'Bad Boy of Bollywood' Sanjay Dutt confirms he has cancer

Sanjay Dutt announced a break from work earlier this year citing health reasons, leading to speculations about his health.

Actor Sanjay Dutt, one of Bollywood's biggest stars, has had a controversial life after being booked under the Arms Act (Getty Images)

One of the biggest names in Bollywood, the actor Sanjay Dutt, has confirmed that he is suffering from lung cancer amid speculation about his health from the Indian media.

The 61-year-old actor and his wife Mannayata announced in separate tweets this August that the actor had not been well and was “taking a short break from work for medical treatment,” requesting his fans “not to worry or unnecessarily speculate.”

The tweets only fuelled further speculative coverage from the Indian media, however, including one report that claimed he had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer earlier this year.

In a new video shared by hairstylist Aalim Hakim on Instagram, the actor said that he is already back at work and vowed to “beat” the disease. 

The actor also pointed to a scar running from his left eyebrow to the side of his head. "This is a recent scar in my life. But I will beat it. I will be out of this cancer soon," he said.

Dutt added that he was "happy to be on the set again" for his upcoming film, K G F Chapter 2 directed by Prashanth Neel. 

On Friday Dutt tweeted several pictures of himself as he got ready for the shoot and wrote, “Gearing up for #Adheera! #KGFChapter2.”

Dutt has worked in over a hundred Hindi films and has been considered one of the most bankable actors of the Indian film industry. His career spans over four decades, but has also been marked with many controversies including run-ins with the law, giving rise to his “bad boy” image.

After the Mumbai bombings in 1993, Dutt was charged with offences under India’s Terrorist and Disruptive (prevention) Activities (TADA), and has been in and out of jail multiple times.

In 2007, the TADA court cleared him of being involved in the blasts which killed 257 people and injured 713, but he was sentenced to a jail term of six years under the Arms Act for possession of illegal weapons.

Despite this, Dutt managed to make a successful comeback after his release, appearing in films again from 2016.

Dutt has lost a number of close family members to cancer over the years. His mother Nargis, herself a well-known Indian actor, died of pancreatic cancer in 1981. His first wife, Richa Sharma, died of a brain tumour in 1996. 

Sanju, a biopic about Dutt’s controversial life history starring Ranbir Kapoor, was released in 2018 and became a big success at the Indian box office.