/> For the first time since their marriage Mrs Sanjay Dutt left for Vaishno Devi on Friday without her husband.

And was left behind purely for recreational purposes.

While his wife has bigger far loftier plans for her husband Sanjay Dutt is in stag-party mood long after the New Years celebrations are over.

His three best friends who live in different parts of the world were in Mumbai for the New Year. Dutt begged off the pilgrimage for some harmless bacchanalia with his childhood buddies.

Says a source, "Maanyata left for Vaishno Devi after their New Years party with some girl pals for three days. Initially Sanjay Dutt who never says no to his wife agreed to come along.

But then she saw his heart was set on enjoying the time he had with his buddies whom he rarely gets to see because of his schedules. These guys have been his closest friends from childhood and are no part of the film industry.

Though he has many close friends in the industry like Suniel Shetty and Bunty Walia, these three non-film friends are Dutt's closest confidantes. He tries to get them to come over whenever he has some time off."

With his pals over, Mrs Dutt didn't have the heart to drag her husband away to Vaishno Devi.

"Though she really wanted her husband to accompany her, she didn't want to deprive him of his precious time with his pals whom he wouldn't be able to see for some time.

She decided to make this trip to Vaishno Devi an all-girls' thing while Dutt chilled out with buddies, watched films and played games, back home before he resumes shooting later this week."

2009 is a decisive year for the Dutts, Sanjay Dutt Pruductions is about to take off and they've signed some of the best directors in the business.

"Ideally, Maanyata Dutt would've wanted her husband to pray. But since he was in the mood to play, she let him be. There's a perception that she has been alienating her husband from his pals. Maanayata wants to end that."

Incidentally the Dutts' New Year party was not a low-key affair by choice. "They had invited everyone. But hardly anyone was in town," says the source.