When Ranbir Kapoor, was launched in the year 2007, debuting in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's'Saawariyaan', people & particularly I had seen immense potential in an upcoming actor.Although, he was well known as Rishi Kapoor's son much before the release of the movie, he nevertheless had immense potential due to his amazing dancing abilities and the flexibility and energy displayed in his performance, beside just good or cute looks. A string of films later, be it Bachna Ae Haseeno(2008), Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahaani(2009) or Anjaana Anjaani(2010), all displayed the powerhouse of charisma and energy that this young actor portrayed.
However, his latest venture Sanju(2018) directed by Rajkumar Hirani is a wonderful biopic on one of India's greatest Superstars, Mr Sanjay Dutt or Baba as he is fondly known, thus enabling Ranbir to perform an abundance of characters.
Plot:-
The film begins abruptly in the mid 2000's with Mr Sanjay Dutt(Ranbir Kapoor) hiring a writer to write a biopic on him, but his style of writing was something that turned Sanju off and kicked him out of the house.His girlfriend Maanyata(Diya Mirza) tries to console him and eventually finds a London based writer named Winnie D'souza(Anushka Sharma) to pen his biopic. Winnie meets Sanju but is initially reluctant as there were certain issues which she had to settle before moving on. She later bumps into Zubin Mistry(Jim Sarbh) who tells her that Sanju has lied about his past and that he is a compulsive liar owing to his profession and that he injured him once in a fight.
Fast forward to the time when Sanjay's mother, Nargis(Manisha Koirala) has been diagnosed with Cancer.They head to New York for her treatment and this is when he meets Kamlesh(Vicky Kaushal), an ardent fan of Nargis, who sneaks in a Ganesh idol in her hospital in a bid to save her as he was deeply religious. The family's prayers did work for a short period of time when she did manage to recover temporarily. Sanju befriends Kamlesh but later struggles with drug addiction owing to his friendship with Zubin Mistry whom he referred to as'God', not knowing that Zubin was a part time drug dealer who used to supply him with drugs, which would wreak havoc on his life.
Back in Mumbai, Sanju is dating Ruby(Sonam Kapoor), whose parents, particularly her father, a retired Parsi military general, had issues with, particularly due to his drug addiction.Kamlesh later attempts to convince Ruby to marry Sanju via a registered marriage but fails. But unfortunately, her father happens to pass away due to a heart attack which leaves Ruby and her family heartbroken but Sanju joyous, which leads to a breakup between the two.
Nargis passes away before the release of his debut film, Rocky which leaves Sanju devastated. Due to his relapse, he agrees to attend a rehabilitation centre in the United States and eventually recovers with the help of his father and Kamlesh.Upon his return to India, he meets with Zubin'God' & realising his nefarious intentions, beats him up and terminates his friendship with him.
Fast forward to the 90's post the demolition of the Babri Masjid when Sanjay acquires three AK-56 rifles to ensure the protection of his father who by then had entered politics but is arrested for possession of illegal firearms post the Bombay bombings of 1993.Sanjay is convicted and imprisoned for five years, tarnishing his public image fuelled by the media labelling him as a terrorist, and thus Kamlesh severes ties with him.
Sanjay stars in the film Munnabhai MBBS(2003) alongside his father which wins him the Filmfare award improving his public image. His father passes away shortly after that, and in 2013, he is arrested again by the same verdict upheld by the Supreme Court of India.Sanjay, in his radio broadcast while serving in jail, clarifies that the media falsely accused or often speculated about him possessing arms which resulted in Kamlesh breaking friendship with him. He is finally released from prison in 2016
and discovers that Winnie has completed writing his biography titled'Kuch toh log Kahenge'. He is released from jail and reunites with Kamlesh and Manyata.
Direction/Performances:-
Rajkumar Hirani is known for directing films having an offbeat track, not necessarily cult films.Be it his directorial debut Munnabhai MBBS(2003) or its sequel Lage Raho Munnabhai(2006), 3 Idiots(2009) or PK(2014), his films are known to convey a powerful message to the audience in a way or the other.However, this film is his first directorial venture on a biopic on an actor he has directed several times in the past, Mr Sanjay Dutt.He has carefully analyzed Sanjay's life, his acting career and the controversies surrounding his life meticulously and portrayed that in a sequential order from his debut film Rocky(1981) until his release from prison in 2016.
A look at the performances and undoubtedly, the actor who steals the show and sweeps everyone off their feet in Ranbir Kapoor. I personally think it would have been almost impossible to get any other actor to fit in Ranbir's shoes in portraying Sanjay Dutt. The efforts taken to bring about a transformation of characters, particularly in physique, spread over a period of 35 years was something which Ranbir worked very hard over.Copying Sanjay Dutt's mannerisms, his style, accent and body language proved to be a task which the actor portrayed very swiftly.
Paresh Rawal too did a great job in portraying Mr Sunil Dutt, but however, contrary to Ranbir copying all nuances of Sanjay Dutt in portraying his character, Paresh Rawal did not try to mime the manner of Mr Sunil Dutt viz his accent or style but did it normally the way Paresh acts in his movies, particularly in acting as an elderly character.I personally feel that this was one drawback of his portrayal of Mr Sunil Dutt, which had he worked upon would have enhanced his acting ability as well.
Manisha Koirala in a cameo role as Nargis, did pretty well and tried to portray Nargis in the way she was prior to her death.
Anushka Sharma tried a very stylish and bindaas character by playing Winnie D'souza, a streetsmart no nonsense biographer who wasn't somebody easy to convince.However, she too had a humane and inquisitive side to her which enabled her to get to the crux of Sanju's life and eventually help in learning the complete truth about him despite misleading people and events.
Another actor who grabbed eyeballs was Vicky Kaushal in his portrayal of Sanju's close friend Kamlesh' Kamli' Kapasi. Vicky had already won accolades for his lead role in the film Masaan(2015) and gained recognition in Raman Raghav 2.0(2016) and Raazi(2018), prior to him winning the best actor award for the film Uri;The Surgical Strike(2019). His character was based on a very close friend and aide of Sanjay Dutt.
Other characters such as Jim Sarbh playing the sly and cunning Zubin Mistry, who dupes Sanju by giving him drugs in order to destroy his career or Sonam Kapoor playing Sanjay's girlfriend Ruby, Boman Irani as her typical Parsi no nonsense father and Dia Mirza, playing Maanyata were good enough despite their limited screentime.
Music:-
The film had a total of 6 songs composed by A.R Rahman, Rohan Rohan and Vikram Montrose while the lyrics were penned by Irshad Kamil, Abhijat Joshi, besides others. The songs are not notable enough except for'Kar Har Maidaan Fateh' picturised on Ranbir Kapoor and Manisha Koirala.
Overall:-
Sanju is one film which is basically a whole hearted tribute of one actor to the other.Ranbir's efforts in portraying Sanjay Dutt in a very precise manner, screening through an entire era of his life and career, event after event, is unparalleled atleast in the history of Indian Cinema. The film ought to be a turning point in Ranbir's life and he should always be remembered for this challenging set of roles, for which a mere award(s) may not suffice.
