Top Fifteen Sanjay Dutt Movies

Sanjay Dutt is considered to be the first macho hero in Bollywood in the eighties. Launched by his father in Rocky in the early eighties, Sanjay Dutt has not had a simple time in Bollywood. Going into rehabilitation for drug addiction and then being acquitted of all charges in the infamous Mumbai blasts case, Dutt has had a rollercoaster ride in his professional as well as personal life. However, Dutt is considered to be a survivor, because of the various issues that he has gone through, but has still come out smiling. Here is a list of the top fifteen movies that star Sanjay Dutt.

15. Do Qaidi

This movie starred Sanjay Dutt and Govinda for the first time together. In the movie, these two were small time criminals who escape prison together, but cannot get away from each other because they are handcuffed together for a while, and therefore a kind of friendship blossoms. This was the movie that showed the crackerjack chemistry that Govinda and Sanjay Dutt share, and could be one of the reasons that they had some movies starring them together in the double ohs and late nineties once more.

14. Daud

Daud was the happy go lucky, action comedy where Sanjay Dutt and Urmila Matondkar give Pares Rawal a run for his money. This was one of the first movies that had Sanjay Dutt play a comedic role. He shared chemistry with Urmila Matondkar on screen, a chemistry that gave rise to one more move, Khoobshurat a few years later. Daud was the typical crime and con movie, and Sanjay Dutt played the role of a petty criminal with panache.

13. Thanedaar

Thaanedar was a runaway hit of the season. It starred Jeetendra and Sanjay Dutt for the second time, the first time when they were in Zahreelay. In Thanedaar, Jeetendra plays a simple and straight forward police officer, who is being shifted to a small town. However, he is killed by some goons on the way, and Sanjay Dutt, who is a petty criminal, finds it to be a good way to lay low for a while, if he takes on the identity of the police officer. The movie was well known for the unique script, and for the song and dance sequence for the song Tamma Tamma. It is interesting to note that the dance sequence was not done by Sanjay Dutt, but was actually carried out by Javed Jaffrey.

12. Rocky

Rocky was the debut movie for a young, year old Sanjay Dutt, but it still showed off his acting capabilities, and the movie itself was quite good. Rocky was about the issues that a young, rich man would have when he is a dysfunctional family without love.' This was a typical adopted son who does not know his real mother's identity movie, and Sanjay Dutt played the role of the main protagonist with a grit and demeanor that wasn't generally seen in a newbie actor. the supporting cast was Amjad Khan, Shakti Kapoor,' Tina Munim, Reena Roy, Aruna Irani, Gulshan Grover, Rakhee Gulzaar and others.

11. Vidhata

Sanjay Dutt was not the only newbie actor to have two colossal releases one after the other, but he is one of the few who is still in the industry for more than thirty years. In Vidhaata, he shared screenspace with Dilip Kumr and Sanjeev Kumar, along with Amrish Puri, Madan Puri and Shammi Kapoor. Padmini Kolhapure played his romantic interest. In the movie, Sanjay Dutt plays the grandson of Shamsher Singh, played by Dilip Kumar, who takes to a life of crime after his son is killed by some goons and he has to leave the village immediately. Later in life, Dutt is brought up by Abu Baba, played by Sanjeev Kumar and life is all calm.

However, when Dutt falls in love with a beautiful slum girl, Shamsher Singh decides not to let him marry her, and takes matters into his own hands. The movie showed the angst and frustration that a young man would have, after he is thrust into a life of crime. Though Sanjay Dutt was in the company of stalwarts like Sanjeev Kumar and Dilip Kumar, he stood his own stead and the movie was a colossal success at the box office.

10. Naam

Naam is a very interesting movie that handled the issue of illegal immigration, the life of crime in a foreign land and other aspects. The movie starred Sanjay Dutt, Nutan, Poonam Dhillon, Paresh Rawal, Kumar Gaurav and Amrita Singh.

The movie was about Vicky, played by Sanjay Dutt, who wanted to go to Dubai because he had heard that there is a lot of money there. In Dubai, he works unwittingly for Rana, until he finds out that Rana is a smuggler and Vicky's visa was obtained fraudulently. He now has to work for Rana, or he would be given up to the authorities. The movie was released in 1986, right at the time when the youth of India were wondering about how to make their inroads into the other foreign countries, with Dubai being on the top of their list. That one was a very relevant movie for that time, and Kumar Gaurav and Sanjay Dutt gave a stunning portrayal of people who were stuck in the rut because of various reasons. One of the best movies for Sanjay Dutt, and before Kaante, Kumar Gaurav was known for this movie.

9. Saajan

Sanjay Dutt goes romantic with this movie, where he costarred with Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit in a unique love story. Sanjay Dutt is the adopted son of a very rich man, who has Salman Khan as a brother. The two fall in love with the same woman, and the rest of the story is all about who will sacrifice their love for the betterment of their brother. The movie had an interesting twist to it at the end. While both the brothers were bent on sacrificing their love for the girl, the girl finally asks whether anyone has asked her about who she would like to marry?

