Rajiv Rai opens up on fall out with once best friend Sanjay Dutt: ‘He needed rehab, I spoke to his father Sunil Dutt, if I had not taken that drastic step…’

Rajiv Rai who is known for making movies like ‘Yudh’, ‘Mohra’, ‘Gupt’, has recently opened up on his friendship with Sanjay Dutt and how they had a fall out. For those not in the know, Rai’s film ‘Yudh’ was supposed to star Sanjay first. It eventually was made with Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff. Rai revealed in a recent interview that he had even shot with Sanjay and Raj Kiran. But he then changed the cast and reshot the film.

He said during a chat with Siddharth Kannan, “‘Yudh’ had Sanjay Dutt, I had shot 14 reels with him. He was my best friend and I still have the biggest regards for him. They were the best days of my life. My father was friends with Dutt Sahab. There were issues due to which I had to reshoot the film and then I had to shoot with Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff.”


He added, “Sanju was not well, he needed a rehab in Florida. Raj Kiran was going through health issues and ended up putting on weight, but he was acting so well. I was concerned about Sanjay Dutt, he needed a rehab, I spoke to his father to get him out of it. I’m not sure how he took it but I think I changed his life. If I had not taken this drastic step, he would not have changed his life.”

When asked bluntly if he removed Sanjay from the film, he said, “Nikaal diya is an ugly word. Main kaun hota hu nikaalne wala? I spoke to him every day and asked him that please take care of your health and can I carry on with the film with your kind permission. Dutt sahab got the first cheque of his life from my father Gulshan Rai. We go a long way. When Nargis ji was ill, I was with Sanjay in New York. That film made on Sanju’s life, I know what happened. We’ve been close family friends. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out well between me and Sanju. He may love me for it, hate me for it. But I had to do it. But, I always wanted to work with him. In ‘Tridev’, I thought of giving him Naseer’s role. I tried approaching him but I got this feeling that Sanjay and his father were not happy with me after what I did with him in ‘Yudh’.”

He added further about how close he was to him. “I have no bad word to speak about boy because he is my best friend. In your young days when you make best friends, you don’t get it again. And I’ve not managed to make a friend out of an actor. He was the only actor who was my friend. For me it was on my heart and soul. Mereko torture hua.”

Rai also revealed that he thought Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt were upset with him for changing the cast of ‘Yudh’. He said, “I think he was upset. I used to tell him ke yeh karoge toh jhatka lagega usko. Main wrong bhi ho sakta hu. I would be hurt if I was in Sanjay Dutt’s place and my father would be hurt. Woh kuch bole hi nahi. That’s the greatness of that man. Dutt sahab ghar aate the, aakhri waqt tak hum baat karte the. Par kaam nahi kar sakte. Aap ek baar kisi ke saath aadhi picture banaao aur phir change kardo. How do you reach out to that actor again?”

When asked if he will ever work with Sanjay again, he said, “I met him in the plane, he said, we’ll work, how are you’ and he spoke well I would love to work with him but he’s surrounded by so many directors. Today he’s a bigger man than I am. I’m nobody to go to him now. At that time, he was nobody. Today he’s a big man. So, I’m shy to approach him and I don’t think I have the right role to approach him. Today a lot of actors do work for money also at this age so you see him in many movies even in a smaller role and that’s fine.”

The director further admitted that he thinks Sanjay is a good actor. He said, “There’s a burning fire that what if we worked together. Though, when he meets me, he’s friendly to me. I was at the crossroads in my career when I was losing my patience. He is a sincere actor and really was serious about doing the film. But sometimes you go through that phase in your life where you are at that age. His mother passed away. He could be emotionally disturbed. I don’t know why he did what he did. He gave me no trouble. He’s a gentleman. He’s one of the best personalities we have in Bollywood, his walk, his style, his eyes. That’s why Munnabhai and all these films happened. It was not by fluke. It happened because he’s a good actor.”