Text Size: A- A+ In Sanju, Rajkumar Hirani turns a privileged movie star into a victim of media bias. The movie fails to probe Dutt’s choices. Bapu aur Baba’ is how Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju, a biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt, begins. In a chapter from a fictional biography, penned by a fictional D.N. Tripathi (Piyush Mishra), the actor who is popularly known as Baba is said to have lived a life similar to Mahatma Gandhi’s. The comic scene is meant to convey Dutt’s (Ranbir Kapoor) aversion to such a statement. However, it plays out like Hirani’s guilty conscience. In one of his best films till date, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Hirani (and co-writer Abhijat Joshi) had a lot to say about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the father of the nation. He revived Gandhi in public consciousness almost 60 years after his assassination by bringing him within the fold of the world of his two most loved characters – Munna Bhai and Circuit. The most striking thing about Lage Raho was the humanity Hirani managed to bestow on his characters, even the questionable ones. He gave voice to middle-class Indians, mostly forgotten and erased by Bollywood’s largely upper-class world. Be it Maqsood, the sweeper, in Munna Bhai MBBS or the retired teacher seeking pension in Lage Raho, Hirani humanised his characters and brought his professed Gandhian philosophy to his art. But over the course of four films, prior to Sanju, empathy and honesty – the strongest attributes of his breakout debut – acquired the heavy wardrobe of issues. Painted in a caricaturish tone, his characters started to appear soulless. Coming after PK, Hirani’s biggest success, Sanju has been looked at with suspicion since its announcement. It always sounded like a movie, which a big filmmaker was making for his just-out-of-jail actor friend. But Sanju is not an exercise in white-washing. It’s pure and simple denial. Dutt has certainly lived a life that would dwarf most people’s – be it his fight with drugs, liaisons with co-actors or connections with underworld dons. Reams have been written about that last one, and still not nearly enough. Sanju is almost an exception for Hirani because it’s not a plot-driven but a character-driven narrative. The focus, front and centre, is on Dutt, but lacks any psychological probing. He is who he is, and you should view him just like that. Except the fact that he’s the only prominent star in the over 100-year-old history of Indian cinema to have been accused of serious crimes, including terrorism. Dutt was convicted under the Arms Act in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case by a TADA court in 2007 and sentenced to six years in prison. Charges of terrorism, however, were dropped. The film hinges on Dutt’s relationship with his father, actor and politician Sunil Dutt (Paresh Rawal), a beloved figure in the city of Mumbai. Kamlesh Kapasi (Vicky Kaushal), the character of his US-based friend, is prominent too. For a change, Hirani finds a way to not bathe his lead protagonist in innocence. His last two monstrous successes, including 3 Idiots, showed the main protagonists as infallible. Dutt has been given many shades – lost boy, disappointment to father, womaniser – except the one that shows his persisting relations with underworld dons, especially when their shadows on Mumbai were long and dark. So who is the antagonist here? Media. It’s the messenger, which has been held responsible for almost costing Dutt his life, dignity and career. One of the scenes show an article about the actor titled “Finished?” with “editor-in-chief” in the byline. This poorly researched and comical depiction of the messenger is symptomatic of how Hirani has placed the burden of proof on media in favour of a man who spent years in jail for possession of arms. The media didn’t make the life choices for Dutt. The liability for that falls squarely on his broad shoulders. In probably its most brazen and disingenuous attempt, Sanju has an end-credits song featuring both Dutt and Kapoor berating newspapers. In his last film too, Hirani wasn’t kind on the media, which is baffling given that he is part of the larger industry. Turning lofty political issues into simple but well-intentioned stories, which are told through comedy, has been Hirani’s simple funda. Take, for instance, the alien (Aamir Khan) in PK who learns the ways of the world only to challenge them, but in a non-confrontational manner. Or, the genius student Rancho (Khan) in 3 Idiots. The appeal of these characters and films lies in Hirani’s sincerity. Even if not nuanced in conception, they still aspire for a better world. Like anyone else, Dutt too will be seen sympathetically by his friends and family. But the fact that Hirani chooses to not use his Gandhian philosophy to probe his friend’s life, and instead turns a privileged movie star into a victim of media bias is escapist, almost hypocritical. Perhaps, India’s most commercially successful director needn’t have filtered so much out of his friend’s tough life. A prism of sympathy may be fine, but denial, not so much. Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram<doc-sep>The stage is set, and we're just a few hours away from the release of the Sanjay Dutt biopic, Sanju. The film, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, has Ranbir in the lead role, playing Dutt. Be it his numerous affairs, battle with drugs, his suspected involvement in the Mumbai, Sanjay Dutt's colourful life has always been a subject of much discussion. Hirani was intrigued by Dutt's story, and worked for three years to bring his dream project to life. Yet, this is an unusual subject for Hirani to touch upon. The director has usually churned out films that had a human touch and left an impact on you. He has made films with goodness, madness and a lot of heart- so much so that you don't really mind how much he exploits his artistic license. He is an expert at providing issues with a human face. His films normally deal with social issues, without sounding preachy. HIRANI'S PREVIOUS FILMS The Munna Bhai films, lighthearted as they were, had an interesting take on relationships and struck a chord with you. You couldn't help but love the affectionate gangster, who had his own methods of medicine. The second Munna Bhai film, in a breezy way, dealt with the concept of Gandhigiri. We were floored by 3 Idiots, which lashed out an education system that produced just engineering robots. PK, which starred Aamir Khan, had a powerful impact on the audience. The film was a sharp attack on meaningless idol worship, religious fanaticism and god- men. It raised the right questions, but still played it safe. And then, comes along the Sanjay Dutt biopic, which seems to be very far from anything Hirani has ever done. It's no secret that Hirani and Dutt are close friends, and found his life to be worth making a film on. Hirani was responsible for resurrecting Dutt's failing career with Munnabhai. THE DARKER UNDERTONES OF SANJU The Dutt biopic will touch upon all relationships of Dutt, be it with his parents, his wives, girlfriends, and friends. Of course, it deal with his infamous involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings, and his innumerable court and jail visits. Unlike Hirani's previous films, Sanju seems to have darker undertones as well. We got to see glimpses of Dutt's grim battle with drugs and his escape from rehab in the song Kar Har Maidan Fateh. We're so used to positive lessons and subtle messages of social reform in Hirani films. With Sanju, Hirani seems to have tried something completely different. A PROPAGANDA FILM? Hirani has emphasised that Sanju isn't a propaganda film and he hasn't whitewashed Dutt in any way. In an exclusive interview to India Today Television's Sushant Mehta, Hirani and Sanju producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra spoke at length about how Sanju is not a propaganda film. "If you look at the promo, Sanju has clearly said that he kept a gun, he did drugs and he talked about having so many girlfriends. In the journey of making this film, we were constantly asked why are we making this film. Will it be a propaganda film? This was constantly thrown at us. So the teaser was an effort to say that it is not," Hirani told us. Sanju also stars Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Manisha Koirala in pivotal roles. ALSO READ | Ranbir Kapoor: Dutt begged, scavenged for drugs after escape from rehab ALSO READ | Will Sanju be Ranbir Kapoor's biggest career risk till date?<doc-sep>The Sanjay Dutt biopic has been hitting the headlines ever since the Ranbir Kapoor starrer was first announced by Rajkumar Hirani. Though, Sanju has been shattering records left, right and centre at the box office, some miscreants had leaked the full movie online. A camera print of Sanju was available on one of the Facebook pages and its link had widely been circulated. Thanks to the conscience of a number of netizens and die-hard fans of both Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, the matter was brought to the notice of the makers and Hirani along with the film's team wa alerted about the movie being leaked on Facebook. Finally, the makers have managed to get it removed from the social networking site. After heaving a sigh of relief, director Rajkumar Hirani took to his Facebook page to thank everyone for their unconditional love and support in a heartfelt note. Right on the first day of its release, the hashtag #SanjuLeaked started trending on Twitter. Several netizens claimed that the full movie in HD print is available for download. In fact, some of the Tweeple had even shared the torrent link to download the film. Post that, the link to the Facebook post of the full movie started doing the rounds. Now that the leaked copy of Sanju has successfully been removed from the Internet, Hirani ha thanked everyone for understanding the kins of hard work that goes behind the making of a film in his note. Here's what his post read: "To all of you, who alertd us about the leaked copy of our film