I liked the trailer of Sanjay Dutt’s Bhoomi very much. It stirred me. Told me that there’s hope for Bollywood after all. And it was good to see Dutt back on screen again. Larger than life itself. In a full-fledged role that’s been fleshed out specially for him. Last time he was there, it was in a rustic cameo for Aamir Khan’s pk in 2014 that left me unsatisfied. Three years later, Dutt’s back. He’s always been a powerhouse actor. Fortunately, nothing’s been taken away from him during his years of incarceration. In Bhoomi, Dutt lets it all out. And in 2.41 minutes of the trailer, he showed that he’s back for good. He packs in a performance of controlled emotions struggling to break free on his battle-scarred face. His dialogue is gritty. And there’s rage in his eyes, revenge on his mind, and murder in his heart when he gets down to action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgiFCRU0MXg

Dutt might have taken his time in picking a film to stage a comeback to Bollywood. But I’m glad he picked Bhoomi. Another Munnabhai would have been too easy. Critics would say he’s playing safe. Testing the waters. But he just jumped right back into the fray with producer-director Omung Kumar’s action-thriller that hinges on the delicate but precious relationship between a father and daughter in 21^st century India with all its taboos and biases against the girl child and women.

I don’t know how to do business. Never did. Now it’s just a numbers game to get into some club! Kaun sa club? The 100, 200 and 300 crore club! I’m not part of that scene. If my producer and distributor make money, and if people enjoy the film, that’s all that matters to me.

Naturally, then, when the opportunity presented itself, I was delighted to meet Sanjay Dutt and renew my acquaintance with him. We met at co-producer Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series office in Andheri. Myself and most of Bollywood’s print and online journalists. I was dismayed but not surprised at the turnout. Dutt is hot property. He’s one of Bollywood’s most exciting actors. There’s nobody I know who does not want to meet him. Last time I did, he had visited my office with South superstar Rana Daggubati to promote Department, the gangland-political film they did for Ram Gopal Varma in 2012. Dutt and Daggubati are big and imposing men. They filled my office easily. I was glad that Amitabh Bachchan, another towering figure, who played a grey character in the film, hadn’t accompanied them.

[caption id="attachment_3001" align="aligncenter" width="1004"] Sanjay Dutt with Peeping Moon.com Director Mark Manuel[/caption]

So I was meeting Dutt after five years. I watched him enter the room jauntily puffing a Marlboro, dark hooded eyes darting. Dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt that exposed his brawny tattooed arms and ripped jeans that sat snugly on an astonishingly trim waist. The panther-like stride that he inherited from his father Sunil Dutt was gone. In its place was the slow measured tread of the lion in winter. Over the other heads, he spotted me, recognition dawned, and he came over. He has an aura. The room parted before him. Like the Red Sea before Moses. He greets everybody with the jadoo ki jhappi he patented in the Munnabhai series. Once that was out of the way, Dutt held me at arm’s length, studying me carefully. “You’ve changed, bro,” he said affectionately. Then added, as an afterthought, “but so have I! Come, let’s talk.”

I thought Bhoomi could wait. He’s been talking himself hoarse about it for some days now. Instead, I asked him how it felt to be back. “It feels good,” Dutt replied without hesitation, “everything’s finally over – it feels good to be free.” I could see he meant it with all his heart. He’s been through the fires since March 1993. That’s 24 years – a long time, a lifetime for some. The scars show, he’s looking grizzled and his forehead’s creased like a jigsaw puzzle. “And to be working again?” I asked. “Oh, it’s great to be working again! I missed the sets, the lights, the scenes, the dialogues, the fun... basically everything. Except the business! I don’t know how to do business. Never did. Now it’s just a numbers game to get into some club! Kaun sa club? The 100, 200 and 300 crore club! I’m not part of that scene. If my producer and distributor make money, and if people enjoy the film, that’s all that matters to me.” I asked, disbelievingly, “But what do you get?” Dutt ran a big hand over his buzz cut, he played with the stud in one ear, then said with deep conviction, “I get satisfaction. And I get appreciation for my performance. That’s the ultimate high for any performer. It’s more important than anything for me. I may not have earned big money but the love and respect I got compensate for everything I didn’t get.”

