Sanju - Review

The last movie I really liked of Rajkumar Hirani was Munnabhai MBBS after which he rehashed the same formula by changing either the protagonists role or his problem. All of which were to show a misunderstood outsider go through hardships and in the end get appreciated by all. The same is the formula of Lage Raho or 3 Idiots or PK. Sanju is no different.

Sanju being a biopic I could not help but compare it with another recent biopic I have seen, Mahanati. In comparison, of course, Sanju looks so pale. In Sanju, the actor who walks away with all the accolades is Vicky Kaushal in his portrayal of Kamlesh. He is impeccable. On other hand Ranbir did alright but more often than not he is mostly reduced to a mere Sanjay Dutt Mimic.

In all of Hirani's movies, Boman gets a role which is more like a caricature of real life people. That kind of spoils the feel of a biopic in here. Rest of the cast are good. Paresh Rawal gave a balanced performance. Manisha Koirala did very good as Nargis and makes us wish for her to act in more such roles. Rest of the cast is okay.

Movie looks very good in first half with so much going on. But in second half the screenplay is all over the place, only because they wanted to have a climax on the lines of Lage Raho(Radio station) and PK(Interview). The last 30 minutes of the movie feel so desperate to exonerate Sanju Baba of all the wrong doings. Actually, even his drug addiction in first half is also credited to a cunning drug peddler. I mean he is a drug peddler and that is his job. The movie took some liberties to gain sympathy for the role but they feel far-fetched. Even the dialogue from Sanju after his father dies where he says any other son would not have loved him so much is so not convincing. If not anything, by the end of the movie we all feel that Sunil Dutt deserved a better son and Kamlesh deserved a better friend. Unfortunately, that is not what the makers were aiming for though.

So, Sanju is just a sugar coated biopic made to work and improve Sanjay Dutt's image. It might not stand the test of time like other recent Biopics Dhoni or Mahanati that were termed classics. Watch out for the brilliant actor Vicky Kaushal though.