Sanjay Dutt to publish book with shayaris from his days in jail

The actor is set to publish a book that will include 500 shayaris that he wrote while he was serving his jail sentence.

When Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was in Pune’s Yerwada Central Jail, he started writing poetry. A source close to the actor says that he had written around 500 shayaris while he was in jail. Now, Dutt is planning to publish a book that will feature these shayaris. Apparently, he wants to gift the first two copies to two of his special friends, who were also inmates at the Yerwada Jail.

The book that Sanjay Dutt is writing will be called Salaakhen. (AP)

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“The book will be called Salaakhen, and it will be a compilation of his shayaris. When it releases, the actor wants to gift a few copies to his fellow inmates -- Zeeshan and Sameer. He is very close to them, as they were the ones who helped him write the poems,” says the source.

Sanjay Dutt salutes the Indian flag outside Pune's Yerwada Central Jail after completing his jail term on Feb 25, 2016. (IANS)

Apparently, Dutt has already shared the shayaris with his close friends and family members, including director Rajkumar Hirani and screenwriter Abhijat Joshi, among others.

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While Dutt couldn’t be reached for a comment, his spokesperson says, “Sanjay is very close to Zeeshan and Sameer. His shayaris revolve around his experiences and learnings from his time injail.”

The book is likely to hit the shelves later this year.

Others who wrote books in jail:

Nelson Mandela wrote Conversations With Myself

Martin Luther King Jr wrote Letters From Birmingham Jail

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote The Discovery Of India

Subrata Roy wrote Life Mantras

Jeffrey Archer wrote A Prison Diary