Sanju (2018)

Interesting facts

Sanju is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical comedy drama film directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani, written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vinod Chopra Films. The film chronicles the life of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, notably focusing his drug addiction, arrest for his suspected association with the 1993 Bombay bombings, relationship with his father, and acting career. Ranbir Kapoor stars as the title character with an ensemble supporting cast including Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Dia Mirza, Manisha Koirala, Karishma Tanna, Jim Sarbh and Sonam Kapoor.

Production

Director Rajkumar Hirani was first prompted to create a film based on Sanjay Dutt's life by the latter's wife Manyata Dutt in a casual conversation, an offer he refused, reasoning that "Sanju’s world is very different from my world". In an interview with Daily News & Analysis, Hirani revealed what eventually prompted him to create a film based on Sanjay Dutt's life: "He was lonely.

Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra was not a part of the project when Hirani initially approached him to produce the film. At first, Chopra was of the opinion that "it was hogwash... but when we started researching all that he’s said — from the 308 girlfriends he had to how he begged on the streets of US for the money to buy a bus ticket — we realised that everything he had told us was true!".

Speaking about Dutt's journey, Kapoor revealed in an interview with Filmfare that the biopic will reach out to the audience by teaching them something. He stated that "It will talk about human flaws, the emotional father-son story (between Sanjay and the late Sunil Dutt), his relationship with his best friend, with the women in his life. It's emotional, it's funny, it's sad, it's bittersweet.

In an interview with Rajeev Masand, Hirani disclosed that the story-telling procedure was "challenging as it's not a story of an achiever" as most biopics are based on a heroic personality, yet Dutt is known for his tragedies and losses. He noted that "you can't really tamper" and that the main scripting challenge was fitting "a very anecdotal story in a structured format".

Post the release of the film, both Hirani and Joshi reasoned that Dutt has not been "whitewashed" in the film as many critics have openly said so. Instead, Hirani questioned, "I want to know what have I whitewashed? I have shown that he had 308 girlfriends, that he was so addicted to drugs, he slept with his friend’s girlfriend. Is this whitewashing?".

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