'Jail was quite a shock to me... Gradually, I read the Ramayana, the Gita: Sanjay Dutt in 2007

Actor Sanjay Dutt has always been in the news for the right or the wrong reasons. The past two years, however, have been good for him — the two Munnabhai films have done extremely well, and he has been acquitted of terrorism charges. In this first part of a wide-ranging interview with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24x7's Walk the Talk, Dutt talks about his problem with drugs, going through rehabilitation, and how life in jail changed him.

• My guest today is one of Hindi cinema's most versatile, durable, and talented actors. Not just that, he's perhaps one of the most controversial, and yet lovable. Sanjay Dutt, welcome to Walk the Talk. It's been a long time.

Thank you, Shekhar.

• I'd have added one more adjective — one of the most shy. Why so shy?

I have always been like that, very shy and quiet.

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I think I'm the chosen one... God puts you through tests like this and sees how you come out: Sanjay Dutt

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• Except while performing.

Absolutely. Otherwise, I'm pretty shy. I talk a little less. And journalists complain.

• I'm sure they do. In fact, even when I was preparing to chat with you, everybody told me, 'He doesn't talk.'

No, no. We'll talk today.

• And walk your talk.

Yes sir.

• These have been tough times for you. How do you cope?

I believe in God. I believe in my family, myself. I believe in the people of my country. And when I look around, I see that so many people love me.

• You believe in the judiciary?

Absolutely. Total belief in the judiciary.

• What's your day like? When do doubts assail you in the course of a day? And what do you do when doubts hit you?

... contd.

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