Sanjay Dutt Marathi Row: Minister Pratap Sarnaik Blames Cropped Video For Political Backlash

A political controversy has erupted in Maharashtra after a Shiv Sena minister aligned with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stepped forward to defend Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt over a viral video that ignited a fresh debate about the Marathi language in the state. The minister told reporters that the widely circulated clip of Dutt was "cropped and presented out of context," maintaining that the actor did, in fact, speak in Marathi during the event, contrary to what the viral footage suggested. The clarification came as pressure mounted on the ruling alliance to address growing criticism over how the episode was being handled politically.

The controversy traces back to a Dahi Handi celebration held in Thane, organised by Sanskriti Yuva Pratishthan, where Dutt shared the stage with Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik and several other dignitaries. During the event, Sarnaik referenced his department's recent push requiring Mumbai's autorickshaw and taxi drivers to demonstrate a functional understanding of Marathi, before turning to Dutt and asking him to address the gathering in the language.

Rather than attempting a Marathi speech, the 67-year-old actor responded with a self-deprecating joke, saying that despite spending six years in Pune's Yerwada Jail, he still had not managed to learn the language, adding that he had picked up only a little of it. The remark drew laughter from Sarnaik and others present on stage, and Dutt went on to recall one Marathi phrase he did know before pivoting the conversation to his long-standing, decades-old association with the minister.

Clips of the exchange spread rapidly across social media platforms, and what had initially appeared to be a lighthearted, off-the-cuff moment soon snowballed into a larger political flashpoint. Maharashtra has in recent months seen heightened sensitivity around the use and enforcement of the Marathi language, particularly following the transport department's directive mandating that commercial drivers demonstrate proficiency in the language, a policy that has reportedly resulted in notices being issued to hundreds of drivers who failed to meet the requirement. Against this backdrop, critics seized on the video, arguing that it exposed a double standard: while ordinary drivers faced penalties and, in some cases, threats and physical confrontations over the language issue, a wealthy, high-profile actor was allowed to laugh off his inability to speak Marathi without consequence.

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Among the most vocal critics was BJP MLA Narendra Mehta, who publicly questioned why Sarnaik had laughed along with Dutt's admission instead of taking the moment seriously, given the hardships faced by ordinary citizens over the same issue. Mehta went further, accusing Sarnaik of inconsistency and suggesting that his political influence within the Shiv Sena faction was limited, remarks that added a layer of intra-alliance tension to the unfolding controversy. The Congress party also weighed in, alleging that the ruling coalition was exploiting the language issue for political advantage rather than implementing meaningful measures to genuinely promote and support Marathi.

It was in the midst of this mounting criticism that the Shiv Sena minister came forward with the clarification, asserting that the version of the video circulating online had been selectively edited and did not reflect the complete exchange between Dutt and Sarnaik. According to the minister, additional footage from the event showed the actor speaking in Marathi at another point, a detail the minister said had been left out of the viral clip, thereby distorting public perception of the interaction.

As of now, the controversy remains unresolved, with neither Dutt nor Sarnaik having issued a fresh public statement responding directly to the minister's remarks. The episode has nonetheless underscored the continuing political volatility surrounding language identity in Maharashtra, an issue that has repeatedly resurfaced in the state's public discourse and shows little sign of fading from the political conversation in the near term.

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