Sanju (2018)

Sanju is a biopic of the controversial life of actor Sanjay Dutt: his film career, jail sentence and personal life.

Director:

Rajkumar Hirani

Writers:

Abhiruchi Chand (assistant dialogue writer), Rajkumar Hirani

Stars:

Ranbir Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala

Top Rated Indian Movies #149 | 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ranbir Kapoor	...	Sanjay Dutt 'Sanju'
Paresh Rawal	...	Sunil Dutt
Manisha Koirala	...	Nargis Dutt
Vicky Kaushal	...	Kamlesh Kanhaiyalal Kapasi
Dia Mirza	...	Manyata Dutt
Anushka Sharma	...	Winnie Dias
Sonam Kapoor	...	Ruby
Jim Sarbh	...	Zubin Mistry
Karishma Tanna	...	Pinky
Boman Irani	...	Ruby's father & Dr. Asthana of Munna Bhai MBBS
Ashnoor Kaur	...	Young Priya Dutt
Siya	...	Priya Dutt (as Aditi Gautam)
Tabu	...	Herself
Sayaji Shinde	...	Bandu Dada
Steven Allen Prince	...	Red jacket kid (as Steven Allen)

Storyline

Few lives in our times are as dramatic and enigmatic as the saga of Sanjay Dutt. Coming from a family of cinema legends, he himself became a film star, and then saw dizzying heights and darkest depths: adulation of die-hard fans, unending battles with various addictions, brushes with the underworld, prison terms, loss of loved ones, and the haunting speculation that he might or might not be a terrorist. Sanju is in turns a hilarious and heartbreaking exploration of one man's battle against his own wild self and the formidable external forces trying to crush him. It depicts the journey of a man through everything that life can throw at him. Some true stories leave you thinking "did this really happen?" This is one such unbelievable story that happens to be true.

---

Plot Keywords:

papadum | actor | criminal | jail | underworld | 

---

Taglines:

One Man . . . Many Lives

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama

---

Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

29 June 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dutt

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

INR 1,536,700,000 (India), 1 July 2018, Wide Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,723,349, 1 July 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,909,317

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$71,535,130

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rajkumar Hirani Films, Vinod Chopra Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

155 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview with DNA After Hrs, Hirani confirmed that the film was named Sanju after a lot of deliberation as Nargis, Sanjay's mother, used to call him 'Sanju'.

---

Goofs

Winnie at first decides not to write Sanjay's biography because he's being called a terrorist. But when Sanju narrates his life up to the end of his drug addiction (way before the gun possession era), she decides to finally write it. She didn't want to write initially because he was the accused terrorist, not a drug addict.

---

Quotes

[Sanju is drunk after promising marriage to Ruby]
Ruby: Sanju, where is the mangalsutra? Where is the bloody mangalsutra?
[Sanju pulls out a toilet lid and improvises]

---

Crazy Credits

The film title appears in the ocean at Sanjay Dutt's house.

---

Alternate Versions

In India, the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) demanded one aesthetic cut for a U/A rating (which allows viewers under 12 to view the film with parental supervision); the cut demanded removed a scene in which a toilet overflows while Sanju is in prison. The cuts was required as the board felt that the scene was gratuitous and unnecessary. The film was released uncut in other countries worldwide.

---

Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

---

Soundtracks

Bhopu Baj Raha Hai
Lyrics by Shekhar Astitwa and Rohan Gokhale
Music by Rohan Pradhan and Rohan Gokhale
Performed by Nakash Aziz

User Reviews

Ranbir Kapoor steals the thunder in an otherwise decent flick

If you are a 90's kid, probably you would have grown up to see Sanjay Dutt 's outstanding performances in films like Khalnayak, Vaastav or Munna Bhai Series in early 2000. Sanjay Dutt is definitely one of the finest actors we have in Bollywood and there is no doubt about it. However, the question popped up in my mind when I saw the trailer - Was a biopic on Sanjay Dutt even required ? Ofcourse, Sanjay Dutt is popular for his controversies which could add masala required for a movie. Bollywood have legends like Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar or Guru Dutt. Why not make a film on them ? Let us see how the film "Sanju" has fared ..

Sanju is a chronicle on journey of controversial Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt right from his film career, personal life, affairs to the present state.

Directed by master storyteller, Rajkumar Hirani, who has given some fantastic message oriented films like Munna Bhai M.B.B.S, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots and P.K, Sanju is probably his weakest work till date. The movie begins in a flashback mode showing the early days of Sanjay Dutt and how he got into drug addiction. Few scenes are outstanding - Sanjay Dutt's relation with his mother Nargis Dutt, the scene where he comes in the middle of night to steal the bottle of alcohol from his girlfriend's house. Even the scene at the hospital where he cries over a dead body is hilarious. However, the screenplay starts losing focus towards the intermission. The second half picks up slightly showing Sanjay Dutt's encounter with gangster and underworld. But too much of melodrama tends to bore you. None of songs leave impact while background score is sometimes too loud. Also, I felt the story was told as if there so many excuses being made for all the mistakes done by Sanjay Dutt to gain sympathy for him and show that he is a victim for all his crimes.

The silver lining is the performances. Ranbir Kapoor gives his career best performance. When you will watch the movie, you will notice his style of talking , walking and even voice is accurate to that of Sanjay Dutt's. Manisha Koirala , Sonam Kapoor and Diya Mirza are fine. Anushka Sharma is wasted in a minuscule role. Vicky Kaushal is superb while Paresh Rawal is good though he resemblance to Sunil Dutt is very less.

Overall, Sanju is one-time watch thanks to the stupendous performance by Ranbir Kapoor. Decent 2.75/5