Richa Sharma was Sanjay Dutt's first wife, whom he married in 1987. He met Richa for the first time at the muhurat of one of his films at Hotel Sea Rock. Richa came to Mumbai to try her luck in films but gave up her Bollywood career for the Dutt scion, as the actor didn't want her to work after marriage. A few months later, Richa got diagnosed with cancer and was taken to the US for treatment.
In one of his old interviews, the actor had mentioned that he wanted to be always there for his estranged wife, Richa. He had told Rediff, ''All I can say is, I want to be always there for her, whenever she needs me. I was very happy that I could go over and see her at a time when she was really ill. Now she is much better, incidentally...''
When asked about his daughter Trishala's reaction, after he came out of jail, he had said, ''Oh, she had missed me a lot, obviously. And she knew who I was, she's grown a lot in these last two years and is now capable of understanding, feeling the love of a daughter for a father.'' In the same interview, Sanjay Dutt also talked about his then girlfriend Rhea Pillai, ''We have not thought about it (future), I personally have yet to begin to think about the future. Having said that, I must add that I do believe in marriage as an institution, I understand its value, I believe it is one of the most important things in a person's life.'' For the uninitiated, Sanjay married model Rhea Pillai in 1998 but the two separated in 2008. Then in 2008, Sanjay married Manyata Dutt. The couple is blessed with two kids, Iqra and Shahraan.