Munnabhai : Act III

Sanju baba should've given judge Pramod Kode a jaadu ki jhappi before his verdict was delivered. Well, maybe now that he is sentenced to six years in prison, he could arrange to have his local florist send flowers to Mr Kode's house everyday. After all even the greencard mongers gave up against such valiant Gandhigiri tactics resorted to by the Indians waiting in endless hope for their applications to turn current.

It is really easy for me to sit ensconced in my cubicle and pass half-informed sarcastic comments on this topic. I still wonder whether this judgement was too harsh, in Dutt's own words a durgati of sorts; a sign of times to come perhaps. But then another train of thought argues that he got what he deserved. There's two sides to the coin and this debate can rage forever, much like Coffee - Toffee. Unfortunately there is no one answer here telling us it is coffee in a toffee.

Sanjay Dutt was accused of conspiring with the masterminds behind the 1993 mumbai bomb blasts which killed 257 and left many more injured, and for illegal possession of arms. Although he was cleared of charges for being involved with terrorists in 2006, he was drawn to court again in early 2007. Sanju baba had already spent 16 months of jail time immediately after the '93 bomb blasts, but justice seekers did not feel this was enough time behind bars for a person who had the worst of the worst misjudegments in keeping a AK-56 rifle for himself. Apparently, whether or not he used the weapon was immaterial; what went against his favor was that the weapon was part of the contingent which was used in these blasts. Did he know what was going on when he was given 3 AK-56's, 25 hand grenades and some more weapon miscellany? Perhaps not. But who in his right mind would want to help notorious criminals by extending such inexplicable favors? Then again who would want to attract their ire by refusing to 'park some weapons in the house without using them'? Granted, the weapons were taken away in some days, why did he feel the urge to keep one for himself? It is an AK-56 for God's sake, one of the most dangerous combat weapons! Did he intend to hang it on the wall like a showpiece?? He cited the reason for his act as 'for the sake of family protection'. Me thinks he was doing the sticky-icky then.

Dutt's intentions on keeping the weapon werent quite clear but he was sending mixed signals for sure. When he was asked to return to India for questioning his alleged involvement with the terrorist act, Dutt almost instinctively asked his posse to get rid of the weapon. An indicator that he knew some titbits behind this sinister monstrosity? Maybe. Whatever the reasons, it is hard to feel sympathetic for him. Caught facing the repercussions of a stupid decision he made 14 years back, he will now face 6 years of RI. Bollywood will miss one of its premier actors. 6 years from now, there's an 'inspired' theme for his comeback film. Munnabhai making the prison system a better place!