Sanju Movie (2018) Review & Some Interesting Aspects About Sanjay Dutt Not in the Movie!

Ranbir Kapoor starrer Sanju movie released all over the world on 29th June 2018. Being touted as the biopic of sensational actor of Bollywood, Sanjay Dutt, Sanju movie is one of the most talked about Hindi movies of this year. Sanjay Duttt’s life has been discussed and talked about more often not for his acting skills but his alleged links with underworld and the Mumbai 1993 serial bomb blasts. His personal life too has been discussed multiple times on T.V., newspapers & magazines. Still the actor with his grit to make his parents proud is committed to do good films and make good whatever negative that has got associated with his name over the due course of life.
The movie is made by Raj Kumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the master minds behind blockbuster movies like Munnabhai MBBS, P.K., 3 Idiots and more. Their association with Sanjay Dutt was sealed with Munnabhai MBBS and which continues in this movie.

RUN TIME:

The run time of movie is 2 hrs 35 minutes.

STARCAST in SANJU MOVIE (2018):

The makers of the movie haven’t left any stone upturned for making this movie a sure shot blockbuster hit. This is reflected in the film cast as well. Ranbir Kapoor is playing the central character of Sanjay Dutt in Sanju Movie. Paresh Rawal & Manisha Koirala as Sunil Dutt & Nargis Dutt respectively. Adding further to make the movie more performance-centric than controversial, actors like Vicky Kaushal, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Dia Mirza have been roped in for key characters. The cast is also a reflection of the Hirani camp regular actors like Boman Irani & Anushka Sharma.

STORY of SANJU MOVIE (2018):

Again we would say the movie has been touted to be the biopic of Sanjay Dutt but it is not in the entirety. There are many sections of his life both personal & professional that have not been introduced also in the movie like his earlier two marriages with Richa Sharma & Rhea Pillai, his daughter – Trishala, his love for body building and of course the famous yesteryear movies. This movie has been focused on his relationship with his father and the ordeal of his name first getting linked to Mumbai Bomb Blast of 1993 until his final release from Jail and his testing times with drug addiction & de-addiction.

WHAT WORKED:

• Ranbir Kapoor’s flawless performance as Sanjay Dutt. He has literally poured breath in the role with his performance in Sanju movie.
• The bond between father & son as depicted in the movie is truly adorable. This movie reiterates the popular notion about Sunil Dutt that he was a gem of a person apart from being one of the finest actors of his times. Paresh Rawal has performed well in the role.
• The supporting cast of Manisha Koirala, Jim Sarbh, Vicky Kaushal, Sonam Kapoor, Dia Mirza too have acted well in their roles and given depth to the movie.
• The overall execution part of the movie is very good.
• Manish Koirala looks beautiful as Nargis. This role invariably reminds the viewer of Manisha in ‘1942 a Love Story’.
• Sunil Dutt’s Ustaad (pieces of advice) whether he gave in real or were just shown in the film but are the life lessons takeaway for the viewers from the film.
• It is a family movie.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

• The film is not an all encompassing biopic. Sanjay Dutt’s whole life is one of the living examples of the phrase ‘as hard as it can get’. Be it his stint with drugs, coping with the pressure of being Sunil & Nargis Dutt’s son, numerous affairs, marriages, his first wife’s death, accused under TADA act for Mumbai 1993 Bomb Blasts and more has all been lived and survived by this man, Sanjay Dutt. In the Sanju movie, only very selective life instances have been shown about the actor. For a viewer who wanted to get to know the life of Baba (as Sanjay Dutt is fondly called) in totality this movie can be a bit disappointing.
• Not judging the acting skills in this movie and beyond but Paresh Raval’s look and feel as Sunil Dutt isn’t as convincing Ranbir’s character adaptation.
• The movie talks about Sanjay Dutt’s lesser known girlfriend ‘Ruby’ in the film and his friend played by Vicky Kaushal, rather than crucial instances of his life like his first wife & daughter, how he took to body building, his chemistry with fellow actors like Salman, Madhuri Dixit and more.
• In Sanju movie, Dutt’s famous movies that established him in the industry as a great actor were totally missing.
• The new songs weren’t really needed rather the makers could have recreated Dutt’s famous old songs.
• Sanju movie in second half becomes only a piece of justification about the role of Sanjay Dutt in the Mumbai Bomb Blast case of 1993.
• The role of Anushka Sharma in the film and ‘Ruby’ chapter in Sanju movie were redundant and stretched too much respectively.

VERDICT:

3.5/5 stars if you are going for Biopic and above 4/5 if you are looking for an entertaining film.

Sanju movie is a great piece of cinema with components of comedy in the first half & some bits in second half amalgamated with serious ordeal that the actor has faced in his life time. It is inspiring and is full of optimism to not loose hope against worst of the odds. The opening scene is rather surprising piece to know about Sanjay Dutt. Do not go with the expectation of knowing Dutt’s life in totality as it happens in most biopics. Watch Sanju movie without much expectations about the life events and you will be happy. A must one time watch movie this weekend!

Some Lesser Known Facts about Sanjay Dutt:

• Sanjay Dutt and Ranbir Kapoor have uncanny resemblance lookwise.
• Sanjay Dutt married thrice. He married budding actress Richa Sharma who died of Brain Tumour in 1996. Rhea Pillai (later married Leander Paes) who he divorced later and now he is happily married with Manyata Dutt.
• He was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger for body building.
• He fought a long battle for custody of his first daughter Trishala against his then wife, Richa Sharma’s family. Trishala lives in New York.
• In his long film career, Sanjay Dutt won two Filmfare Awards. He won the Best Actor Award for Vastav and Best Actor in Comic Role Award for MunnaBhai MBBS.