Books

Priya Dutt

On partnering sister Namrata in weaving an unusual book, <i>Mr and Mrs Dutt</i>, on their famous parents, the late Nargis and Sunil Dutt

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Priya Dutt
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The book launch in Delhi and Mumbai was star-studded. The book is anything but...

Well, many people decide on these events.

Why such a book?

Nargis and Sunil Dutt have their own public persona but they were more than that to us at home. We wanted to present this personal side.

Have you succeeded?

Namrata and I believe we’ve done our best. When the first copy came to me, it looked good.

Your inspiration?

Their lives were our inspiration—their very intriguing and interesting lives. But this is not their biography. A biography from us would not do them justice. We leave that to professionals.

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Sunil Dutt spoke of an autobiography.

Yes. When we persuaded him, he would say: once I have finished work, once I am at peace, I will do it. Never got around to it.

What was your approach to the book?

We wanted it to be the inside view, not as Nargis and Sunil Dutt but as Mom and Dad. It started as a small thing, but took us 9 months.

Did you seek help?

Yes, we had no clue about writing on anything. Lord Meghnad Desai, Kishwar Ahluwalia saw us through. She was anyway doing Mom’s biography. But we didn’t want to be pretentious, we aren’t writers. So we used lots of photos.

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You found those rare old photos.

Mom and Dad were systematic, they had preserved so many things—photos, baby books, scribbled notes, letters, trinkets, memorabilia. As we sifted through, memories flooded in.

You were very close to your Dad. Was the book therapeutic?

Hmm. The first opportunity I had to see him up close for a long time was the peace yatra in Amritsar. Till then, he was only ‘Dad’, then he meant so much more.

Why isn’t Sanjay a co-author too?

He didn’t have that much time but all three of us have equal inputs in the book.

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