Lets have a look at the struggles of late actor, politician and philanthropist Sunil Dutt. He real name was Balraj Dutt. He was very young when he came to Mumbai. Somehow he got a place to stay in a room in the Army Building in Kala Ghoda area of Mumbai. Apart from him, eight other people also lived in that room, some of whom were tailors and some were barbers.
Sunil took admission in Jai Hind College of Mumbai. And at the same time he also started working in BEST. In the summer season, the temperature used to be so high that it was very difficult for eight people to live in a small room. In such a situation, everyone used to come to the footpath to sleep. Sunil Dutt also spent nights on the footpath during that period.
There was an Irani (Parsi) restaurant in front of which he and his roommates used to put their bed. That Irani restaurant used to open every morning at 5:30. Sunil Dutt also used to wake up from sleep at that time. And as soon as the restaurant opened, he used to drink morning tea there and then after taking a bath, he used to go to attend his class.
In an interview, Mr. Dutt had said that in those days if there were no Irani restaurants in Mumbai, then many people like him would have to struggle a lot to fill their stomachs. When he used to see the waiters of these restaurants, he used to be very surprised. The waiters used to bring 10-12 cups of tea at a time. And none of the cups used to fall.
In those days, Sunil Dutt would sit in those Parsi restaurants with many of his friends. He used to say that Parsi hotels had made life very easy for the people who came to Mumbai to struggle. Because the tea and food items available there used to be much cheaper than other restaurants.
In 1954, he graduated with B.A degree in History (Hons.). In 1955, got a break by Director Ramesh Saigal in the film, Railway Platform. It was Ramesh Saigal only who gave him a screen name “Sunil Dutt” to avoid name clash with veteran actor, Balraj Sahni.
Stars shine and he delivered his first hit movie “Ek Hi Raasta” in 1956 followed by “Mother India” in 1957. He never looked back after then and rose to stardom. In 1958, Sunil Dutt married his Muslim co-star Nargis. She converted to Hinduism prior to marriage and adopted the name, Nirmala Dutt. He founded Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation after she died of pancreatic cancer.
Sunil Dutt died of a heat attack in 2005. He was one of the most successful actors in 1960-70s and will be remembered as a great humanitarian. May god bless his soul.