Sanjay Dutt on 20-Year Gap and Maanayata’s Rock Support

Sanjay Dutt is not known for talking at length about his personal life, but a recent chat with actor and host Shekhar Suman has him opening up about the two relationships that have defined his adult years — his marriage to Maanayata Dutt and his bond with daughter Trishala.

Over the course of the conversation, he reflected on how he and Maanayata met, why their 20-year age gap has never been the point, and how his connection with Trishala is finally in a better place.

A courtship with a 20-year gap

Sanjay said Maanayata often tells him that he first saw her when she was “still in a pram.” As he put it: “I am 20 years older than her. We met, and we eventually courted.”

The timeline is now family history. Sanjay and Maanayata married in February 2008 and welcomed twins, a son and a daughter, in October 2010.

• The age gap: 20 years.
• Married: February 2008.
• Twins born: October 2010.
• Daughter Trishala: 38, lives in New York.

The rock after Nargis

Instead of lingering on numbers, Sanjay focused on what Maanayata has meant to their family. He compared her steadiness to that of his late mother, actor Nargis, saying that after Nargis, she is the only woman he has seen who “stands like a rock.”

“Be it jail or anything else, she is always there with me,” he said. For fans who have watched Sanjay navigate legal battles, sentencing, and career comebacks in public, that comparison carries weight. It reframes Maanayata not as a background figure but as the constant in a life that has often felt turbulent.

That is also a useful way to understand why the Dutts have stayed more guarded than many Bollywood couples. When the public narrative has already covered the hardest chapters, a marriage’s daily work can remain private without seeming distant.

Trishala: a bond on the mend

Sanjay also addressed his relationship with Trishala, his daughter with late actor Richa Sharma. He described her as a “big lady” in New York who does a lot of good work, and he was candid about the chasm that once separated them.

The distance, he said, had “many reasons.” His own legal case played a part, and he recalled a custody situation where, in his words, others “didn’t want me to have possession of her.”

Now, however, he says the change in Trishala has been massive, and he is proud of her. The conversation pointed to change over time rather than one headline moment. Shekhar Suman added an affectionate memory of working with Richa on Anubhav in 1986, remembering how she was always on the phone with Sanjay during the shoot.

For Bollywood fans, the takeaway is less about the old headlines and more about a family that has moved from fractures toward steadiness. It is a quieter kind of celebrity story — but one that resonates precisely because it is told without gloss.

Source: Bollywood Hungama

■

#Bollywood interviews#celebrity relationships#Maanayata Dutt#Sanjay Dutt#Shekhar Suman#Trishala Dutt