Son of Mother India passes away

MUMBAI: Sunil Dutt, one of Bollywood’s best-known faces and Union Sports Minister, passed away in his sleep on Wednesday following a heart attack.

The 75-year-old, who shot to fame with his role in the classic Mother India, is survived by his actor-son Sanjay and two daughters.

Family sources said Dutt, who would have turned 76 on June 6, had been down with fever for the past few days. He did not surface this morning at his usual time of 7 am. At 11 am, his family decided to check on him. A doctor who was called in declared him dead.

News of his death sent shock waves across the country because Dutt was a hugely popular figure. People turned up in large numbers at his home to pay their last respects.

The Union Cabinet condoled his death and declared a day’s national mourning on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Dutt as a “colourful and charismatic” personality and a celebrity in the world of cinema who touched the hearts of millions with his purposeful and socially relevant roles in films.

“Deeply influenced by our ethos and traditions, he brought to bear on his thinking and outlook the liberal, secular and Gandhian values of our society,” Singh said.

He recalled how Dutt, with his actress wife Nargis, organised the Ajanta Arts Welfare Troupe to entertain jawans in the border areas during the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars, and how he mobilised public opinion for the fight against cancer.

A five-time MP, Dutt contested his first Lok Sabha elections after joining the Congress in 1984.

Dutt acted in scores of films including the classic Mother India, which propelled him to stardom, Gumraah, Waqt, Sujata, Humraaz, Padosan, Khandaan, Milan, Reshma aur Shera. More recently, he appeared with his actor-son Sanjay Dutt in Munnabhai MBBS.

Born on June 6, 1929 in a the village of Khurd in Jhelum district (now in Pakistan), Dutt grew up as Balraj Dutt in a family that had survived Partition.

A student of Mumbai’s Jai Hind College, he started off as a radio show host and celebrity interviewer, his first encounter with the glamour world. Wife-to-be Nargis was one of the celebrities he met in the course of his work.

His first film was Railway Platform in 1955 with Johnny Walker and Nalini Jaywant as co-stars. But it was Mehboob Khan’s epic Mother India which catapulted him to stardom and saw Dutt tie the knot with Nargis.

His last screen cameo was the laugh riot Munnabhai MBBS where he played father to son Sanjay.