Raj Kumar Hirani is arguably one of India’s most powerful filmmakers. Hardly prolific, he has made only 5 films (including Sanju) in the last 15-17 years, each of them blockbusters. All his movies have a decidedly moral core, communicated with warmth and humor. It was therefore, a little bit surprising that he would risk his squeaky clean reputation to put his weight behind a decidedly grey protagonist –Sanjay Dutt.
The primary material for the film, as revealed by Hirani in an interview – is a series of audio recordings of Sanjay’s Dutt’s life – anecdotes narrated by Sanjay himself to Raju and his writing partner Abhijat. This, plus the fact that Raju must have felt the need to respect Sanjay’s confidence in him, means that the movie, while not giving Sanjay a free pass (Sanjy is shown as badly behaved, violent, callous, womanizing and thin skinned ) is still a kind, humane take on Sanjay’s life, One that presents his side of his story, his perspective, where all his actions even if not pardonable, are certainly shown to be understandable.
While the decision to make a movie, and therefore, in many ways glamorize, a life full of poor choices is questionable, it cannot be denied, that ‘Sanju’ the movie is absolutely incredible, one that leaves you laughing, crying, and going along with Sanju for the ride.
There were many things about the movie that truly impressed me. First, the clean unmessy script that focuses on only two events from Dutt’s life keeps the firm engaging, meaty, and yet – clean. Second, the decision to use fictional amalgamations of people, instead of cluttering the story with too many characters, is a bit of a gamble in a biography as it can detract from the story’s authenticity, but here it really sharpens the screenplay. Winnie (Anushka Sharma)’s character trajectory from skepticism to disbelief, to reluctance, to curiosity and eventually to empathy represents not just Hirani and Abhijat’s own spirit, but also that of the lay person- us.’ Zubin – the bad friend who leads Sanjay astray – is a physical repsentation of all the bad company Sanjay was known to keep, and Kamli – a combination of all his good friends who stood by Sanjay Dutt during his tough times. Ruby again is an amalgamation of several of the women he dated and treated badly. Third, relationship between Sunil and Sanjay Dutt is truly the back-bone of the movie, and in many ways, this movie seems like an ode of gratitude from an errant son to his stellar father. Seen from Sanju’s eyes, Sunil Dutt represents both the bar he finds himself falling short of again and again, and the seal of validation he constantly seeks. It is a complex nuanced relationship, one that for me is the highlight of the film. Finally, Ranbir Kapoor as Sanjay Dutt, is probably one of the the finest movie performances by any actor – Indian or international – that one has seen in recent memory. Ranbir transforms himself so so completely, - we have to keep reminding ourself this is not Sanjay playing himself!!.
Overall, a great movie worth one watch, but one that should be watched keeping in mind that the protagonist is not a victim, but a privileged movie star kid who made bad choices was rightfully punished for it. As a movie, as a story, Sanju deserves a 4/5, but Raju Hirani might have damaged his squeaky reputation somewhat, by choosing, as his subject, Sanjay Dutt.
The primary material for the film, as revealed by Hirani in an interview – is a series of audio recordings of Sanjay’s Dutt’s life – anecdotes narrated by Sanjay himself to Raju and his writing partner Abhijat. This, plus the fact that Raju must have felt the need to respect Sanjay’s confidence in him, means that the movie, while not giving Sanjay a free pass (Sanjy is shown as badly behaved, violent, callous, womanizing and thin skinned ) is still a kind, humane take on Sanjay’s life, One that presents his side of his story, his perspective, where all his actions even if not pardonable, are certainly shown to be understandable.
While the decision to make a movie, and therefore, in many ways glamorize, a life full of poor choices is questionable, it cannot be denied, that ‘Sanju’ the movie is absolutely incredible, one that leaves you laughing, crying, and going along with Sanju for the ride.
There were many things about the movie that truly impressed me. First, the clean unmessy script that focuses on only two events from Dutt’s life keeps the firm engaging, meaty, and yet – clean. Second, the decision to use fictional amalgamations of people, instead of cluttering the story with too many characters, is a bit of a gamble in a biography as it can detract from the story’s authenticity, but here it really sharpens the screenplay. Winnie (Anushka Sharma)’s character trajectory from skepticism to disbelief, to reluctance, to curiosity and eventually to empathy represents not just Hirani and Abhijat’s own spirit, but also that of the lay person- us.’ Zubin – the bad friend who leads Sanjay astray – is a physical repsentation of all the bad company Sanjay was known to keep, and Kamli – a combination of all his good friends who stood by Sanjay Dutt during his tough times. Ruby again is an amalgamation of several of the women he dated and treated badly. Third, relationship between Sunil and Sanjay Dutt is truly the back-bone of the movie, and in many ways, this movie seems like an ode of gratitude from an errant son to his stellar father. Seen from Sanju’s eyes, Sunil Dutt represents both the bar he finds himself falling short of again and again, and the seal of validation he constantly seeks. It is a complex nuanced relationship, one that for me is the highlight of the film. Finally, Ranbir Kapoor as Sanjay Dutt, is probably one of the the finest movie performances by any actor – Indian or international – that one has seen in recent memory. Ranbir transforms himself so so completely, - we have to keep reminding ourself this is not Sanjay playing himself!!.
Overall, a great movie worth one watch, but one that should be watched keeping in mind that the protagonist is not a victim, but a privileged movie star kid who made bad choices was rightfully punished for it. As a movie, as a story, Sanju deserves a 4/5, but Raju Hirani might have damaged his squeaky reputation somewhat, by choosing, as his subject, Sanjay Dutt.
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