Sunil Dutt

Sunil Dutt

Sunil Dutt (Balraj Dutt; 6 June 1926 – 25 May 2005) was a famous Indian actor, director and politician. He was appointed the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2004. He was a former Sheriff of Mumbai. He is the father of actor Sanjay Dutt and politician Priya Dutt. In 1968, he was honoured by the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 1984 he was elected to the Parliament of India from the constituency of Mumbai North West.

Early career

Sunil Dutt's father was Diwan Raghunath Dutt and mother name was Kulwantidevi Dutt. When he was five years old, his father died. He then moved to Bombay ( Mumbai). He got a job at the city's BEST bus service. He graduated with B.A. in history in 1954.He also became radio announcer, He was very popular on the Hindi service of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia. His first film was Railway Platform(1955). Film director gave him new screen name "Sunil Dutt" to avoid name conflicts with the actor Balraj Sahni.

Early Success

Sunil Dutt became famous for his role in the 1957 film Mother India in which he co-starred with Nargis. Dutt was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the 1960s .Films like Sadhna (1958), Insan Jaag Utha (1959), Sujata (1959), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), Khandan (1965), Mera Saaya (1966) and Padosan (1967). He was B.R. Chopra's favorite actor films such as Gumraah (1963), Waqt (1965) and Hamraaz (1967).

Dutt made his directorial debut and was the only actor to feature in Yaadein(1964). The film was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for Fewest Actors in a Narrative Film.

Middle Period

In Geeta Mera Naam (1974) he again played an anti-hero after a long gap of films like Mother India and Mujhe Jeene Do. He continued to star in hits that included Heera (1973), Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974), Nagin (1976), Jaani Dushman (1979), Muqabla (1979), and Shaan (1980).Dard Ka Rishta (1982), Badle Ki Aag (1982), Raaj Tilak (1984), Mangal Dada (1986), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987) and Dharamyudh (1988).