Sanjay Dutt announces his surrender

His conviction has sparked a nationwide debate in India but last week, the Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt announced he would not be seeking a pardon and was ready to go to jail for possessing arms supplied by plotters of the deadly 1993 Mumbai blasts. Dutt, who has starred in films such as Saajan, one of Bollywood’s most popular romance movies, and Vaastav, a crime drama for which he won many awards, gave an emotional speech at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday where he said: “With folded hands, I want to tell the media and the citizens of the country that I have not applied for pardon.” He added “I will surrender”, before hugging his sister Priya Dutt, a congress MP, who consoled and hugged him. Dutt was first arrested in 1993 for involvement in the series of 13 bombings that killed 257 people in March of that year. He was found in possession of a 9mm pistol and an assault rifle and spent 18 months in jail before being released on bail. He was arrested again in 2007 and imprisoned for a short time but was released on bail while his case was appealed to the supreme court, which reduced his sentence from six years to five last Thursday. He will now return to jail to complete his sentence. “I love my country and I love the citizens of my country and I love India,” said Dutt, as he sobbed on his older sister’s shoulder. Kunaal Roy Kapoor to direct social satire The actor and director Kunaal Roy Kapoor says his second directorial feature Nautanki Saala will be a social satire. It follows his debut The President Is Coming, his 2009 satirical mockumentary. “I am scripting my second film as a director and it’s a sort of social satire, a dark comedy kind of a film,” said the 33-year-old. “The film should roll by the end of the year. I am looking forward to the film.” While the leads are yet to be confirmed, one actress who won’t be involved is his sister-in-law Vidya Balan, confirmed Kapoor. “I want to work with Vidya Balan, but right now for this film, she won’t be there,” he said.