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Simply Dutt Sunil Dutt and Nargis complemented each other .

He was an actor who told his kids not to cry in public when their mother, celebrity actor, passed away. And she had worked with spastic kids much before it became a style statement and went on to become the first lady of Indian cinema to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Written by daughters Namrata and Priya, “Mr and Mrs Dutt” is a touching account that brings alive an enigma called Nargis and Sunil Dutt.

Releasing today, this Roli Books’ publication is interspersed with fascinating pictures which the daughters say are from the treasure their father preserved for years. “In fact, the starting point were these pictures, things like his first payment cheque, letters and clips that I came across when a few days before his death we were about to shift to our new apartment. All those years he had kept them away from us as he didn’t want to share his personal emotions with us,” shares Namrata. Among the memorabilia, the most touching are the jail coupons that Sanjay gifted to his sisters on Rakshabandhan when he was in prison under TADA charges. “It was the first time that dad broke down in public,” recalls Namrata

According to Priya, Nargis and Sunil came from diverse backgrounds but complemented each other. If Sunil was from rural Punjab and had weathered the Partition trauma, Nargis was a sophisticated Bombayiite. Sunil started his career as a celebrity interviewer on radio. His original name was Balraj Raghunath Dutt, but he had to change it because there was already Balraj Sahni. Similarly Nargis was Fatima till Mehboob Khan, out of his fascination for the letter N, changed her name.

Interestingly, like Sunil, Nargis’s father was also a Mohyal Brahmin. Mohyals are a small sect said to have fought alongside the family of Prophet Mohammed in the Battle of Karbala when they were also called Hussaini Brahmins. Many feel that there was an age difference between the two, particularly because Nargis played mother to Sunil in “Mother India.” The book reveals that Nargis was older just by five days. Then again, if Nargis was lively and straightforward, Sunil was quiet and diplomatic.

“Every woman longs for security, and it’s not just economic security. Dad had such a personality that any woman would feel safe in his presence,” says Priya. On Nargis quitting her career after marriage, Priya says, “She started acting at the age of five. So by the time she got married she had worked for almost 25 years. She had missed her childhood and wanted to be blissfully happy in married life. But she remained active in public life.”

Another thing that brought them together, according to Namrata, was their inherent simplicity and love for humanity. She cites two different instances. “It is common knowledge that he saved her from fire on the sets of ‘Mother India’ and they eventually got married. When the media said that he saved her out of love, Dutt clarified that he would have saved anybody in such circumstances. He used to tell us when he was new in Mumbai one day he saw a man drowning in the sea. Everybody was shouting but he jumped into the water despite the fact that he didn’t know swimming and somehow managed to save the guy.” Namrata continues, “Similarly when my mother was battling cancer in New York, she used to tell dad, you have the resources, so you have brought me here, what about the common Indians. Dad promised to take her work forward.”

Sanjay chips in, “My father never believed in religions. He said my kids will follow the religion of humanity. He was a Gandhian in the true sense.”

Sanjay says his father was not strict but a disciplinarian. “ Mother was a little lenient but on serious issues they used to decide together.”

Priya reminisces, “As kids we hardly knew that our parents were such big movie stars. Film magazines were not allowed inside the house and there was no television. When television came, father made it a rule that it would be watched together. We had parties at home, but for us all the stars were uncles, aunties and neighbours. Like Yousuf sahib (Dilip Kumar) was our neighbour for so many years. We had an auditorium in our house where there used to be trial shows. But we were not allowed to attend them. As teenagers there is always a fascination to watch a film before its release, but dad used to say that it’s a very personal thing for a director. I realised what a great star my mother was when I made a documentary on her life after her death.”

It is generally said that it is the leniency of Nargis that made Sanjay take the dark route of drugs. Sanjay says no, but Namrata explains, “She had an inkling but she chose to ignore it for a while for she thought her son could do no wrong. Even if he was taking drugs in his room, she would believe it was just his friends who were doing it. The love for the first child is something special. It is typically Indian.”

Priya gives credit to her father for supporting Sanjay in crises. “All through, he maintained that drug addiction was a medical problem and needed treatment in a hospital.” Sanjay recounts how his father left the audio tapes of his mother (addressed to Sanjay) with him and listening to them gave him the will to say no to drugs.

As children they might have been denied access but today the daughters have the favourite movies of their parents. Both root for “Mother India,” “Reshma Aur Shera” and “Raat aur Din.” “I also liked him in ‘Padosan’ but being the youngest I was a little possessive and didn’t want him to do romantic roles,” sums up Priya.

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