on Facebook: We discovered that some camera copy of our film Sanju was leaked on Facebook. While this was shocking, it was heartening to see that thousands of you refused to watch the film illegally. Instead, you reached out and drew our attention to the problem. We could manage to get it deleted with help from Facebook." The note further read: "Have to say that you all are exceptional human beings. You have the empathy to understand the sweat, blood and tears that go into making a movie and you have the strength to awaken the conscience of others by requesting them not to view it. Your love for cinema motivated us to keep going. My most heartfelt thanks for speaking up. Thank you! Rajkumar Hirani" The movie which released this Friday has become the highest single day grosser for a Hindi film, by raking in a total of Rs 46.71 crore on day three of its release. It'll be interesting to see how the movie performs at the ticket windows in the weekdays. Watch this space.<doc-sep>In one of his interviews, Rajkumar Hirani had said that Sanju is not an attempt to whitewash Sanjay Dutt’s image. Now that the movie is out, people think that the movie as a biopic wasn’t true to itself. Although everyone is applauding Rajkumar Hirani for his great storytelling technique and all the actors including Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal and Paresh Rawal for giving a spectacular performance, some people are not happy with the story of the movie. Instagram Was it a biopic in its true sense? It mostly dealt with the two phases of Sanjay Dutt’s life – his drug addiction and alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blast case. Other details as to how he spent his childhood, how he met his wife Maanyata, his relationship with his sisters, his life journey with his ex-wives and much more. Twitter Sanju was a cinematic masterpiece, for sure. All the actors did a great job. We are sure a lot of them will take home several awards this year. But was the movie a dishonest biopic? Well, that’s what some of the people on Twitter think. The outrage against the film is only getting stronger with each passing day. #1 @RajkumarHirani if that wasn't a hagiography then I don't know what is. It was dishonest to claim otherwise for six months in all interviews! Though great direction and great acting by Ranbir! #sanju — Anirudh Iyer (@AnirudhKIyer) June 30, 2018 #2 Once an ad man always an ad man.. Raj Kumar Hirani returns to his first love and makes his longest ad film #Sanju to whitewash/cleanse Sanjay Dutt's image. One Film.. Many LIES !! — Amod Mehra (@MehraAmod) June 30, 2018 #3 When you whitewash and normalise a womanising, arrogant, criminal; you are as guilty yourself. Don't matter if u r Hirani, Chopra or Ranbir. #sanju pic.twitter.com/eJXEWuRHtK — Anuraag Saxena (@anuraag_saxena) June 30, 2018 #4 #sanju After whitewashing Sanju, its time to whitewash the great Shakti Kapoor ji Main contenders to play Shakti will be: 1. Ranveer Singh (the chichora) 2. Emraan Hashmi (the Chu...) 3. Ajay Devgnd (the gutka) 4. Vivek Oberoi (the nothing) 5. Kareena Kapoor (the she mail) — Gaurav Fan (@BHAKTKRKka) June 30, 2018 #5 Other countries : I will appeal in court and I will prove that I'm not a terrorist. India : Best director ko lekar Meri biopic film banaunga aur sabit kar dunga ki I'm not a terrorist. #Sanju — R E B E L (@Gadhvilaxman) June 29, 2018 #6 #Ranbir is outstanding in #Sanju and the film works brilliantly as a fictional narrative NOT as a #biopic. Completely whitewashes 'Saint Sanju'. 1993 case against him was just a media creation '?' Really? Proved again that authorised biopics/biographies peddle half-truths! — Yasser Usman (@yasser_aks) June 29, 2018 #7 Saw #Sanju its not a biopic, its a highlight package of Sanju's controversial life, but over all as a "FILM" I Loved it... Mindblowing Acting by Ranbir & vicky kaushal... sachin sehwag ki tarah batting ki hai dono ne SIXER pe SIXER well played... 1/2 — Sushant (@i_Sushant10) June 30, 2018 #8 The problem with Sanju isn't that they're making a movie about a terrorist or showing terrorism. The problem is that it's a blatant attempt to whitewash a terrorist's image. It's really not that hard to understand. — rohan (@asvpxrohxn) June 29, 2018 #9 #Sanju has to be @RajkumarHirani’s weakest work but it’s still one of the best movies in recent times. As a FILM it is 👍 but as a BIOPIC I don’t think it is honest / a complete one. Never imagined Hirani would make a propoganda piece. — Sarkar (@NTRovert_Ni) June 30, 2018 #10 No matter what #RajkumarHirani says, but #Sanju is a propaganda film, they've tried to whitewash Sanjay Dutt. Those who are expecting an honest 'biopic' can be disappointed. — beyond that.. (@ThisIsSumana) June 30, 2018 #11 Good act by Ranbir Kapoor and @vickykaushal09. But throughout the movie, I felt like it is not an honest attempt for a biopic, but just made to criticize media for Sanjay Dutt downfall and cases around him. Feels like @RajkumarHirani is just trying to glorify Sanjay Dutt #Sanju — Alok Kumar Hota (@alokhota) June 29, 2018 #12 