The movie was one of the biggest hits of Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit's career and the biggest blockbuster of that year. Saajan is still remembered for the great performances that the three gave, and the songs. It is because of the chemistry that Sanjay and Salman shared in Saajan that they were offered some more movies in the nineties and the double ohs. It is also interesting to note that the two will now be seen together in the television reality show Big Boss, where they will be playing the hosts.

8. Gumrah

Sanjay Dutt and Sridevi come together for the first time in a movie about illegal immigration, international crime and a damsel in distress. Sridevi plays a na've and innocent woman who is hoodwinked by her boyfriend to smuggle drugs through the international borders. However, she is caught and put in prison, and it is only Sanjay Dutt and a lawyer, played by Anupam Kher who can save her now. The movie was once again a stark reminder of how the gullible can come under great danger if they are not too careful.

7. Aatish

Years after its release, the movie has a cult following and is extremely famous amongst the action lovers in Bollywood. Aatish had Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Panscholi play the roles of small time criminals who work for a mob boss. However, the mob boss's sons do not like the this, and create issues because of which Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Panscholi are arrested and fall under hard times.

Aatish is one of the first movies to show bloodshed, point blank shooting and give various insights into gangland rivalry and politics to the common man. It starred Raveena Tandon with Sanjay Dutt. The movie is considered to be one of the best performances by Aditya Panscholi.

6. Khalnayak

The movie courted a lot of controversy even before it was released, because of the raunchy song that was filmed on Madhuri Dixit and sung by Ila Arun. Ironically, while the release of that movie was hampered because of the song, every other movie that launched after Khalnayak had a choli song.

In the movie, Sanjay Dutt plays Jaggu, a small time criminal who works for Roshi Mahanta, and is wanted by the police. Things take a turn when Jaggu is being pursued by the strict police officer, played by Jackie Shroff, and his team kidnaps Madhuri Dixit, who is the police officer's romantic interest.

The movie was a critical success at the box office, and was a commercial success too. Sanjay Dutt's performance as the antihero was lauded, and the movie breathed fresh life into Jackie Shroff's career. The movie is also noted for being the only one where Rahul Roy played a negative character.

5. Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra was the second hit for Sanjay Dutt in the double ohs. It is interesting to note that while Sanjay Dutt played a petty criminal in several of his movies, this was the first one where he played the police officer. In the movie, he plays a disciplined and straight forward police officer, who is entrapped in a vicious game played out by the politicians. This is a very good movie for the action buffs, and has Sanjay Dutt perform one of his best performances.

4. Khoobsurat

Sanjay Dutt once again went down the romance road with Khoobsurat, where he plays a rich man and Urmila Matondkar plays a plain Jane with whom he falls in love. The movie is not well known now, but was a runaway hit in the year that it was released.

3. Pitaah/Vaastav

In Pitaah, Sanjay Dutt plays a simple villager whose daughter is sexually assaulted by the powerful Thakur clan, and he extracts revenge. While Sanjay Dutt has acted in several action and revenge movies, this one was one of the best, because it was based on the real life incidents that took place in rural India. Pitaah had a very good song, and the evolution of a common, weak villager to a strong, avenging angel fit well for Sanjay Dutt. This one is a little known movie because it did not have the juggernaut of PR like the others had,but it is definitely a must add to your DVD collection.

This listing is for both the movie because while Vaastav was a runaway commercial hit, Pitaah was not, but they have the same grit and angst that Sanjay Dutt is known to portray so well. In Vaastav, Sanjay Dutt plays the son of a poor man, who falls into the life of crime.

2. Munnabhai MBBS

Munnabhai MBBS is the movie that once again infused life in Sanjay Dutt's career. The movie has him act as a lovable goon who first lies that he is a doctor to his father, and when his father finds out about it all, Munna decides to become a doctor for real. While he does not become a doctor in the movie, he definitely brings about a change in the medical circles. The movie had his career best performance as an actor in a comedy role. He was given able support by Boman Iran and Gracy Singh and a host of other talented comedic and humorous actors. Munnabhai MBBS was also the movie that introduced the world to Arshad Warsi's character, Circuit.

1. Lage Raho Munnabhai

Lage Raho Munnabhai is the sequel in the Munnabhai series. This movie is much more well written and has a startling screenplay. In the movie, Munnabhai starts studying about Mahatma Gandhi because of a radio interview that he had, and soon, he finds out that Mahatma Gandhi starts interacting with him. Lage Raho Munnabhai has a very interesting script and has the proper realistic take, making this one a interesting and successful movie.

These are the top fifteen movies that star Sanjay Dutt. Do you have anything to add, or do you not like the list at all? Please tell us all about it in the comments section below!