of responsibility as a human being, a family man and also a star. He just wants to focus on his career as an actor and nothing else — that’s what he told me two months ago,” Ghai says.

And with his favourite filmmakers (read Hirani, Chopra, Sanjay Gupta et al) having shared a few scripts with him while he was in Yerwada, it remains to be seen which project the actor will pick up now that he has the wherewithal to do so.

Will his “brand value” as an actor help these projects “One can’t put a cap on Sanjay Dutt’s brand value,” says film critic and writer Omar Qureshi. “There is something very vulnerable about Sanjay’s face, he has an endearing quality. I foresee him doing a lot of Munnabhai kind of roles; roles where he has to portray a tough guy with a soft heart, more children-friendly movies.”

Incidentally, when Sanjay was first incarcerated, he had written letters to Qureshi, which were later published in the magazine Stardust. “I was there to receive him (when he came out of jail) and this was during the 1990s, his Khalnayak days,” Qureshi recounts. “There used to be no hoopla or a huge mela of journalists around him then. Sanjay believes in the law of the land he was thinking of penning his autobiography. I am glad he is being released.”

Even as Bollywood makes its own arrangements to greet Sanjay, the actor’s fans have their own plans for commemorating the occasion of his release. Sandeep Bacche, an autorickshaw driver and self-professed Sanju fan, will be offering free rides to commuters in Bandra all through the day.

“I do it anyway (offer free rides) each year on Sanjay Dutt’s birthday, on July 29. So I’ll be giving free rides all day today, and will also distribute sweets and give clothes to charity this Sunday,” says Sandeep, who sports a tattoo of his favourite actor on his bicep, and is known for offering free WiFi, a payphone and weather and stock market updates to his fares. “Sanjay holds a very special place in my heart and I have not worn footwear since the time he was put behind bars. Now that he is being released, I hope to see him and only then will I cover my feet. People say I’m mad but this is my love for him. I met Sanjay once at his house during Ganesh Chaturthi, when he came to know about my endeavours and invited me over. Tomorrow is a big day for all his fans, I hope to catch a glimpse of him at least,” he adds.

And at the Noor Mohammadi restaurant in Bhendi Bazaar, the dish named after Sanjay (the Chicken Sanju Baba) will be served up once again — for free all day on February 25. Says Khaled Hakim, the owner of Noor Mohammadi, “Sanjay Dutt has visited our hotel many times. It was he who asked us to introduce one of his original recipes onto our menu, and shared the recipe with us. We called it ‘Chicken Sanju Baba’ but stopped serving it after he was sent to prison. Now that he is being set free, we are reintroducing the dish on our menu and serving it free from noon to midnight today.”