Bollywood’s most beloved icon watched funeral and wedding side-by-side in refugee camp, was separated from his mother during Partition

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Dutt’s father had died when he was just five, and he had to cross over into India with his mother and two siblings. But they were separated, leaving Dutt fearing for the worst. He told Doordarshan in an interview, “Alag alag campo me main dhoondta raha apni maa ko, mera chota bhai, meri choti behen aur tab maine soch liya ki shayad unka bhi wahi haal hua hoga jo aur loogon ka hua hai (In different camps, I kept searching for my mother, my younger brother, my younger sister. And I thought that perhaps she must have gone through the same fate as many others).”

Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Dutt at Nargis’ funeral. (Photo: Express Archive)

He added, “Main Ambale me tha to ek tanga mere paas se guzaraa toh usme se awaaz aayi, ‘Balraj’, to maine kaha yahan kaun janta hai mujhe, toh itne me mera ek rishtedaar tha wahan par wo tange me ja raha tha (I was in Ambala when a horse cart passed by me. I heard a voice saying, Balraj. I said, Who here knows me as Balraj? It was a relative of mine on the horse cart).”

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The relative took him along to an uncle of his, who’d become a police officer in Ambala. “Toh maine kaha tum kaise aagye wahan se, kehte hain, hum to aagye mera jo uncle hai woh SP ban gaya hai yahan Ambala ka, toh chalo unki kothi me chalte hain. Toh hum Bali saheb ke kothi meub gaye (I asked him, how did you come from there? He said, I came from there and my uncle has become the SP of Ambala. I went to his house),” Dutt said. Little did he know that he was in for the most pleasant surprise of his life. He continued, “Jab main tange se utara to maine saamne dekha ki meri maa khadi hai, wahi maile kuchaile kapde pehne hue, jo kayi mahino se dhoye nahi honge unhone, mera bhai shorts pehne hue khada hai, meri behen khadi hui hai (When I got down from the tonga, I saw my mother standing in front of me. She was wearing a dirty dress, which must not have been washed for many months. My brother was wearing shorts. My sister was standing with them).”

Dutt returned to his ancestral village years later, when he was in his 60s. In the Rediff interview, he recalled his interactions with the locals, all of whom remembered him and his family. “There were television channels (present). The villagers were asked why they were giving me so much affection. They replied, ‘It is not because of him. It is because of his forefathers who lived here and gave us so much respect. They were fine people and respected our religion. They were landlords. There is a dargah at the outskirts of our village. When they (Sunil Dutt’s forefathers) neared the dargah, they would alight from their horses, walk on foot till they went past the dargah, and then get back on their horses. They gave us so much respect. Why wouldn’t we respect them?'”

Sunil Dutt was honoured with a Padma Shri in the year 1968. He died at the age of 75 in the year 2005.