New Delhi, June 23: His foray into politics might not have translated into big wins for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the recent Lok Sabha elections, but for Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt that part of his life is unforgettable.
In a campaign fraught by controversial statements like “The Congress killed my father”, a public spat with sister Priya Dutt and of course the whole jhappi and pappi obscenity charge with regards Mayawati notwithstanding, Dutt claims to have learnt some pertinent lessons that he hopes will help reinstall a much needed vigour in the SP. “As you know, I’m the all India general secretary of the SP. That’s a big responsibility on my shoulders and I plan to honour it,” he says.
Dutt’s act two of politics entails doing it with the human touch. He wants to connect to his voters on a one-to-one level. One of his most vivid memories of the campaign is when an old lady came to him in Purulia, West Bengal and urged him to come to her house to give a jaadu ki jhappi to her ailing son. “I was stunned by this request. Even though I told her that I can’t do anything, she insisted I hug her son. I did that and I can’t forget the look of gratitude in her eyes. Even if I can make a difference to 10 people like her in my entire political career then I’ll have done my job,” he says.
Dutt, who wishes to carry his father Sunil Dutt’s political legacy forward, says he decided to join politics after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. “It reached a point when I said enough. We are dealing with train blasts every other day and now a few people come on boats and bring down an entire country on its knees. I told myself that I can’t change the system all alone but if I get into the system and good people join me then maybe at least some things will become better,” he says.
Quiz him on his party’s poor showing in the just-concluded general elections and he candidly blames it on public apathy. “Guess, people have stopped believing in the system. We thought the public outrage that came to the fore after 26/11 will really shake things up, but that didn’t happen. It was just like the fizz of soda water that came and went.”
Dutt, who is currently shooting in Goa for Ajay Devgan’s All The Best, is in constant touch with his party workers and plans to divide his time fairly between politics and films. The heat and dust of Indian politics has left an indelible impression on the 49-year-old actor. It has led to him rediscovering the country. “Living in Bombay, we don’t know what real India is. I’ve been to towns that you have never even heard of. You know places like Siwan and Hajipur in Bihar where people live in such abject poverty that it can make you speechless. It’s the 21st century and so many villages are still without electricity. All this has been an eye-opener for me,” he says. In a quest to know more about India, he is reading Dominique Lapierre’s book, The City of Joy.
This time Dutt is more focused and prepared. He’s becoming more at ease with public speaking and is aiming for original lines in his bhashans, which is something he took a while to get a hang of. “I’m a filmi guy. I think from the heart and have never given a bhashan in my life. The closest I came to was during awards functions. In my first few speeches, I noticed that all the points I wanted to make were already said by the local MLA’s so I need to delve deeper,” he says.
He’s also learning to be politically correct. And for that he has Mayawati to thank. The jhappi-pappi controversy has taught him to weigh his words. “Arre, somebody in the crowd asked me if I’ll give a jaadu ki jhappi to Mayawati and I said, haan haan zaroor denge. Jhappi ke saath saath pappi bhi denge. After all, you give pappi to your sister also na? I didn’t say chumma. But she got offended so I apologised,” he says. Ah, well.
-Agencies