Sunil Dutt

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sunil Dutt

• Does Sunil Dutt smoke?: Not Known

• Does Sunil Dutt drink alcohol?: Not Known

• He was born as Balraj Dutt in Khurd Village of Jhelum District (Punjab Province, British India).

• Sunil’s father died when he was just 5 years old.

• At the age of 18, he saw Hindu-Muslim riots across the country.

• His entire family was saved by a Muslim named Yakub, who had been a friend of his father.

• His family resettled in a small village named Mandauli near the bank of River Yamuna in Yamuna Nagar, Punjab (now in Haryana).

• Later, he moved to Lucknow, where he spent a long time in Aminabad Galli.

• After graduating from Jai Hind College in Bombay (now Mumbai), he worked at the city’s BEST Transport division.

• He also worked in Radio as an RJ on the Hindi Service of Radio Ceylon, South Asia’s oldest Radio Station.

• He made his debut in the Hindi Film with Railway Platform in 1955.

• He rose to stardom after co-starring with Nargis in the 1957 Blockbuster Mother India. 

• According to reports, there was a huge fire on the set of Mother India and Nargis was caught in that and it was Sunil Dutt who braved the furious fire to save Nargis and thereby won her heart.

• In the late 1950s and 1960s, he established himself as one of the major actors in the Hindi Cinema and gave a number of hit films such as Sadhna (1958), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), Waqt (1965), Padosan (1967), Hamraaz (1967), etc.

• He created a record by directing and starring in the 1964 film Yadein in which he was the only actor/actress in the cast. 

• He launched his son Sanjay Dutt with the 1981 film Rocky, which became a hit at the Box-Office. However, shortly before the film’s release, his wife, Nargis, died of Pancreatic Cancer.

• In the memory of his beloved wife, Sunil Dutt founded the Nargis Dutt Foundation for the cure of cancer patients. 

• He also sponsored the ‘India Project’ (an organization similar to ‘Operation Smile’ for the treatment of children with facial deformities).

• In 1982, Maharashtra Government appointed him the ‘Sheriff of Mumbai’ for a year.

• In 1988, he walked from Nagasaki to Hiroshima in Japan to appeal for global demilitarization.

• He won Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 for his contribution to the Indian Film Industry.

• He died of a heart attack at his residence in Mumbai on 25 May 2005. His daughter, Priya Dutt, contested his Parliament seat and won that.

• He was honored with Padma Shri by the Government of India.