Mumbai: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt spent much of his life fighting the odds – drugs, deaths in the family, flop films and a bad marriage – but bounced back every time.
On Tuesday, however, he suffered a new blow as the special TADA court convicted him of illegally possessing arms bought from gangsters accused of 1993 Mumbai blasts.
But the 47-year-old actor was cleared on four other charges and, crucially, of having any link to the bombings conspiracy. Dutt will be sentenced at a later date.
His offence carries a prison term of up to three years, but he has already served more than a year in jail during investigations. The hulky, droopy-eyed screen hero, Bollywood experts say, was often pushed to the brink as he found it difficult to handle the pressures of being the son of Bollywood actor Sunil Dutt.
A former drug addict, he has led a troubled and well-publicised private life, but his fans have stood by him. His problems started early in life as he is known to have taken to drugs while still in high school.
When his mother died shortly before the release of his first film as a lead actor in 1981, his addiction apparently worsened.
"He was close to his mother and her death left him devastated," said a Bollywood director close to Dutt.
Rehabilitation
Dutt returned to films after a stint at a rehabilitation centre in the US where he met his future wife, Richa Sharma. The couple married and had a child, but Dutt's happiness remained short-lived as Sharma died of a brain tumour.
More misfortune awaited Dutt as he lost custody of his daughter after a bitter legal wrangle with his in-laws.
But just when he seemed to be putting it all behind him and came up with a hit film, he was linked to the 1993 bombings and jailed during investigations.
Released from jail, Dutt remarried, but the couple divorced in 2005, the same year his father, a federal minister, died of a heart attack.
In a country where the combination of pedigree and clout often leads to a bending of the rules, the actor – known as "Deadly Dutt" for his macho image and portrayal of gangsters and the anti-hero – has truly been a controversy's child.
In 2001, he was investigated for alleged money-laundering deals between the Mumbai underworld and Bollywood. He was also alleged to have been caught in a taped conversation with gangsters accused of kidnapping, extortion and murder.
But uncannily, he has retained popular support and sympathy from Bollywood as most see him as a sober, good-hearted man whose troublesome youth refuses to leave him.
"His spirit is invincible," said Sanjay Gupta, filmmaker and a friend of Dutt. "He has seen the worst and dealt with it."
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