Shock and grief at Sunil Dutt's death

The news of the death of actor-turned politician Sunil Dutt provoked shock and sadness across this city.

• Shock and grief at Sunil Dutt's death
• Man of great conviction and courage
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Dutt's home in Bandra, where the street is named after his late wife Nargis, was flooded with visitors and mourners.

Dutt's son and film star Sanjay Dutt, with teary eyes, and fellow stars Abhishek Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi carried Dutt's body. They had to make their way through the milling crowds into the ambulance for the last rites at the Santa Cruz crematorium.

The film industry, Congress leaders and workers visited his house in Bandra in northwest Mumbai on hearing about his death.

Apart from Sanjay, Dutt is survived by daughters Namrata Gaurav and Priya. Dutt, who would have been 76 on June 6, has been in the news for the last five decades both as film star and politician known for his quiet fight for the underdog.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among the several leaders who arrived in Mumbai to pay homage to Dutt. Rahul Gandhi, Governor S. M. Krishna and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh also attended the funeral.

Hearing the news at noon, Smriti Irani, popular TV actress and BJP worker, said: "I am speechless. I just met him recently when we were on the same flight to Delhi. For me, it is not just the loss of a great actor but of a great man, who encouraged my foray into politics."

He wiped out the notion that an actor could not be committed to politics, she told Gulf News. "I've learnt a lot from his simplicity. He stood strong on various issues but there was nothing harsh about the way he put his point across."

Rohini Hattangadi, his co-star in Munnabhai MBBS, a film in which he acted after a break of 17 years, remembers him as "a wonderful person".

"He never forgot to send me a birthday greeting every year. I had acted with him about 10 years ago in Qurban which was shot in Shillong," she told this paper.

"We had an instant rapport with each other and despite being such a big actor, he told me how lucky I was to have acted in a film like Gandhi."

Whenever there was tension or violent incidents like riots, "he would call me up and others to his bungalow so that film personalities could go out and appeal to people for peace. Even during curfew, we were allowed to walk through slum areas only because we were with Dutt saheb."

Those who knew him also recall the close bond that Dutt had with his son Sanjay. "In the last scene in Munnabhai where the father and son embrace each other, I could see, as a third person, the strong love between them."

Irani remembered how on her plane trip, a child came up to Dutt and asked whether he was Sanjay Dutt's father.

"A huge smile lit up his face and I could see the joy of being known as the father of Sanjay."

Even Farhana Shah, a lawyer, who has been representing Sanjay in the serial bomb blasts case, remarks how Dutt supported his son all through, right from the time he was taken into custody in 1993.

"For 16 months that Sanjay was in jail, his father never missed the weekly visits to the jail and usually brought his daughters and son-in-law Kumar Gaurav along with him."

Shah says Dutt was always concerned about others. "Even when I went to see him at the Breach Candy Hospital in 2002, he asked me why I had taken the trouble to come. He never failed to inquire about my children," she said.

Never known to be bitter or angry with anyone, Dutt was disappointed that the Congress Party especially when Sharad Pawar was the chief minister in 1993 did not help his son.