Cried for hours and hours when I knew I had cancer, says Sanjay Dutt

Sanjay Dutt, who in his latest release KGF: Chapter 2 is making waves in the country, spoke about his battle with cancer and how he dealt with it. In a recent podcast with a YouTuber, the actor revealed that he “cried for over two-three hours” thinking about his family.

Dutt said that his sister broke the news that he had got cancer. “I did cry for over two-three hours because I was thinking about my kids and my life and my wife and everything,” he said. But then he decided to fight the disease head-on. “I said, okay, I got cancer, now what? Then you start planning things, will do this and that… and I said, I will stop getting weak,” Dutt, who plays the main villain in the blockbuster KGF-2, said.

Exercising during chemotherapy

Speaking of his treatment, the 62-year-old actor said, “They told me that I’d lose hair and other things would happen, I’d vomit. So, I told the doctor mereko kuch nahi hoga (nothing will happen to me). I’ll not lose hair, I’ll not vomit, I won’t lie on the bed, and she kind of smiled.”

Also read: Happy to come out victorious from this battle: Sanjay Dutt on cancer

Explaining in detail how he dealt with treatment, Dutt said: “I did my chemotherapy and I came back and sat on that bike for one hour and I cycled; I did that day after day, every day. After every chemo I did that.”

He added, “It was crazy, I used to go for chemo in Dubai, and then I used to go to the badminton court and play for two-three hours.”

In August 2020, Dutt had posted on social media that he was taking a break from work because of his health issues.

A few months later, on his kids Shahraan and Iqra’s 10th birthday, he shared an update on his health. “The last few weeks were very difficult time for my family. But like they say, God gives the hardest battles to his bravest soldiers. And today, on the occasion of my kids’ birthday, I am happy to come out victorious of the battle and be able to give them the best gift I can — the health and well-being of our family,” he said in his post.

Adheera, a great character

The actor is today basking in the success of the multilingual project KGF: Chapter 2, which is breaking all box-office records. In July 2019, he was revealed to be playing the role of the main antagonist Adheera, marking his Kannada debut. Dutt, speaking about his role, had said “Adheera is one of the greatest characters I have played. He’s a powerful villain — mentally and physically. He is almost like a viking. To ensure that I could do justice to his larger-than-life presence, I trained hard to get the physicality fit. Along with that, I mentally trained hard as well, so that I could be the greatest force to take on Yash’s Rocky.”

Director Prashanth Neel claimed that Dutt had completed majority of his scenes before being diagnosed with cancer and leaving for treatment on August 12, 2020. He resumed the shooting in December when the climax scenes were filmed in Hyderabad.

KGF 2 was produced on a budget of Rs 100 crore, and is the most expensive Kannada film till date. With earnings of over Rs 625 crore globally, KGF-2 is one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

Also read: KGF-2 review: Revenge of big screen with blood, bullets and grandeur