It was a somber Wednesday evening at Sanjay Dutt's Pali Hill residence when the actor's incarceration was just hours away. Sanjay Dutt decided to spend the evening with his wife Maanyata and his twins. And contrary to reports on Thursday morning, there were no dramatic outbursts from Dutt. According to his friends, Dutt was remarkably calm and controlled on the evening before his impending incarceration.

"In fact Baba was providing comfort to Maanyata bhabhi who was acutely tense and inconsolable," says a friend.

Close friends dropped in to wish Dutt goodbye promising to be there for his family. Among the actors who stayed with Dutt for a major part of the evening was Ajay Devgn. Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who had just returned to Mumbai were seen at the Dutts' residence for some time.

Says a source, "There was not much conversation. No one seemed in the mood to talk. And Baba's appointment with the prison the next morning was not mentioned at all. It was almost as if the impending catastrophe would somehow go away. Baba had dreaded going back in for 20 years now. He lived with that dread every single day. And now it was finally happening."

Says a close friend of the troubled star, "Baba's main concern is Maanyata and the twins. Each time a close friend would drop in his brows would crease and his eyes would well up. He would look heavenwards helplessly."

Apparently, both Ajay and Abhishek have promised to look after Dutt's family in his absence. And Abhishek, we hear, has agreed to make a guest appearance in Sanjay Dutt Productions' Hasmukh Pighal Gaya.

Other close friends like Apoorva Lakhia and Bunty Walia decided to stay away from Dutt on his last day of freedom, so he could have some private time with his family.

And for those who are wondering where Dutt's devoted pal Suniel Shetty, known to stand by his friends through thick and thin, had disappeared, the sad truth is Dutt and Shetty had fall-out some time ago over a guest appearance that Shetty wanted Dutt to make in a film produced by Shetty. Sad, because at this time in his life Sanjay Dutt needs all the friends he can get.