Sanju -A Movie Review

Producer: Rajkumar Hirani, Vinod Chopra, Fox Star Studios

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

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

Story: Abhijat Joshi

Music Director: Rohan Rohan, Vikram Montrose

Lyrics: Puneet Sharma, Shekhar Astitwa

Genre: Biopic

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J76wN0TPI4

Rating 4****/5

 (The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)

Sanju, One man….Many lives; “Bad choices make interesting stories”; There is many such lines which can explain out this movie but it takes a genius like Raj Kumar Hirani with his creative artistry to make a movie of this complex a character like Sanjay Dutt, with a roller coaster of a life, and make it interesting and heartwarming to the audiences.

No man’s life can fit into a two hour movie and especially not Sanjay Dutt’s many shades of life…..hence Sanju covers only chapters of  Dutt’s life- like his tryst with drugs and alcoholism, his arrest and tribulations in the Arms Act, his relationship with his father, his mistakes, falls, his emotional turmoil  fighting his personal demons and recovery  on the strength of his father’s motivation and shoulders of friendship.

 Many a celebrity in both Hollywood and Bollywood has lived and even died because of insecurities, anxieties, mistakes and flaws they have made in their lives. Sanju shows the story of and how this celebrity son feels, his inability to measure up to his idealistic father and parent’s expectations, and his failure to handle emotional distress and pressure, led him to make poor decisions and fall for distractions like drugs and alcohol.  It also shows how a compassionate father and a good friend were pivotal and helped him recover and rise back from that mistake of his life. But Sanju has made many bad decisions, errors in judgement including getting involved with shady people and gotten into situations without understanding the gravity of his actions. This of course led him to go through many trials and tribulations, arrests and years of jail time, besides defamation and condemnation for him and his family. The story reveals some truths and gives deep insight into his complicated life with a laugh here and a tear there.    

The excellence of this movie is the extraordinary direction and craftsmanship of Raj Kumar Hirani with his ability to weave in emotional and sensitive drama of Dutt’s life with heartwarming narrative and humor.

 The other merit of this movie is Ranbir Kapoor’s excellent acting. When we see the character as Sanjay Dutt and not as the actor who is portraying Sanjay Dutt, it shows the actor has carried out the role with finesse and brilliance. The acting, makeup and Sanjus’s characteristic details of drugged, blank, broken look, his confused and distressed persona, to the lanky swagger, awkward postures, body language and gait were all on point. The other performance which stood out was Vicky Kaushal’s endearing acting as Sanju’s friend who stands by him at all times.  Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt and Manisha Koirala as Nargis, Dia Mirza as his wife Manyata, Jim Sarabh as the bad influence, all had excellent performances too. Anoushka Sharma’s acting and the fictionalized role written into this biopic were subpar and weak and could have been skipped.  

The movie is absolutely worth watching with 4 stars for its brilliant execution of a biopic in a not sequential style with a balance of laughter and tears for a heartwrenching story of Sanjay Dutt. Whatever bad decisions the protagonist may have taken in the journey of life, they don’t equate to what life has dished out for him and the formidable forces which have tried to crush him. My personal hugs to Sanju and best wishes for life ahead.