The New York Times reports that Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, son of 1960s Bollywood stars Sunil Dutt and Nargis, was sentenced to six years today for his conviction on illegal weapons charges from 1993. Dutt obtained the illegal weapons from Muslim gangsters who were setting off terror bombs in the city of Bombay. He said he was worried about defending his family against Hindu rioters who were targeting Muslims in retaliation for the bombings (his mother was Muslim). After a long trial Dutt was convicted of the possession charges in November 2006, though cleared of involvement in the bombings.

Dutt rose to stardom playing gangsters in such (recommended!) movies as J. P. Dutta’s Hathyar (1989) and Mahesh Manjrekar’s Vastaav (1999). In recent years (out on bail pending conclustion of his trial and sentencing), his biggest hits came playing a gangster who becomes a medical student in the comedies Munna Bhai, MBBS (2003) and its sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) (I haven't seen either one). He also played a gangster named Munna Bhai in the (not recommended!) comedy Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (2002), a Bollywood adaptation of Hollywood’s Analyze This.