Sadly, you cannot call Sanju a biopic. It's just a PR movie to improve the image of Sanjay Dutt. They justified all his actions and blamed them all of on the circumstances. A biopic isn't meant to glorify a character, it's meant to show the reality. This movie didn't. — Minhal Raza (@Minhal512) June 30, 2018 #13 Sanju is easily Ranbir Kapoor's best performance to date. The movie does glorify Sanjay Dutt a lot & goes out of it's way to show that he was a naive guy who made mistakes. As a movie it was good as a biopic it wasn't. — Clive (@vanillawallah) June 29, 2018 On the other side, actor Paresh Rawal who played the role of Sunil Dutt in the movie, said "There’s absolutely no process of whitewashing or diluting things that happened in his life. We are not glorifying anything." Sanjay Dutt also says that the movie only shows the truth. "Whatever is the truth, has been shown in the film," he was quoted as saying.<doc-sep>
Sanju is writer, editor, director, Rajkumar Hirani’s fifth feature film and in four of these films, Abhijat Joshi has partnered him in writing the screenplay of the film. In one of their interviews, Hirani explained that they approached each scene with the LCD principle. A scene either ought to make you laugh, cry or should be dramatic enough for you to feel engaged with it. One could say that it is this principle and his editing skills which have made all his films special. They have been tightly scripted entertainers which have then found acceptance with the masses too. Sanju, his latest and promoted as a biopic based on the life of actor (star of Hirani’s first two films as director) continues this tradition of adhering to the LCD principle and starts off on a dramatic note and then continues to weave laughter, tears and drama through its 161-minute journey. has had a remarkably newsy and controversial life and it does make for an interesting story on its own. From his days as a drug addict to his time in jail after the Bombay blasts in 1993, to his recurring brushes with the underworld and then the long drawn court case, Dutt’s story makes for an arresting topic. While the world may have judged him differently, the film industry seems to dismiss all allegations against ‘Sanju Baba’ with a gentle wave of the hand and the movie Sanju seems no different. One can view Sanju as a biopic and also as another Rajkumar Hirani film, starring Ranbir Kapoor. While the first prism may lead to disappointment, the second presents a much more fulfilling experience for a movie watcher. While it is true that it may not have been possible for the writers to shine a light on all of Sanjay Dutt’s life, the aspects they choose to depict are also presented with a very bright rose-tint. We may never know the reason Hirani chose to make a film on Dutt’s life, but we can rest assured that it wasn’t to present a wart and all picture. The film presents him as a kind-hearted victim and just like the film industry has done in the last three decades, dismisses any allegations of impropriety or wrong-doing with a gentle wave of the hand. Dutt is a nice guy who just falls prey to the circumstances. They pin the blame on the media and actually take a very strong line against newspapers, even adding a song with the real and Ranbir Kapoor damning newspapers in the end-credits. It is when you watch the film as a Hirani film and stop worrying about the biopic bit, does it become a fun ride. The first fifteen minutes of the film are probably Hirani’s weakest fifteen minutes of his career so far but the order is soon restored and a calm hand surfaces. This calm hand then guides the film and takes the viewer on a ride where the story is well told, brilliantly enacted and expertly woven. The film focuses on Dutt’s relationship with his illustrious parents, especially his father, actor-politician Sunil Dutt. Unlike some other famous Hindi film directors, Hirani isn’t given to a self-indulgent streak and keeps the focus on telling a good tale to the paying public. This serves Sanju well. While they cherry-pick aspects of Dutt’s life and then present it to us with their spin, one is thoroughly entertained. There is the familiar sense of humour that you find in all his previous films. There are the usual slightly over the top emotional scenes and then there are the dramatic moments which make Sanju an LCD success story. From his gait to little flourishes of his eyes to his dialogue delivery, Ranbir Kapoor’s impression of Sanjay Dutt is brilliant. The role offers him a range of shades to portray and he does it with elan. From being a drug-addled wreck to being a vulnerable son to a father, he does it beautifully. Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt is first rate. The film is actually more honest about the trouble Dutt Sr. had to go through because of his son. There are some misses though. While the film does mention how Dutt Senior may have been abandoned by his own party men when his son was arrested, it chooses to ignore that Sunil Dutt eventually had to seek the help of Bal Thackeray to get his son out of jail.