Sanjay Dutt busy shooting on his 50th birthday

NEW DELHI - Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who turns 50 Wednesday, plans to have a quiet birthday in Cape Town, South Africa where he is shooting for his forthcoming comedy No Problem.

“As of now, Sanjay will be spending his birthday shooting for a film in Cape Town, ace stunt director Allan Amin, who is a very close friend of the actor, told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

After trying his luck in politics, the actor is back to studios and is currently shooting for No Problem with Suniel Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor and Paresh Rawal. His wife Manyata has already joined him there, but if media reports are to be believed, his sisters Priya and Namrata have abstained from his birthday celebrations.

For Sanjay, also known as Sanju and Munnabhai to loved ones and fans respectively, life has come full circle at 50 with a battle with drug addiction to being convicted under arms act in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

But Sanjay, who made his debut with Rocky in 1981, is going strong despite a chequered personal life.

The actor was recently seen in Luck. The film didn’t strike gold at the box office, but he got accolades for doing age and death defying stunts in the thriller.

Amin, who has directed most of Sanjay’s action sequences in films like Mission Kashmir and Kidnap, says it is the actor’s daring nature that keeps him going.

“I have been working with him since his first film ‘Rocky’ and it’s amazing how even today, he is as daring in nature as he was then, said Amin.

“Sanjay and I have literally grown together. We came to the industry at the same time and it feels wonderful to see how he has grown over the years. I hope that he prospers for many more years to come, he added.

Arshad Warsi, who played his side kick Circuit in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s hit Munnabhai series, describes Sanjay as the coolest person in Bollywood.

“Sanju is a zero complex guy. He has no issues with anybody or anything. He is also not insecure like other actors who’d get other actors’ scenes chopped to keep their own part. It’s just too cool working with him and that is why our comic timing and everything match,” Warsi had said.

Of late, Sanjay has also found ways of keeping himself looking cool with his fetish for tattoos.

While he already had a couple of tattoos, he has been undergoing frequent inking recently. Just last month, Sanjay got five more tattoos — including the names of his parents — legendary actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis.

This year, he also decided to enter politics by joining the Samajwadi Party and was later appointed its general secretary. Though controversy followed him even there, Sanjay faced it with a smile.