Sanjay Dutt has been released from jail in the western Indian city of Pune.
The 56-year-old Bollywood star was sentenced for firearms offences linked to the 1993 Mumbai blasts which killed 257 people and injured 713.
Sanjay Dutt was convicted of buying firearms from the bombers but said the weapons were necessary in order to defend his family during Hindu-Muslim rioting.
He was moved to the Pune jail in 2013 to finish his five-year jail term.
Sanjay Dutt was recently granted a remission of 144 days on the basis of good behavior and activities like running a radio program.
“His remission was worked out in compliance with jail rules and he was treated like any other convict,” the chief of Pune Yerwada Jail Superintendent UT Pawar told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Sanjay Dutt kissed the ground as he walked out of the prison on February 25 and was driven to the airport on his way to Mumbai, where he lives.
“I am out here because of their [fans’] support. There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends,” he was quoted as telling reporters by the AFP news agency.
One of Bollywood’s most bankable stars, Sanjay Dutt is hugely popular for his role as a lovable gangster in the Munnabhai movies. He has also dabbled in politics.
The son of a Hindu father and a Muslim mother, Sanjay Dutt said he had bought the firearms to protect his family during the 1993 Mumbai Hindu-Muslim riots, which followed the destruction of the Babri mosque by Hindu zealots in the northern town of Ayodhya.
In 2006, a special anti-terror court convicted 100 people for the blasts. Twelve were given the death penalty and 20 others sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sanjay Dutt, the most high-profile among the convicts, was originally charged with five offences, including criminal conspiracy and possession of illegal weapons.
In March 2013, India’s Supreme Court upheld Sanjay Dutt’s conviction, but reduced his sentence from the earlier six years to five.
Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffrey has died at the age of 86.
The news of Saeed Jaffrey’s death was announced on November 15 by his niece Shaheen Aggarwal on Facebook: “Today, a generation of Jaffreys has passed away. Saeed Jaffrey has joined his brothers and sister and is rejoicing in the lap of his Heavenly Father, eternally.”
Saeed Jaffrey starred in acclaimed Indian movies like Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj ke Khiladi (The Chess Players) and more than 100 Bollywood films.
He played high-profile roles in international movies including A Passage To India and Gandhi.
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Saeed Jaffrey also acted in TV shows, including Tandoori Nights, The Far Pavilions and The Jewel In The Crown.
Born in the Indian state of Punjab, Saeed Jaffrey began his career as a theater actor, and later went on to work with legends like Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley.
He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to drama.
Saeed Jaffrey was married to actress-author Madhur Jaffrey with whom he had three children.
As the news of Saeed Jaffrey’s death spread on November 16, many took to Twitter to mourn the veteran actor’s death.
Veteran Bollywood actor Pran Krishan Sikand, popularly known as Pran, has died in Mumbai at the age of 93.
Pran was famous for playing the part of the villain in Hindi films, in a career that stretched more than six decades.
Between the 1960s and 1980s, he appeared in nearly every major Bollywood film, elevating the role of the villain to cult status.
Pran was famous for playing the part of the villain in Hindi films, in a career that stretched more than six decades.
The actor won many honors throughout his career, including the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
Pran Krishan Sikand, was born in Lahore, in what is now Pakistan. A chance encounter with a screenwriter is said to have led him to his first role in a Punjabi film, Yamla Jat, in 1940.
Moving to India after partition, he started out as the main protagonist. But after excelling as a villain, he was almost invariably cast in such roles.
Pran played in more than 350 films, including the blockbusters of their day.
Most famously, he played opposite Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan in the 1973 film Zanjeer, in which Pran underwent a dramatic transformation into a good man.
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