Balraj Raghunath Dutt (6 June 1929 – 25 May 2005), publicly known as Sunil Dutt, was an Indian actor, film producer, director, and politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He acted in more than 80 films over a career spanning five decades and was the recipient of three Filmfare Awards, including two for Best Actor. Regarded as one of the most successful and finest actors in the history of Indian cinema, Dutt was known for his unique style and delivering impactful messages through his films. In 1968, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his contribution to Indian cinema.
Dutt made his film debut in 1955 with the Hindi film Railway Platform. He rose to prominence with the highly successful films: Ek Hi Raasta (1956) and Mother India (1957), and consistently starred in several top–grossing Indian films from the late-1950s to the 1970s, such as Sadhna, Sujata, Gumrah, Waqt, Khandan, Mera Saaya, Hamraaz, Milan, Mehrban, Padosan, Heera, Zakhmee, Nagin, Daaku Aur Jawan and Jaani Dushman. Some of his acclaimed performances include Insān Jaag Utha, Chhaya, Mujhe Jeene Do, Nartaki, Yaadein, Gaban, Chirag, Darpan, Reshma Aur Shera, 36 Ghante, Muqabla and Dard Ka Rishta. Beginning in the early 1980s, Dutt featured in supporting roles in notable films such as Shaan, Badle Ki Aag, Kala Dhanda Goray Log, Watan Ke Rakhwale, Kurbaan and Munna Bhai M.B.B.S (his final film).
In 1995, he was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his five decades of contribution to the film industry.
In 1958, Dutt married his Mother India co-star Nargis. Together, they had three children, including actor Sanjay Dutt. In 1984, he joined the Indian National Congress and was elected to Parliament of India for five terms, representing the constituency of Mumbai North West. Dutt served as the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government (2004–2005) and as Sheriff of Mumbai.
Sunil Dutt was born on 6 June 1929 in Nakka Khurd, a village in the Jhelum District of the Punjab Province of British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan), to Punjabi Hindu parents. His birth name was Balraj Dutt, and he was born to father Diwan Raghunath Dutt and mother Kulwanti Devi Dutt. Dutt's family belonged to the Hussaini Brahmin caste of landlords. He had a younger brother, Som Dutt, and a younger sister, Raj Rani Bali.
Dutt's father died when he was five years old. Dutt was 18, when the Partition of India took place, and it began inciting Hindu-Muslim violence across the country. A Muslim friend of Dutt's father named Yakub saved their entire family, and helped them safely relocate to India. The family resettled in the small village of Mandauli on the bank of the river Yamuna, located in the Yamunanagar District of East Punjab (now in Haryana).
Dutt later moved to the Aminabad Bazaar neighbourhood of Lucknow in the United Provinces (now in Uttar Pradesh) along with his mother for some time before college. He then moved to Bombay, where he attended the Jai Hind College of the University of Bombay, and took up a job at the BEST Transportation Engineering division. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in History in 1954.
Early career and rise to stardom (1955–1957)
Director Ramesh Saigal played a key role in introducing Dutt, who was hosting the radio show Lipton Ki Mehfil on Radio Ceylon, to the film industry by casting him in Railway Platform (1955). Saigal met Dutt in 1953, while Dutt was reporting on the film Shikast. Impressed by Dutt's voice and personality, Saigal offered him a role in an upcoming project. Dutt declined the offer as he had promised his mother that he would first complete his education. After graduating, he acted in Saigal's film. To avoid confusion with the established actor Balraj Sahni, Saigal suggested that he adopt a new screen name and gave him the name "Sunil Dutt".
He shot to stardom with B. R. Chopra's family drama Ek Hi Raasta (1956) opposite Meena Kumari and Mehboob Khan's epic drama Mother India (1957) opposite Nargis. While Ek Hi Raasta was a major commercial success, Mother India emerged as a blockbuster and became the highest-grossing film of 1957. Although Dutt was relatively new to the industry at the time, he took on the challenging role of Birju, the rebellious son of Radha (Nargis). His performance earned widespread critical recognition, and the character has been considered Bollywood's first anti-hero. While reviewing Mother India, Shaikh Ayaz of The Indian Express found him "rogue and devilish". Mother India was also dubbed in several European languages, including Spanish, French and Russian. It went on to win several accolades and was featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.
