Actor Sanjay Dutt says spending days in prison broke his ego, but made him a better person.

“My confinement days have been nothing less than a roller coaster ride. To look at the positive side, it has taught me a lot and made me a better individual,” Sanjay said in a statement to IANS.

“Staying away from my family and my loved ones was a challenge. During those days, I learnt how to keep my body in perfect shape, used trash cans and mud pots in place of weights and dumbbells. We also used to have a cultural function every six months in jail where I taught convicts serving out life sentences to mouth dialogues, sing, dance and express themselves through skits.

My time in jail broke my ego: Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt: I Wish My Father Was Alive To See Me Free!

“These people became my family during the hard times and came to encourage me when I was giving up,” he added.

Sanjay, who had made a rocking debut in Bollywood with Rocky in 1981, put his personal life in jeopardy through drug addiction, and his life took a turn for the worse when he was arrested for illegal possession of weapons and was convicted.

The actor, 58, was arrested for illegal possession of arms in a case related to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, in which over 250 people were killed and several hundred were injured.

Sanjay’s fans will get to see a glimpse of his life with Rajkumar Hirani’s film Sanju, in which Ranbir Kapoor will be seen living his life. A particular scene in the trailer had in fact shown Ranbir in a helpless state due to an overflowing toilet in jail. The scene has reportedly been deleted from the film.

A father of three, Sanjay says the court battle definitely transformed him as a person.

“The time I spent in jail made me realise a lot of things. It broke my ego,” Sanjay said.

It was in February 2016 that Sanjay walked out of jail completing his prison-term for illegal possession of arms.

Recounting the moment, he said, “The day I was released after the final verdict, it was the happiest moment of my life. I was missing my father (Sunil Dutt). I wish he was alive to see me free… he would have been the happiest person. We should never forget our family, they are the pillar of strength always.”