Sanjay Dutt: On the night before

Sanjay
Dutt's state of mind since the last one month has been cause for much
speculation. He hasn't been shooting for his films, and although he put in a
brief appearance at the Lage Raho Munnabhai premiere, the actor has otherwise
been keeping out of public eye. So much so, that he didn't even promote his last
film.

Family matters

In the last month, Dutt's has been
spotted at nightclubs, with a few close friends. So, who are those friends? Says
our source, "Sanjay's close friends are like his extended family. They are
always with him through thick and thin - his brothers-in-law Kumar Gaurav and
Owen Roncon, his buddies, Ajay Arora, Ajay Marwah, Bunty Walia, Nitin Manmohan,
Sanjay Gupta - are always with him."

And it was with some of these
friends that Sanju baba chose to spend time with on the night before his verdict
on September 12. Adds our source, "The night before his trial, Sanjay had a
quiet dinner with Ajay (his gym buddy who is also known as Bittoo), Bunty Walia,
his lawyer friend Karan at his Bandra flat.

After
that he watched a movie and went off to sleep by 11.30 pm, as he had to get up
early to go to court. His friends, his sisters Priya and Namrata, all kept
trooping in one after the other to meet him. Bunty spent the night at Sanju's
flat and accompanied him to court yesterday."

Our source says that
although Sanju isn't someone to openly express his sentiments, it was very
obvious that he was anxious, "Anxiety is bound to be there as one doesn't know
which way the judgment will swing."

And prior to the verdict, a tense
Dutt has been visiting many temples, dargahs and shrines for the last couple of
months. Says the source, "In the last couple of months, Sanjay has been to the
Ganesh and Tirupati temples in Pune and Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu accompanied
by most of these friends."

Bhattspeak

Filmmaker Mahesh
Bhatt has always been close to the Dutt family, especially Sanjay says he hasn't
been in touch with the actor, "We haven't communicated with each other for a
long time. I did try and call Sanju yesterday morning but he had already left
for court. I called up Bunty (Walia) and spoke to him. Normally I don't keep in
touch with people unless necessary. But I did meet Priya (his sister) at a road
opening near Juhu Gully and we shared a sense of concern, as we knew the morning
would be very difficult. I sensed a philosophical resignation in her for what is
in store.

One will have to take whatever the judgment is, in stride. The
only thing one can do is arming oneself legally to deal with a harsh verdict and
keep hoping for a positive verdict. There is an oscillation between dread and
hope all the time..."

Where's the
party tonight?

At Ekta Kapoor's new house. Sanjay Gupta's White
Feather Films along with Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms are throwing a party
tonight at Ekta's new home in Juhu to celebrate the complete the first schedule
of their co-production, Shoot Out At Lokhandwala, directed by Apoorva Lakhia.
Sanjay Dutt might go to this party to join his friends in the celebration. The
invite came to us from Apoorva saying 'I am having a party. Please join us.'

The night before his trial, Sanjay had a quiet dinner with his friends
at his Bandra flat. After that, he watched a movie and went off to sleep by
11.30 pm, as he had to get up early to go to court.