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Join UsStar Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal, Sonam Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Karishma Tanna, Anushka Sharma and Jim Sarbh.
Director: Rajkumar Hirani.
What’s Good: It’s like one popular folk song, you’ll love that song but when someone asks from you what’s so good in it, your first reaction will be – EVERYTHING! This movie is beyond Ranbir Kapoor being Sanjay Dutt, it’s beyond glorification and accusation – it’s a fine piece of art and another feather in the cap of Master Rajkumar Hirani.
What’s Bad: Nothing is perfect, especially cinema – it’s subjective. What I like might be disliked by many but it’s the after effect of the movie that stays with people & Sanju will have a strong one. Apart from all the brightness, the movie had the scope of digging even deeper in the star’s life but it’s okay because whatever we get is more than what we ask from a film.
Loo Break: Have you ever taken one in any Rajkumar Hirani film? You’ve your answer!
Watch or Not?: I wish I can modify this question to When to watch? And my answer to that will be RIGHT AFTER READING THIS REVIEW!
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As everyone by now know Sanju revolves around the roller coaster emotional ride of a Bollywood star – Sanjay Dutt. It starts with Sanjay Dutt aka Sanju (Ranbir Kapoor) being out on Parole from his custody for illegally possessing arms at his house. His wife Maanayata Dutt (Dia Mirza) contacts Winnie (Anushka Sharma), a renowned biographer to pen a book on his life. The family wanted to bring out the real & clean image of Sanju in-front of the world.
The graph of the movie travels through various timelines. First of which is – How Sanju actually became Sanju & he how became the drug-addict. Introducing his close friend Kamlesh Kanhaiyalal Kapasi (Vicky Kaushal) and another friend Zubin (Jim Sarbh), the movies gets forward to another phase – how Sanju was called a terrorist. Was it all the allegations or did Sanju really commited something he shouldn’t have, that’s what Rajkumar Hirani explores in rest of the film.
Sanju Movie Review: Script Analysis
Halfway into the movie and you feel how Ranbir Kapoor is not acting, he’s living Sanjay Dutt. He’s not the actor, he’s the man who he’s playing. Rajkumar Hirani & Abhijat Joshi have a formula they follow; every important scene has three important things – drama, emotions & fun.
If you follow the filmography of Hirani, you’ll see how Munnabhai brings in the memory of having chinese at 3am in an emotional confrontation scene with Circuit (Arshad Warsi), you’ll see how Farhan (R. Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) strip down their pants for ‘jahapana’ Rancho (Aamir Khan) after a super-emotional scenes & you’ll see how in the heart-wrenching climax PK (Aamir Khan) tells Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) that he’s not in love with her to ‘bhaste’ the time thinking about her.
Hirani, Joshi have been living off this formula throughout their filmography and Sanju is no exception. Yes, this is a biopic and everyone knows the major part of it but it takes a Hirani to make even what you already know interesting. He concentrates entirely on the drug addicted phase in the first half & on the comeback of Sanjay Dutt from jail in the second. Yes, there are loopholes in the second which should’ve been covered by Hirani but as I said no movie can be perfect.
Sanju Movie Review: Star Performance
Love him, hate him, envy him, admire him, praise him, disgrace him but Bollywood will never find anyone else like him. Rajkumar Hirani has gifted a pool to Ranbir Kapoor to reflect in and we just watch him grow throughout. He carries of each and every emotion with pure perfection. The expressions, the walk, the talk, the accent – he has achieved nirvana with this performance.
Vicky Kaushal – the talent waiting to be explored. Raazi, Lust Stories & now Sanju, this year is turning out to be his career’s best. He has overshadowed Ranbir in some scenes; there I said it! He shares a significant chemistry with Ranbir in the film & alike Sanju his character too travels through a fickling graph of emotions. Can’t wait to see him more on the big screen. Vicky: Bhai, tiger ho aap – ROAR!
Paresh Rawal inputs a great support to Sanju’s character as his dad, Sunil Dutt. We revisit some known things & divulge into some very interesting aspects of Dutt sahab’s life. Paresh Rawal performs with a similar enthusiasm and zeal as Sunil Dutt used to do. Manisha Koirala as Nargis Dutt shines bright! She adapts the charm of the veteran actress on-point.
Anushka Sharma looks refreshing & does her part well. Sonam Kapoor is just for short time but fulfills her presence with the grace that was required for her role. Jim Sarbh is all set to be a part of another humongous movie after Padmaavat and he’s does not disappoints in this one either. Karishma Tanna is there just for one scene and she has looked smoking hot in her cameo.
Sanju Movie Review: Direction, Music
Rajkumar Hirani proves yet again why he deserves the tag of master-storyteller more than anyone in Bollywood. He can explore emotions like no one else! Everyone will talk about Ranbir Kapoor’s transformation as Sanju but it’s this man who deserves the credit to see him Dutt. This, without a doubt, is the best biopic to come out of Bollywood. Exploring the dark sides of someone’s life, when was the last time you saw such revelations in a Bollywood biopic? Barring some glitches in the second half, Sanju is a masterpiece – all thanks to the team effort of Hirani-Joshi, Ranbir & the man who brought in Vicky Kaushal in on board.
Surprisingly, apart from the 3 songs that are out, there’s just one closing-credits song in the film. Vikram Montrose’s Kar Har Maidan Fateh works as the anthem of the film. Shekhar Astitwa’s lyrics & Sukhwinder Singh’s voice makes the song what it’s. Rohan-Rohan’s Main Badhiya fills the gap & gets saved by some eccentric expressions by Ranbir Kapoor. A.R. Rahman’s Ruby Ruby is stoners’ hymn and pumps up the mood in the film. Closing credits’ song is special, wait for it once the movie is done.
Sanju Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Sanju entertains, surprises & blows your mind. Ranbir Kapoor stays in the zone & rules it. Vicky Kaushal is going to fly high after this one. Rajkumar Hirani achieves the excellence 5th time in a row!
Four Stars!
Sanju Movie Trailer
Sanju Movie releases on 29th June, 2018.
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