The next episode of Munnabhai talks about going to America. That’s never going to happen because who will give me a visa to visit America?

I wondered what went through his mind when he faced the camera again for the first time. His emotions showed on his face as Dutt replied, “I sat alone for half an hour and then started working.” I complained that he had taken his time getting back. It’s been 19 months since the gates of Yerwada Central Jail in Pune clanged shut behind him. In which time he teased the industry and fans with hints and rumours about his comeback film. “I took my time to get the right type of film. I know everybody was looking forward to another Munnabhai. And honestly, Munnabhai was perfect. But... but, it’s not just about Munnabhai and after that nothing. Roles have to keep happening. Besides, the next episode of Munnabhai talks about going to America. That’s never going to happen because who will give me a visa to visit America?”

So he was grateful to Omung and Bhushan for Bhoomi. The film’s an emotional and sensitive drama that explores the beautiful relationship between a father and daughter, Dutt explained. And how they are left shattered by a traumatic turn of events in their lives that forces the father to go after justice for his daughter. “I’m not going to tell you what happens,” he said, “but I’ll say this, I am not Sanjay Dutt in the film, I am Arun, a loving and caring father who goes with the process to get justice for his daughter, and when all fails he takes the law in his hands.” That might sound like a regular Bollywood revenge drama. But to my eye, what stood out in the trailer was the raw emotions exchanged between Dutt and the lovely actress Aditi Rao Hydari who plays his daughter Bhoomi in the film. I told him, “Aditi is 30 and your own daughter Trishala is 28. You’ve had no experience, no role in bringing Trishala up, that you could fall back on while making Bhoomi. Yet your emotions as a father flow so lovingly in your scenes with Aditi, the comedy scenes are endearing, the anguish is searing, the pain in your eyes, the hurt in your voice, how did you manage that?” He struggled for words, then mumbled, “Maybe I remember how my parents, my father in particular, was with my sisters and me. A daughter is a daughter. What can I say? Maybe the fact that I believe in women empowerment and equality, I am all in favour of schemes like Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, Save the Girl Child, and Educate the Girl Child and condemn violence against women and children, maybe all that helped.”

I said, “Would you willingly be the brand ambassador for any movement associated with women and children?” There was no hesitation again. Straight off the bat, he replied, “Of course, I would. In fact, I’m doing a huge campaign with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar called Drug Free India. I would be happy doing things like that.”

I don’t know when he found the time in all these years, but Dutt has been studying Hollywood closely, and he told me now that he wants to get into the genre of films that veteran American actors like Kevin Costner, Denzel Washington, Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Liam Neeson, Jack Nicholson and Sylvester Stallone do. “They are all over 60. I am 58. And I want to play myself in my age,” he explained. “I want to get into that here. Nobody does it. Woh slot khali hai. Bhoomi offered me that genre. It’s a heartfelt film with a beautiful story. But it’s also an entertainer and commercial cinema. The film has got a message without sounding preachy.” I think what he meant was that Bollywood should not be getting actors of a certain vintage to run around trees and sing songs. “Our roles should be scripted with the actors in mind like they do in Hollywood,” Dutt emphasized. “Have you seen Costner in Criminal? Washington in The Equalizer? Those are the kind of roles I’d like to do.”

I’m doing a huge campaign with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar called Drug Free India. I would be happy doing things like that.

Since Bhoomi was a father-daughter drama and had the father fighting for his daughter, I asked him if there was anything of Liam Neeson’s Taken trilogy in Bhoomi? Dutt sat up and said indignantly, “There’s nothing! And if you want to know, I firmly believe Taken was taken from my 1991 film Sadak. Who knows? They must be watching our films in Hollywood for inspiration!”