Sanjay's Judgment Day

1. Jail Dutt - This one argues that Dutt must be put away again, even if just to send out a strong, strong message that the long arm of law spares no one. It fights the argument that he was (many say is) a impulsive, simple man who made a stupid mistake, kept bad company, that he is basically a good, honest man who wanted to protect his family after the Mumbai riots. It argues why was he scared? His family was and is one of the leading families of Bollywood, his father was a Congress politician with enormous goodwill, why was he scared? Who was he trying to protect? Also, this POV argues, the one who carried the gun to the Dutt bungalow was sentenced under TADA, the one who hid it was sentenced under TADA but Dutt, who asked for the weapon and asked for it destruction got away. No TADA for him. Is this fair? Is he being let off because he is who he is? Is he being let off - remember last time when he was in prison his father had to knock the door of Bal Thackeray to help free his son - because his sister is a politician, the Congress is in power at the Centre and the state? This is the point of view argues that Dutt must be punished, he must serve another prison sentence if the law is fair. It says Dutt must be made an example in an industry and among the rich and famous that if you keep bad company, if you swim with the dons, you sink with them, in fact you sink even without them.

2. Free Dutt - This POV says, and let's be fair this is, for good or bad, fair or not, the overwhelming opinion about Dutt today, that Dutt has suffered enough for one bad mistake. He has paid his dues for being a silly, young, impulsive man. Enough damage has been done to him, his psychological state (imagine a man who knows he wasn't part of the conspiracy to murder hundreds but accused of it, as he would naturally think, in millions of minds), his family name and the memory of his kind, popular, many would say great, late father. It argues that Dutt is clearly not a terrorist. He may have had some bad friends at some point but he is not an anti-national but no one in that family which enjoys enormous goodwill (Priya today is a fairly popular politician) can really be a terrorist. Many people believe that Sanjay, who had a history of drug abuse, is essentially a wild child, for many years enamoured with life on the edge. He made many wrong choices, this was one of them and he has suffered for that. His career was almost ruined the first time he went to prison (the success of Khalnayak was a fluke and his arrest helped but everyone who believed then that it was all an act to boost the film were clearly wrong) and over the years he has once again painstakingly built it back. With the Munnabhai films and his association with Sanjay Gupta, Dutt is a top star again, able to command a top price and plum projects. If he goes back to prison, how much of that will stay when this 47-year-old actor returns?

So which side are you on?