Sanju explores some of the most crucial chapters from movie star Sanjay Dutt’s dramatic and controversial real life. It gives a lowdown on his tryst with drugs and his trials and tribulations in the Arms Acts case and the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
Sanju reminds you of who Sanjay Dutt is but more importantly the film reminds you of who Ranbir Kapoor really is. By the end of the film Ranbir is not trying to act like Dutt, he literally becomes Sanjay Dutt.
Its a shame that our so called best directors have let this guy down while he has given them his all. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Anurag Kashyap, Anurag Basu, Karan Johar and now Rajkumar Hirani.
Ranbir has always overshadowed his directors while they have delivered terrible to above average films with him & Sanju is no exception. 10 on 10 for Ranbir Kapoor. Rajkumar Hirani chose two long , testing phases from Dutts life. The first half of the film deals with Sanjay Dutts drug problem and the second half of the film revolves around the terrorist, the TADA case and the arms act case. So every possible drug on the planet dominates the first half while jail time consume the second half of the film.
There are multiple sequences where Sanju trips in the film, these scenes where he hallucinates have been shot and edited really well. Thats when Hirani exhibits his command over his craft. The sequences are so beautiful they make injections & pills seem like the seeds which paradise was built on. Colors flying around make way for darkness as Hirani details the aftermath of drug abuse with the same finesse.
A drug addict cannot be trusted as he will do just about anything to get another dose of the substance which would eventually kill him. A paranoid Sanju runs away from his American rehab centre and travels for 12 days to reach his best friend in New York. He walks for days, begs on the streets, his dependency sucks the life out of him as paranoia embraces him. All this so that he can borrow some money for his friend and buy drugs. Ranbir Kapoor delivers a terrific, very nuanced performance as the vulnerable hopeless addict.
Dont get me wrong, Im not saying Sanju is a brilliant film; Ranbir Kapoor is brilliant in the film. Firstly a 161 minute film cannot do justice to Sanjay Dutts life story, there has to be a series on it. Rajkumar Hirani, just like Ranbir is the master of his craft so he delivers a very engaging product but he did not balance it out
Are you giving Sanjay Dutt a pass? are you giving him a clean chit? I asked Hirani and Ranbir & they completely dismissed my charges. We have earned our credibility over a decade, we wont throw it away they assured me. Sadly this film in many ways tries to paint a bechara Sanjay Dutt image in your head.
