Filmmaker Subhash Ghai worked with Sanjay Dutt in Khalnayak that was released around the same time of Sanjay Dutt’s arrest in 1933. Sanjay Dutt played a role of wanted criminal in the film.
Subhash Ghai is rumoured to be a very close friend of Sanjay Dutt. He claims Sanjay Dutt innocent. “I have known Sanjay Dutt ever since he was a kid. I directed his second film, Vidhaata. Then after 10 years, I cast him in Khalnayak. I knew him really closely. When he was arrested I knew he was innocent but was trapped. He was not a criminal,” he mentioned in an interview.
He further added, “I did not spend a single rupee to promote Khalnayak. I stayed silent. There was such a furore over Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai, 32 political units were against me, there were court cases against me. But I stayed quiet. I knew what film I had made, I knew what Sanjay Dutt was, I knew what Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai was.”
Sanjay Dutt was found guilty of possessing a 9mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle but acquitted of the more serious TADA charges. He spent some months in jail in 2007, but was granted bail. He was in jail from 2013-2016.
