When Sunil Dutt’s family was saved a Muslim man during Partition: ‘He helped us escape’

Veteran actor-filmmaker Sunil Dutt, who appeared in films like Mother India, Gumraah, Waqt, Mera Saaya, among many other hits, was highly respected in the Hindi film industry. Father of actor Sanjay Dutt, Dutt saab, as he was fondly called his peers, was very vocal about his personal struggles with his son, his time as a politician when Mumbai was going through a crisis in the 1990s, and would fondly speak about his childhood in what is Pakan now, where he grew up. Recollecting one of the anecdotes from the time Dutt saab had once shared that during the Partition, his “entire family was saved a Muslim.”
In an interview that he gave weeks before his death in 2005, the actor had spoken about the time when he got a chance to visit his childhood village in Pakan and how it was a “really emotional moment” for him. Speaking to Lata Khubchandani for Rediff, he said, “I remember when I visited my village (in Pakan) again after 50 years. I was invited then prime miner Nawaz Sharif. He was very kind when I told him my desire to visit my village. He made all the arrangements for my visit.”

Sunil Dutt grew up in a village named Khurd near Jhelum city. The Hamraaz actor shared that his village welcomed him with open arms and remembered all of his family members. He even met people who were 10 years old at the time and were now in the 60s, and they still remembered his brother and mother. He shared that his village had more Muslims than Hindus but his family “lived in the village without any problem.”
“During Partition, my entire family was saved a Muslim. His name was Yakub — a friend of my father’s who lived a mile-and-a-half away from our village. He helped us escape to the main city, Jhelum,” he recalled.

Sunil Dutt was married to actor Nargis, known for films like Awara, Shree 420, and Mother India. Nargis passed away in 1981 and he expressed that it was his deep desire that Nargis visit his village. “I was very keen that my wife (Nargis) should also see my village, how we went to school. I used to tell her stories about our life there. She was keen to go to Pakan and see all this. Unfortunately, she couldn’t,” he said.
Sunil Dutt passed away in 2005. His last film appearance was in the Sanjay Dutt starrer Munna Bhai MBBS, where he played his son’s on-screen father.