Widespread success, setback and resurgence (1958–1979)
Dutt once again collaborated with B. R. Chopra in Sadhna (1958). The film was a major box office success and went on to become a superhit. The following year, he starred in Bimal Roy's Sujata opposite Nutan and Shakti Samanta's Insan Jaag Utha opposite Madhubala. While the former was a huge commercial success, Insan Jaag Utha did moderately well. Sujata also won the National Film Award for Third Best Feature Film (Hindi). From 1960 to 1962, he starred in moderately successful films, such as Hum Hindustani in 1960, Chhaya in 1961 and Main Chup Rahungi in 1962. The year 1963 brought him into the big league with the superhits Gumrah and Mujhe Jeene Do. Along with their commercial success, both films received positive reviews from critics. In the same year, he made his debut as a producer with a legal drama Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke, based on the infamous Nanavati case and later produced Mujhe Jeene Do. For his portrayal of a notorious bandit in Mujhe Jeene Do, Dutt won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Madhavi Pothukuchi of ThePrint opined, "Sunil Dutt did what many other leading actors wouldn’t have done taken up a negative role at the peak of his career, and turned it into one of his best without getting stereotyped. He also chose to highlight an issue that nobody seemed to want to talk about and with that, he won the Indian audience all over again." In 1964, he directed, produced and starred in Yaadein, an experimental film with him as the sole actor. It did not performed well at the box office, but received critical praise and won National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film (Hindi) as well as an entry in Guinness Book of World Records in the category Fewest actors in a narrative film. Dutt's performance was highly appreciated by the audience. Yaadein was well received for its distinctive concept and is considered a film that was ahead of its time.
Dutt reached the peak of his success during the mid-1960s. In 1965, he featured in Yash Chopra's ensemble masala film Waqt. It opened to an excellent response from the audience and proved to be a major blockbuster as well as the highest-grossing film of the year. It is widely regarded as a cult classic. His next release was A. Bhimsingh's family drama Khandan, which became a superhit. Dutt was praised for his portrayal of a paralyzed, dedicated family man and earned his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In 1966, he starred in Raj Khosla's thriller film Mera Saaya opposite Sadhana and Lekh Tandon's historical drama Amrapali opposite Vyjayanthimala. While Mera Saaya was a blockbuster, Amrapali failed commercially but was critically praised. The soundtrack of Mera Saaya composed by Madan Mohan was highly successful and one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1960s. Its songs, such as "Jhumka Gira Re", "Mera Saaya Saath Hoga" and "Aap Ke Pehaloon Mein", remain popular. For his performance in Mera Saaya, Dinesh Raheja commented that Dutt made an "endearing" husband and suffused his romantic scenes with warmth. In 1967, Dutt consolidated his stardom with three major commercial successes. He first starred in Adurthi Subba Rao's reincarnation drama Milan. A remake of Telugu hit Mooga Manasulu (1964), Milan was successful at the box office with its songs "Sawan Ka Mahina", "Main Toh Deewana", "Bol Gori Bol Tera Kaun Piya" and "Ram Kare Aisa Ho Jaye" topping the music charts that year. For portraying an innocent boatman in the film, Dutt was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category and won his first BFJA Award for Best Actor (Hindi). His next release was Bhimsingh drama film Mehrban, alongside Ashok Kumar, Nutan and Mehmood, where he played a dedicated and honest man. Mehrban was also a commercially successful. He concluded the year with B. R. Chopra's suspense thriller Hamraaz which received positive reviews from critics and emerged as a blockbuster, marking Dutt's third consecutive hit of the year. Hindustan Times commended Dutt for "beautifully playing a guilt-ridden husband".