When Sanjay Dutt’s First Marriage Fell Apart After Wife’s Illness

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. Sanjay Dutt has an old connection with the deadly disease. His first wife Richa Sharma had died after losing the battle to cancer. Sanjay Dutt met Richa Sharma in 1985. She was brought up in New York and had just shifted to Mumbai to make a career in Bollywood. Sanjay had once told in an interview, “I met Richa for the first time at the muhurat of one of my films at Hotel Sea Rock.She was wearing jeans and a multi-coloured top. I inquired as to who she was. A few days later, I called her and asked her to go out with me.I soon realised that Richa was different from the girls I had known before.She was not calculating, manipulative or chasing after money. She was a simple girl, a fantastic person to trust. I could no longer live without her.” The lovebirds got married in 1987 and Richa gave up her acting career. But their love life didn’t last long as Richa was diagnosed with brain cancer after a year of their marriage. She was taken to the US for treatment and Sanjay returned to India for work commitments. 3 years later, Richa returned to Mumbai only to find out that Sanjay Dutt had moved on. Media reports suggest that Sanjay was dating Madhuri Dixit and was planning to divorce Richa for Madhuri. Sanjay hadn’t even come to the airport to pick up Richa and their daughter Trishala. Richa was in a deep shock to see her loving husband cheating on her. She filed for a divorce and moved back to New York. The same year, Sanjay Dutt got arrested in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and Madhuri broke all ties with him. Richa had said in an interview, “At every point in his life, he needs someone he can lean on emotionally. Like he was dependent on Madhuri. Now that she has ditched him, he is going to be a shattered man.” In 1996, Richa passed away due to cancer.