Sanjay Dutt opens up on Trishala, Maanayata and his twins

It hasn’t been an easy journey for actor Sanjay Dutt on the personal front. However, that bitter phase of his life is over now and he has had a fresh start to his life. As the actor along with his wife and kids shot for their first ever photoshoot for HT Brunch, he got talking about their children and many other aspects.

Sanjay Dutt spoke about how his jail term has taught him the importance of his family as he had to stay away from them for a considerable amount of time. Remembering that time, he said, “It bogged me down. But I was really lucky that when I started my jail term, the twins were about two years old and they don’t have any memory of it. And I am glad that I came out just when they were becoming aware of their surroundings. Now I am always there for them, always around.”

Speaking about how he stays involved in the kids’s activities, he said, “I am absolutely involved. I don’t want them to feel neglected just because I work erratic shifts. I make it a point to go for the parent-teacher meets, attend their school functions; however, I have not been able to make it for their sports day so far. Last time, when I was shooting Maanayata sent me some videos. And they are both so good at sports. Iqra runs like a little bullet! They both came first in their respective events and then they got gold medals in karate as well.” (Also Read: PICS: Sanjay Dutt meets Ashutosh Gowariker. New movie on the block?)

However, he regrets not having been able to spend much quality time with his daughter Trishala, from first wife Richa Sharma. He quoted, “I feel really bad that I couldn’t spend much time with her. But today we share a very strong bond. I am very proud of the person she has become. She is a beautiful young lady and very well brought up. And I am forever grateful to her grandparents for that.”

His wife Maanayata spoke about the close bond between her husband and the kids. She said, “Even before he went to jail, he would be out on shoot and the kids were never really used to seeing him at home all the time. Still seeing Sanjay with the kids now, I am realising that I could not have filled the void his absence created. When we were planning for our Italy trip, the way he interacted with the kids, the way the kids bargained for pocket money with him, suddenly made me acutely aware of how important he is to them. After they left, I told him I never expected him to be this good at being a dad!”

She further adds, “They are still too young to understand what happened. Shahraan’s dad is his hero, his role model, he idolises him. I worry for two things. First, it could be too much of a shock for him; he might not be able to justify what had happened or understand why it happened. Second, he might start thinking whatever his dad did back then was cool. We don’t want either to happen. They should know that their father was wrong and he has paid a heavy price for that. Not many people would have the courage to own up to what they had done and face the consequences. I want them to understand how it happened, why it happened, and how Sanju took it in his stride. But they are still too young for all that and we don’t want to burden our childhood.”

Finally, when he was asked about their plans to turn actors after growing up, he replied, “We will figure that out when we get there, but both Maanayata and I are very serious about their studies. They need to have proper education, at least a graduation degree, before they can even think about getting into movies.”

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.