Filmmakers relieved as Dutt gets extension

Filmmakers were today relieved after the Supreme Court granted Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt four weeks time to surrender but they felt that he should have been given more time to complete his pending projects.
A day before the deadline for his surrender ended, Dutt was given partial relief from the Supreme Court. The apex court granted him four weeks time on "humanitarian" grounds to surrender before jail authorities to undergo 42 months remaining sentence in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Dutt had sought six months time from the Supreme Court to surrender so he can finish pending work on seven movies, including big-budget projects like filmmaker Raju Hirani's 'Peekay', 'Zanjeer' and others. A total of over Rs 278 crore is riding on him.

Dutt plays the role of a police officer in T P Agarwal's 'Policegiri' and requires almost a week to complete this project.
"We would require him for three-four days for the patch-up work of the film, two-three days for dubbing," producer T P Agarwal told PTI.
"It is good that he got extension... But I think he should have got two-three months time for all his pending projects," he said.
In Apoorva Lakhia's remake version of 'Zanjeer', Dutt plays the role of 'Sher Khan', immortalised by veteran actor Pran in the original film.
"We would require seven days from him for the film. In a way the decision of the Supreme Court is a relief to all of us," Lakhia said.