Duttography

Words out… Dutt’s out. Dutt’s the word. In my last post I mentioned about Dutt getting out. An ardent fan of Dutt I may be but that doesn’t discount the fact that he assisted the perpetrators of the heinous crimes commited in erstwhile Bombay more than a decade and half ago. The yellow guys that run most of the software in the idiot box have this utterly disgusting habit of putting up people on a pedestal and then bringing them down. Same case with this fella too.

This is the same fellow who was propelled into stardom as a kid coz his dad n mom were superstars. He was famous even before he knew it. Many people can handle that .. some can’t . .. this one couldn’t. Got involved with the wrong set of people with the wrong substances. Forgivable.. totally forgivable coz all he did there was to harm himself.

Couldn’t act.. that’s forgivable too.. who can forget a sleepy Sanjay Dutt stuttering (abuubaaaa (actually supposed to mean abu baba)) in vidhata (if they’ve even got around to seeing the movie) .. Kicked the habit of drugs.. got divorced and the messed up his life. And then one fine day somebody said he could “Act” . Then started his golden period and he became a bankable star. But then that’s about as good as it can get.

The guy got carried away and got involved with the wrong set of people. In a bid to carry the tough guy image the “Khalnayak” types he just borrowed a banned weapon and gave it to the wrong people. We all know what they did with it. The Mumbai blasts bear testimony to one of the most heinous crimes in our recent past. That done he then tried to dispose off the weapon. For that he was caught and sent to 16 months behind bars. But then let off coz Dutt Sr was a politico. No matter he let a whole horde of Bangladeshis set up slums in Mumbai. No matter if he set them ablaze and got permanent houses made for those refugees. We have a pretty short memory here. Duttsaab as they called Sr Dutt affectionately was always highly revered coz he acted in a few good things.. stood by his dying wife and turned up occasionally in track gear for the “Mumbai Marathon”.

Coming back to Sanjay Dutt. The media started projecting him as a person who was “wronged”. Picture this
A guy helps the bad guys harbor a weapon.. the bad guys kill lots of people with that.. he destroys it.. and gets the slammer. How do you call him “wronged”. I would call that justice. The media further accentuated their claims by saying that nobody stood by the poor boy in his hour of need. The morons in showbiz didn’t have the corporate culture running in their veins then I guess.

A few successful movies over the years and an image resurrection thanks to the “Gandhigiri” movies the law has caught up with him again.. and I thought this time it would be for keeps. Indians are a sentimental lot and we do not realize that if we need movies to keep the Mahatma’s ideals alive then we are the morons. The guy was just using the Mahatma as vehicle to freedom. Just another one of the tremendous “good deeds” labeled by the fifth estate. And now we have the whole film industry rallying behind “good boy” dutt coz theres money at stake there. Money does the talking here they say .. and that’s what’s happening in this case.

In a list of more than 150 convicts Dutts hearing was reserved till the last. And for one I was happy to see justice being done when judge Kode gave him 6 yrs. “He broke down” they said in the news and asked the judge to have mercy coz his sis was pregnant and his daughter was studying in the US. I personally find this argument ridiculous. The Mumbai blasts would have extinguished many a dream of students and parents alike. Forget the US even dreams of their kids studying further would have gotten blown apart and the man in question here.. was a part of the whole act committed. So whatever it may have been I still personally feel the guy got less than he deserved. He should have at least gotten a lifetime.

Hats off to judge Kode for upholding the law. But on the other hand my better half argues that our esteemed house is full of people who’ve knowingly committed the crimes they did and still represent us unabashedly.. if they have been let off the hook coz they’re public figures then why does Sanjay Dutt have to suffer.

He wasted no time in moving the highest court and is out on bail till the end of September. I sincerely hope here that justice will be done and he gets the punishment he deserves.

Antya