Sanjay Dutt - Film Career

Film Career

As a child actor, Dutt appeared in the 1972 film Reshma Aur Shera, which starred his father; he appears briefly as a qawali singer. Dutt made his Bollywood movie debut with Rocky in 1981. His mother passed away three days before the film's premiere. He went on to star in Vidhaata, the highest grossing Hindi film of 1982. In 1985 he shot for his first film in three years with Jaan ki baazi over the rest of the 1980s, Dutt appeared in successful films such as Main Awara Hoon (1983), Jeeva (1986), Mera Haque (1986), Immandaar, Inaam Dus Hazaar (1987), Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1987), Mardon Wali Baat (1988), Ilaaka (1989), Hum Bhi Insaan Hain (1989), Kanoon Apna Apna (1989), and Taaqatwar (1989)

The 1986 film Naam was Dutt's first major critical success, earning praise for his sensitive portrayal of lead character Vicky Kapoor. He also received critical acclaim for his performances in Mahesh Bhatt's Kabzaa and J. P. Dutta's 1989 Hathyar. His successes continued in the early 1990s, with films that include Tejaa,khatarnak, Thanedaar,Zahreelay, Khoon Ka Karz,Yalgaar, Gumrah, Sahibaan, Kroadh and Aatish: Feel the Fire. He went on to star in some of the most era-defining Indian films of the 1990s such as Sadak, Saajan (for which he was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award) and Khal Nayak, for which he earned his second Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination. Three weeks before its release, however, in April 1993, he was arrested, charged with involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings.

Dutt was imprisoned for most of the next four years, while films he had worked in continued to appear from time to time. Finally released on bail in late 1997, he returned to the screen in director Ram Gopal Verma's now cult film Daud, but despite the movie taking in a phenomenal opening the film crashed and was labelled a flop by critics. He then played a supporting role in the 1998 hit Dushman.

1999 was seen as Sanjay's comeback year as he started the year off by starring in the Mahesh Bhatt directed hit Kartoos along with Khoobsurat, Daag: The Fire, Haseena Maan Jayegi and, most importantly, the Award winning Vaastav: The Reality, for which he won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award. His role in 2000's Mission Kashmir won him critical acclaim and a number of awards and nominations, as did his subsequent performance in Kurukshetra. As the decade went on, he continued to play important roles in popular and critical successes such as Jodi No.1 (2001), Pitaah, Kaante (2002) and the National Award-winning blockbuster Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., which also garnered him several awards. Later successes came with Musafir (2004), Plan (2004), Parineeta (2005) and Dus. He also won critical acclaim for his perfomences in Shabd and Zinda

The blockbuster sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai released in late 2006, coinciding with the start of the Mumbai bombing's trial where the nation became transfixed with Dutt's court ongoings which saw him found not guilty of terrorism related acts but jailed on two occasions between 2006-2007 for short periods, as he was found guilty under the possesion of arms act despite this he continued appearing in successes like, Dhamaal (2007), Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007), and All The Best: Fun Begins (2009), Double Dhamaal (2011) and most recently Agneepath which earned him major critical acclaim once again.

In 2006 news channel NDTV named him Indian of the Year.In 2007 he received an award from the prime minister Manmohan Singh for his work in the Munna bhai series.. In January 2008,Indian film institute Filmfare listed 12 movies featuring Dutt in its top 100 grossing movies of all time list.