Sanjay Balraj Dutt was born in a Punjabi family at Mumbai. His parents were noted cinema actors Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt) and Nargis (born Fatima Rashid). He has two sisters, Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt.[7][8] His mother died in 1981, shortly before his debut film's premiere; her death is cited as the instigator of his drug abuse. As a child actor, Dutt appeared briefly as a qawali singer in the 1972 film Reshma Aur Shera, which starred his father
The 1986 film Naam was a turning point in Dutt's career, it was a major commercial and critical success.Dutt appeared in successful films throughout the '80s such as Imaandaar, Inaam Dus Hazaar, Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988), Mardon Wali Baat (1988), Ilaaka (1989), Hum Bhi Insaan Hain (1989), Kanoon Apna Apna (1989) and Taaqatwar.

His successes continued in the 1990s, with films that include Tejaa, Khatarnaak, Zahreelay, Thanedaar, Khoon Ka Karz, Yalgaar, Gumrah, Sahibaan and Aatish: Feel the Fire. He went on to star in some of the most era-defining Indian films of the early 1990s such as Sadak, Saajan (for which he was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award) and Khalnayak, for which he earned his second Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination.[11]

The Hindu wrote that "Sanjay's earlier films (like Naam and Sadak) got him a lot of favourable attention." and "Saajan established Sanjay Dutt as the conventional soft hero."Saajan was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1991, and Sadak was the sixth highest grosser of 1991. Khalnayak was a box office success. The movie was the second-highest grosser of 1993. This was followed by another box office success Gumrah, this was Dutt's second consecutive hit of the year
Dutt's first film after his 1993 arrest was Daud (1997). It did not do well at the box office.[20] He followed this with the 1998 Dushman which did well at the box office.[21] 1999 was an excellent year for Dutt and one that is regarded as his comeback, with all of his five releases being amongst the highest-grossing films of that year. He began it by starring in the Mahesh Bhatt-directed hit Kartoos, followed by Khoobsurat, Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Daag: The Fire and Vaastav: The Reality, for which he won many awards, including his first Filmfare Best Actor Award.[22][23] His role in 2000's Mission Kashmir won him critical acclaim and a number of awards and nominations.[11] Dutt was also invited by the President of India to Rashtrapati Bhavan for his performance in the movie.[24]

As the decade went on, he continued to play lead roles in popular and critical successes such as Jodi No.1 (2001), Pitaah (2002), Kaante (2002) and the National Award-winning film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), which garnered him several awards.[11] At the box office Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. achieved a silver jubilee status (25-week run) being one of only eight films to have achieved this status since the year 2000. In its 26th week of release, the film could still be found playing on 257 screens throughout India.[25][26] Later successes came with Musafir (2004), Plan (2004), Parineeta (2005) and Dus (2005). He won critical acclaim for his performances in Shabd (2005) and Zinda.[11]

The sequel of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Lage Raho Munna Bhai was released in late 2006. Dutt received a number of awards for his performance in the film, along with an award from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his work in the Munna bhai series.[27] NDTV India counted the character Munna Bhai as one of top 20 fictional characters in Bollywood.[28] Later Dutt starred in movies like Dhamaal (2007), Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007), All the Best (2009), Double Dhamaal (2011), Son of Sardaar (2012) Agneepath (2012) and PK.[29]

In January 2008, the Indian film Institute Filmfare listed 12 films featuring Dutt in its list of top 100 highest-grossing movies of all time. In its May 2013 edition "100 years of Indian cinema" Filmfare listed three films featuring Dutt in its top 20 list of highest-grossing Hindi films of all time, adjusted for inflation these films were Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Khalnayak and Saajan.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra on 29 September 2016 announced that the third part of Munna Bhai series, starring Dutt in the title role, would begin soon. In 2017, Dutt appeared as the lead in Bhoomi, directed by Omung Kumar. In 2018, he starred in Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster In 2018, it was also announced that Dutt would feature alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor in Shamshera, which will release on 31 July 2020.On 29 June 2018, his biopic Sanju released in which he made a special appearance.Dutt and Alia Bhatt are currently shooting for Sadak 2. In 2019, he joined the cast of historical film Bhuj: The Pride of India, which will feature an ensemble cast consisting of Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha and Parineeti Chopra. He was seen in the film Prassthanam in September 2019


A biopic film based on the life of Dutt, titled Sanju, in which Ranbir Kapoor portrays the title character,was released on 29 June 2018.