Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was overwhelmed when he watched Ranbir Kapoor-starer Sanju, a biopic of veteran actor Sanjay Dutt. After watching the movie, Gadkari said a perception that floats in media, judiciary and police can “affect someone” and added that “power of the pen can be more destructive than an atom bomb” referring to the movie.

While attending a programme in Nagpur on Sunday, where he was felicitating 30 singers and addressing artists, Gadkari said that he had watched the movie Sanju and found it “beautiful”.  

“I have seen the film. It’s a beautiful film. It shows how certain perceptions in the media, police, and judiciary can adversely affect someone. It had severely disturbed the lives of both Sunil Dutt and his son Sanjay,” he said. It was at this event he revealed an episode from the past.

He said that the then Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has once told him about Sanjay Dutt’s innocence. “Late Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray had once told me that Sanjay Dutt was completely innocent. I always say that the media should be extra careful when it is writing about anybody or any individual. 

“It takes a lot of effort and hardship to shape up a life of distinction, but it takes little to destroy it. The power of the pen can be more destructive than an atom bomb," Gadkari added. Readers may recall that when the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts took place, actor Sanjay Dutt, son of a then Congress MP and veteran actor-director Sunil Dutt was branded as “terrorist” and “traitor” allegedly because of the unverified reports about his involvement in the blasts in the media. 

The sentiment turned against him and people started boycotting his movies after he was arrested for keeping an AK-56 assault rifle with him after the riots in the nation after the Babri Masjid demolition. He was charged under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act. 

The Supreme Court upheld the TADA court’s verdict of quashing the charges under TADA and Dutt was sentenced to six years under Arms Act, which was later reduced to five years by the apex court.