Veteran actor Sunil Dutt was born in Pakistan and came to India when he was 18 years old. He had once recalled how he got separated from his family during the 1947 India-Pakistan partition.
In a throwback interview with Doordarshan, Sunil Dutt recalled the emotional moment and called his reunion with his family one of the happiest moments of his life.
He recalled, “Alag alag campo me mai dhoondta raha apni maa ko, mera chota bhai, meri choti behen aur tab maine soch liya ki shayad unka bhi wahi haal hua hoga jo aur loogon ka hua hai (In different camps, I kept searching for my mother, my younger brother, my younger sister. And I thought that perhaps she must have gone through the same fate as many others).”
He added, “Mai Ambale me tha to ek tanga mere paas se guzaraa to usme se awaaz aayi, ‘Balraj’, to maine kaha yahan kon janta hai mujhe Balraj, to itne me mera ek rishtedaar tha wahan par wo tange me ja raha tha (I was in Ambala when a horse cart passed by me. I heard a voice saying, Balraj. I said, Who here knows me as Balraj? I had a relative who was going to Tanga).”
He further recalled that his relative asked him to sit in the horse cart. Sunil Dutt admitted that he wanted to ask about his mother, sister and brother but wasn’t able to.
He continued, “To maine kaha tum kaise aagye wahan se, kehte hain, hum to aagye mera jo uncle hai wo DP ban gya hasi yahan Ambala ka to chalo unki koyhi me chalte hain. To hum Bali saheb ke kothi me gaye (I asked him, how did you come from there? He said, I came from there and my uncle has become the SP of Ambala. I went to his house).”
Sunil Dutt recalled the emotional moment and shared, “Jab mai tange se utara to maine saamne dekha ki meri maa khadi hai, wahi maile kuchaile kapde pehne hue, jo kayi mahino se dhoye nahi honge unhone, mera bhai shorts pehne hue khada hai, meri behen khadi hui hai (When I got down from the Tanga, I saw my mother standing in front of me. She was wearing a dirty dress, which must not have been washed for many months. My brother was wearing shorts. My sister was standing).”
He admitted, “to aisa mujhe laga ki mujhe duniya jahaan mil gya hai to ye ek aisa khushi ka din tha (I felt as if I had found the world. It was such a happy day).”
Sunil Dutt said that all his hopes had been shattered, but when his mother, his brother, and he came in front of him, he considered it to be the biggest day of happiness and a new beginning.
Sunil Dutt revealed a Muslim man saved his entire family
In an interview with Rediff in 2005, Sunil Dutt reflected on how his family was saved by a Muslim man during the partition. He recalled, “During Partition, my entire family was saved by a Muslim. His name was Yakub, a friend of my father's who lived a mile-and-a-half away from our village.”
He continued, “He helped us escape to the main city, Jhelum. I left Pakistan after my matriculation. I never had the chance to visit Lahore. I visited Karachi when I was invited to attend Benazir Bhutto's marriage. I was very keen that my wife (Nargis, who passed away in May 1981) should also see my village, how we went to school.”
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