Sridevi was always afraid that Dutt was under the influence of drugs. Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt were superstars of eighties and nineties. But the two have acted together only in just one movie. No one knows the intricacies of their relationship. But long ago Sanjay Dutt himself had revealed the reason as to why the two did not act together.
Sridevi was a hugely successful actor of the eighties whereas Sanjay Dutt was a newcomer in Bollywood. He was a huge fan of Sridevi. He used to visit movie sets to get a glimpse of Sridevi.
This was a period when Sanjay was greatly addicted to alcohol and drugs. Sanjay visited the sets of Sridevi in inebriated state on several occasions. He was not able to meet her either. Once the shooting of Sridevi-Jitendra starrer Himathwala was in progress at a location close to where Sanjay Dutt was shooting for a movie. Dutt went to the sets of Himathwala and Sridevi was in her make-up room. Dutt knocked on the door and Sridevi opened it.
Dutt in a later interview said that since he was drunk, he did not remember the events that followed. But he knew whatever transpired that day was not pleasant. Sridevi threw him out of the room and closed the door. This was the first encounter between Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt.
Due to this one reason, Sridevi was afraid to act alongside Dutt. But in spite of this she was forced to commit the movie Sameer with Sanjay Dutt. She had agreed on the director’s word that she would not be seen in a single scene with Sanjay. Sanjay Dutt, Vinod Khanna and Rajinikant were the lead actors in the movie. Though the shooting was completed the movie was not released due to several reasons.
Later, Dutt had another opportunity to act along with Sridevi in the historical movie Khuda Gawah starring Amitabh Bachchan. But the chance was scuttled, when the director dropped Dutt from the movie in the last minute. That role was later handed over to Nagarjuna.
Years later, when Sridevi’s career was in doldrums, it was Sanjay Dutt who came to her rescue. By 1993 Sanjay Dutt had become an immensely popular actor. When Mahesh Bhatt approached Sridevi with a role in his movie Gumrah the director made it clear that Sanjay Dutt would be the hero of the movie. Sridevi, however, did not make a request to remove Dutt from the movie. The two acted in the movie, but did not speak to each other on the sets. She was afraid that Dutt was under the influence of drugs. Gumrah became a hugely popular movie.
The audience enjoyed the onscreen chemistry between Sridevi and Sanjay but they never acted in another movie together.
Director Karan Johar was making efforts to get the two of them to act together after twenty five years. Sridevi had signed for this film last October. Sanjay Dutt was set to act as Sridevi’s husband in the film to be directed by Abhishekh Varman. Varun Dhawan and Aliya Bhatt were the other stars who were cast for this movie.
With Sridevi’s demise this movie that was slated to be produced by Karan Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions has become a dream that can never be realized.
