Film: Sanju

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

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Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal, Anushka Sharma, Dia Mirza, Jim Sarbh, Sonam Kapoor

Rating: 3.5

‘My name is Sanjay Dutt and I am not a terrorist’ — hovering around this dictum, Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju is so honest that it’s hilarious. The controversial life of Sanjay Dutt served with Ranbir Kapoor’s craft as an actor offers a whistle-worthy 160 minutes. Sanju’s life is a fine amalgamation of all the elements of a Bollywood film — comedy, drama, romance and action and so was his biopic. The film begins with Sanju baba narrating a chapter from his biography written by a film lyricist. Interestingly, being compared to Mahatma Gandhi offends the actor and he sets on a search of another author.

Dia Mirza as Manyata, his wife, suggests him to meet Winnie Diaz (Anushka Sharma), a renowned author. Here begins the unpredictable tale of the aspiring star of Bollywood who falls into the deep dungeon of addiction.

Manisha Koirala plays Nargis, successfully brings the grace and poise of the actor into the film. Her death shakes Sanjay and he goes on losing everything to drugs except the belief and conviction of Sunil Dutt (Paresh Rawal) has in Sanjay. As Dia says in the film, Sanjay is the ‘king of bad choices’ that is what we witness in the movie. Throughout, the chapters unveiled from his life, Sunil Dutt stands behind him like a pillar and pulls him back from every possible muddle. Paresh Rawal delivers an expected performance and manages to show us the off-the-camera Dutt Sahab, who is a nobleman with notable stature.

Jubin Mistry (Jim Sarbh) emerges the foe disguised as a friend in Dutt’s initial stages of life. Though the screen time wasn’t much for Jim, the actor proved in those few minutes that he doesn’t need extended space. Talking about friends, Kamlesh (Vicky Kaushal) is another source of Sanjay’s revival. Kamlesh brings the quirk in the film and offers numerous laughable moments for the audience. However, most of the scenes that would make you teary-eyed also involved him and definitely Sunil Dutt.

Coming to the star of the show, Ranbir Kapoor, needs a loud applause for carrying the film on his shoulders. If you found the trailer uncanny, the film would make it difficult to discern between the reel and real. Ranbir delivers an engaging act and we can indisputably say he is the soul of Sanju. The actor is so believable as Sanjay Dutt that you would be left awestruck. Kapoor amazingly portrays the struggle with addiction, moments of shame, and also the carefree Sanju baba the audience knows.

To sum up, if you are on the lookout for any much scoop from his personal life, previous marriages or family, well you’ll be disappointed. The film has not much that we are unaware of since Hirani knows how to tell his stories.

Although, Sanju would definitely give you an insight into the 1993 Mumbai blast and Sanjay Dutt’s involvement in the incident, his side of the story. The media practices to gather a ‘masala’  news story have been highlighted prominently in the film. We have already heard the songs from the film and they add up to scenes brilliantly, but there is a surprise element awaited at the end.