June 1 is a special day for Sunil Dutt. It marks the 75th birth anniversary of his late wife, the legendary actress Nargis [ Images ], who passed into the ages in May 1981.

Dutt, who was recently appointed as Union minister of sports and youth affairs, remembers Nargis in conversation with Lata Khubchandani:

I am very touched that the media remembers her [Nargis] and continues to remind people of my wife. People forget so easily.

I am in Delhi [ Images ], busy in meetings, but she has been on my mind all the time. I keep wondering how she would have reacted to my becoming a minister. Her achievements were so much bigger than mine. She was an MP when I was merely an actor.

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I had this thing that I would never go and stay in the house she got in Delhi. I used to book myself in a suite at Hotel Ashoka and ask her to visit me. I didn't want to use government property. I remember how lovingly she set up the Delhi house. She had a huge puja before moving in.

It was not a very happy time for her [though]. She took the oath as an MP in April. In August that same year, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Today, I think of her with great intensity and wonder [what] her reaction to my new position in government [would be].

It is her birthday today. All her birthdays were celebrated like a kid's birthday. They [children Sanjay, Namrata, Priya] would get new clothes. There was cake. She [Nargis] would organise entertainment programmes like magic shows. And then she would invite all the kids, their cousins and friends over and show [them] a film on a 16mm screen. The kids used to think it was their birthday party. 

I never bought her gifts but I gave her myself, which is the greatest gift. Isn't it? [Laughs].

She loved to shop and my kids have taken after her. I tried to buy her things but gave up. She loved saris. Whenever I was visiting Banaras and Chanderi -- which are famous for their saris, I would pick up saris for her [Nargis loved Chanderi handlooms]. When I came home and gave them to her she would say, "Lovely."

I waited for a few days to see her in those saris. But she never wore them. Finally, I asked what happened to the saris I bought. She replied, "They are outdated. No one wears those kind now!" After that I decided I would not buy her gifts. She could choose them herself.

She was fun-loving. She would think of a new [idea] for [celebrating] everyone's birthday, including her own.

I would try and match her in surprising the kids too. Once while shooting a fight scene, I had to be covered with [fake] blood. After the shoot, I didn't clean up. I went home as I was. It was my daughter Anju's [Namrata] birthday. When they saw me, all soaked in blood, they were devastated!

She is in my thoughts all the time.

Image: Uday Kuckian