Sunil Dutt

Sunil Dutt (June 6, 1929 - May 25, 2005), born Balraj Dutt was an Indian Bollywood actor and politician. He was the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government (2004-2005).

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In 1984 he joined the Congress (I) party and was elected to Parliament for five terms from the constituency of Mumbai North West.

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Starting out in radio, he moved to acting in Hindi films. He acted in several successful films from 1956.

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He was born in the village of Khurd (now in Pakistan). His family moved to India during the Partition of India (1947). In Mumbai, he joined Jai Hind College as an undergraduate and took up a job. A stroke of luck fetched him an additional assignment with an advertisement company and he could supplement his income by a few hundred more rupees. While working for it, he got introduced to the cream of film industry including Nargis, whom he married on March 11, 1958. He had 1 son and 2 daughters. He introduced his son Sanjay in Rocky in 1981. In that same year, his wife died of pancreatic cancer. He set up Nargis Dutt foundation in memory of his wife for the cure of cancer patients. He was also a sponsor of the India Project, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated organization akin to Operation Smile for the treatment of Indian children with facial deformities. His political career was halted for some years in the early 1990s when he worked to free his son from jail after he was arrested following Hindu-Muslim clashes in Mumbai.

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He died of a heart attack http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4577963.stm at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai in his sleep. His seat in Parliament will be contested by his daughter, Priya Dutt.

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