Sanjay Dutt was 'innocent' during 1993 arrest, claims Subhash Ghai

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai has revealed that he and Sanjay Dutt have always shared a close bond and he knew the actor was innocent at the time of his arrest in 1993. Their film, Khalnayak, released around the same time and was a soaring success.

“I have known Sanjay Dutt ever since he was a kid. I directed his second film, Vidhaata. Then after 10 years, I cast him in Khalnayak. I knew him really closely. When he was arrested I knew he was innocent but was trapped,” Subhash told Bollywood Hungama, adding, “He was not a criminal.”

The director said that it was against his ethics to cash in on Sanjay’s dark days and shared that he did not spend a single rupee on the promotion of Khalnayak. Sanjay played a wanted criminal in the film. “I did not spend a single rupee to promote Khalnayak. I stayed silent. There was such a furore over Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai, 32 political units were against me and there were court cases against me. But I stayed quiet. I knew what film I had made, I knew what Sanjay Dutt was, I knew what Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai was,” he said.

In April 1993, Sanjay was put behind bars under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. While he was released on bail a month later, his bail was cancelled in 1994 and he was arrested again. He was let out of jail in October 1995.

Sanjay was convicted under the Arms Act by a TADA court in 2006 after he was found guilty of possessing a 9mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle but acquitted of the more serious TADA charges. He spent a few days in jail in 2007 but was granted bail in less than three weeks. He also spent time in jail from 2013 to 2016.

Meanwhile, on the work front, the grapevine suggests that Sanjay will be sharing screen space with evergreen beauty Raveena Tandon in the much-awaited K.G.F: Chapter 2. The film happens to be the much talked about sequel of the 2018 release period drama action film which featured Bollywood actor Yash in the lead. In fact, Raveena had also shared a throwback picture with Sanjay on social media earlier and had captioned it as, “My most favourtie actor”. And now, as per Pinkvilla, Sanjay and Raveena will once again collaborate after KGF Chapter 2, but this time for a slice of comedy.

According to a report published in Mid-Day, the comedy drama will be helmed by a new director. “The film, being bankrolled by a leading studio, was at the ideation stage at the time. On seeing the picture, the makers thought they would be the perfect choice for the comedy. They reached out to the actors who were kicked about working together again,” a source was quoted saying. The insider added that while the final script is still being awaited before the stars sign the project, the makers are likely to make the announcement for the movie in February this year.