'From cocaine to heroin, I have tried everything': Sanjay Dutt

02/09/2014

Bollywood's original 'Munnabhai', Sanjay Dutt's life has been nothing less than a roller coaster ride. While others would have broken down and given up hope if life had thrown such challenges at them, Sanjay Dutt belives he is the 'chosen one'. In an exclusive interview with Simi Garewal on her chat show, Sanjay Dutt spoke at length about his jail term, drug addiction and many other aspects of his life. Lets open those chapters of his life which have been kept untouched for so long.
His previous jail term: Talking about this strange fate he said, "I feel I am the chosen one. I keep getting into trouble but keep coming out of it. God has always been there for me. I used to reassure myself that maybe if I was out I would have been killed and this is God's way of protecting me - by keeping me in jail. And so far I think I have fared well at all the tests he has taken."
Independence: Talking about his drug problem he said that after he was sent to boarding school he felt a lot more responsible and independent. He had to not only take care of himself but he also had to learn new things. He remembered how everyday at the boarding school used to be a new challenge, a new responsibility. He was no longer that small kid who would listen to others. He knew how to take care of himself and did not like anyone's interference in his life, not even his family.
Drug addiction: The first time Sanjay Dutt tried drugs was when he was in college. Recalling the episode Sanjay Dutt said, "Someone asked me to try it once, I tried it and then it remained with me for the next nine years of my life. I always used to be in my own world. From heroine to cocaine, I tried everything that was there in the books. I used to sniff and take pills. In the last year before my treatment started I even used to inject drugs into my body."
How things changed: Sanjay Dutt remembered the day when he had a near death experience. He recalls, "One day I had taken heroine and went to sleep. Woke up after sometime and was feeling very hungry so asked my servant to get me something to eat. Seeing me he started crying and said that 'baba you've woken up after two days.' When I heard this I was shocked. I went and saw myself in the mirror. My face had that drenched look and I knew it that if I don't stop myself now I will probably die. So I went to dad and told him to save me. He sent me to a well known hospital and soon after that I was sent to America to a rehabilitation center."
That one moment: Just few days after he came back to India his drug peddler visited him. "I was shocked to see as I had not informed anyone that I was coming back. So then I opened the door and he said I have got some new stuff. Would you like to try it. It was that one moment that had to decide everything about how my life was going to be. I realised that if I say 'yes' now, I'll never be able to get out of it. And I said 'no', " Sanjay said.
First big break: "After I got better I never wanted to come back to India. I told dad that I don't want to come back but he insisted that I should come back. So I gave myself one year's time. I did not get any project in that period and right when just two three months were left Pappu Verma came to me with a script. He said he wanted to do a film with him. I told him that I had decided to go back in two months. To this he said, 'my film will be over by then.'"
Talking about his jail term: Sanjay Dutt said, "I have become more tolerant now. Inside jail I was nobody. I used to sit and eat with robbers and theives. It humbled me down. Broke my ego. I read the Bhagavada Gita inside jail. And my faith in God has only strenthened with time."

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