‘Saajan’, the 1991 romantic drama featuring Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit, went on to become a massive commercial hit, with its songs turning into chartbusters and its characters winning over audiences. But the film’s success wasn’t the only thing making headlines back then, speculation about an alleged romance between Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit also swirled, reportedly tracing back to the making of the film.
Sanjay Dutt-Madhuri Dixit rumours barely registered on set, says director
Speaking to Vickey Lalwani in a recent interview, director Lawrence D’Souza addressed the swirling rumours around the alleged romance. He revealed that the team was so caught up in making the film that the speculation around the two actors barely registered with them. “We never really paid attention to it because we were having so much fun while shooting. We didn’t even realise when the film was completed. So, in all that fun, we didn’t really notice what was happening,” he said.
Sanjay Dutt would watch Madhuri Dixit’s close-ups, recalls D’Souza
However, D’Souza did recall an instance where Sanjay would peek through the camera while Madhuri’s close-ups were being filmed. Since the filmmaker doubled up as the cameraman, he shared, “I was the cameraman as well as the director, so sometimes he would look through the camera when I was shooting Madhuri’s close-ups. He would watch her, but I never really thought about whether anything was happening or not.”
Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit’s reported split after 1993 arrest
He also touched upon the couple’s reported split, which reportedly followed the actor’s arrest in 1993. When asked about it, the filmmaker simply said, “I saw it in the news.” Questioned further about reports of Madhuri choosing to distance herself from Sanjay at the time, allegedly due to opposition from her family, D’Souza admitted he had no knowledge of what transpired. “I have no idea,” he said.
Sanjay Dutt on Madhuri Dixit’s denial of their alleged involvement
Sanjay himself had addressed the rumours and his relationship with Madhuri in a 1993 interview with Movie Magazine, given shortly after he was briefly released from prison that October. When asked about Madhuri’s firm denial of any involvement with him, Dutt responded, “I didn’t get affected by her statement. I have been her colleague and I have done a lot of films with her. See, I need to establish a proper rapport with all my co-stars, it may be Madhuri or Sridevi. For instance, during the first few days of Gumraah, I wasn’t comfortable because you know how Sridevi is. She is aloof and I had to get talking to her. So what Madhuri said didn’t bother me that much, in fact, it didn’t bother me at all.”
Sanjay Dutt recalls apologising to Madhuri Dixit amid the rumours
Dutt also spoke about personally reaching out to Madhuri to apologise once reports of their alleged relationship started making the rounds. “This story broke out around the time of Saajan. In fact, when the story broke out in the press, she was shooting for Khel in Kenya. So, when we had a schedule of Saajan after that, I went up and said sorry to her. Because she was under public scrutiny for no fault of her. She took it well,” he said.
Sanjay Dutt denies dating Madhuri Dixit with a lighthearted response
When asked point-blank if he had actually dated the actor, Dutt responded with a light-hearted touch, “I wish I had a scene going on with Madhuri. But I don’t. Look I get friendly to every co-star of mine. If you see me with Raveena Tandon, you will feel I am having an affair with her too.” On being asked about rumours of the two eventually tying the knot, he added, “There has to be something on between us for me to marry her.”
Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit’s film collaborations over the years
Over the years, Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit appeared together on screen multiple times, in films like ‘Thanedaar’ (1990), ‘Saajan’ (1991) and ‘Khalnayak’ (1993), before coming together again decades later for ‘Kalank’ in 2019.
