Politician and Sanjay Dutt‘s sister Priya Dutt has expressed her disappointment with Rajkumar Hirani’s film Sanju, starring Ranbir Kapoor as her brother. She felt the biopic didn’t fully capture the complexities of her brother’s life, and often wonders why there was less focus on their parents, Sunil Dutt and Nargis. She mentioned that it can’t be called a biopic. Also read: Sanju movie review: Excellent Ranbir Kapoor is the soul of this Rajkumar Hirani film
Priya Dutt on Sanju biopic
During a conversation with Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel, Priya spoke about the biopic, which featured Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt and Manisha Koirala as Nargis Dutt. Vicky Kaushal was also seen in the film as a friend of Sanjay Dutt.
She expressed that she also wondered why the focus was not much on her mother or his family, but on one friend, which according to Priya was an “amalgamation of many friends”.
Priya said, “I also felt that the movie didn’t do justice to, I think, even my mum in the film, or my father. There is a lot that could have been worked on. There was a lot. Even the relationship between the father and son, the way it was—I think a lot more could have been shown.”
She was also asked whether she ever conveyed her feelings to Rajkumar. To which Priya shared, “I was tempted… But I think they had a different concept in mind. I didn’t call him. Their focus was just Sanju, of course, which I get that—and his life. It became a bit of a caricature. Maybe they had to amalgamate too many characters. It’s not what I expected it to be. I think it was more entertainment… I loved Ranbir Kapoor in it. He played Sanju very well. But yeah, I feel it wasn’t really a biopic. It was a film, very entertaining, and included only certain aspects of his life. The intensity was missing.”
During the interview, Priya shared that she expressed her feelings to her brother Sanjay, who responded with a simple, “Now, what?”
About Sanju
From Sanjay’s drug addiction, personal affairs, a jail term for possession of arms in connection with the 1993 serial blasts, to his bonds with his parents and friends, Sanju has delved into different aspects of the actor’s life. It was released in 2018.
Sanju was a massive success. However, the success of the Ranbir Kapoor film came with allegations of whitewashing, media bashing and glorification of Sanjay Dutt’s controversial life. Rajkumar Hirani also defended the film.
“Whitewashing as a word is being thrown open. If you’ve watched the film, what was Sanju’s crime? Yes, he kept the gun, and we have shown that. We have shown that he served five years in jail and that he is saying it was a mistake… So, where is the question of whitewashing? What have I whitewashed? I want to understand that,” Rajkumar had said at the ninth edition of the International Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
