Rajkumar Hirani on Sanjay Dutt biopic: I told Sanju we won’t glorify him and he was okay with it

It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon. The only sound you hear around filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani’s suburban bungalow is the rustle of dry leaves that wither and fall, unable to bear the scorching sun. Raju is neck-deep in editing his biopic on Sanjay Dutt, which stars the dynamic Ranbir Kapoor.

We tiptoe into his room guided by a polite assistant, who points to a set of sofas away from the work table. After we have finished a cup of strong, homemade chai and bitten into a slice of cake, Raju walks across. He says he is nervous because the teaser of the film is about to launch. When I call him the Big Daddy of Bollywood who has delivered superhits like the Munnabhai franchise, 3 Idiots and PK, he sighs and says, “Please, don’t do that. All this makes me even more nervous.” 

Of course, when he begins to talk about Sanjay’s biopic, everything changes. You can tell he has been deeply affected by his subject. After all, the actor isn’t just a stranger whose story he will bring alive on the marquee. That his Munnabhai has laid bare his life and entrusted Raju with the task of taking it across to the world clearly shows Sanju’s respect for his craft.

Over to Rajkumar Hirani...

Your biopic on Sanjay is highly anticipated. Are you excited?

Quite honestly, expectations are always there at this stage. I’m happy and excited, but nervous, too. Also, it is hard for me to be objective about my own work. You live with the movie for so long. You write it, then shoot it and edit it. There are so many internal and external processes involved.

What prompted you to make this biopic on Sanjay? Weren’t you discussing another Munnabhai film with him?

I must tell you how I got attracted to it. I was writing Munnabhai. However, much earlier when I was penning PK, Sanjay was out on parole and I happened to meet him. He just started talking about his life. He was lonely. Maanayata (I think) was in hospital and he used to go there (sometimes) and then come home to an empty house. So, he was just venting, speaking straight from the heart. And, he started giving me anecdotes that were just gems for a filmmaker... ki aisi film toh hum soch hi nahin sakte, likh hi nahin sakte... Even though I had worked with him, I wasn’t close friends with him, like, say, other filmmakers such as Sanjay Gupta, Mahesh Manjrekar and others were. I knew Sanju, but there was always a distance. He had never opened up like he did on that occasion. I had gone at 5 pm, stayed with him till 3 am and then came back home.

The next day, when I was editing, he called me and asked me to come over. I think he wanted to talk. After that, I called Abhijat (writer Abhijat Joshi) and told him I’m hearing these crazy anecdotes, which even if I want to write, I don’t know how to go about it.

The following day, I took Abhijat along. For over 25 days, we sat for a crazy amount of time and recorded everything. We didn’t know if there was a film because most of the things he recounted were anecdotal. I had no idea how to string them together. But what we did feel was that here was a man who had led such a crazy life in every way. He was coping with the loss of his mother, he had been to rehab for drug addiction, then he went to jail (sighs). Besides what he told me, I also met others who knew him — journalists, cops, relatives and friends. I felt there was a movie that should be told. The first thought that came to me was we will say it like it is. I told Sanju that we won’t glorify him and he was okay with it. He was like, jo bhi hai, banao.. He had talked about drugs, women, the gun, almost everything that happened. For a filmmaker, it’s like a goldmine.

How did you think of titling it Sanju? Dutt went around for a long time...

Actually, we thought of many titles. One of them was Aisa Hi Hoon. Anything you attach with a name in a biopic is like an adjective. Even if you say Aisa Hi Hoon or Sarphira, either you are glorifying him or attacking him. One thing all of us were clear about was that we wanted a neutral title. Dutt seemed a little harsh. Then I heard a gem from him. Apparently, Nargisji used to call him ‘Sanju’ with a lot of affection. We thought this is the most non-committal and neutral title, with no pre-conceived notions.

You are the maker of super-duper hits like the Munnabhai franchise, 3 Idiots and PK. Why should you be nervous at all?

The first films are the most fearless ones; you don’t worry about them. When your first movie releases, in my case it was Munnabhai MBBS, I was just relieved that it was out there. Just that sheer thought makes you happy. It is only later that other thoughts cross your mind. Slowly, you realise that you want your movie to be liked, then you want it to succeed and become a hit. But as I said, these are thoughts that come much later. The first thing is relief. 

Oh, but all that is clearly in the past. Now, you’re the Big Daddy of cinema!

Don’t bait me. I don’t buy into such things (smiles). I’m a filmmaker first, nothing else matters.

People say that you’re the best writer in the business...

Abhijat and I work together as a team. Please don’t put pressure on me by saying things like that. Anyway, in this case, we didn’t have to write. For the last 50 years, Sanjay has been writing his life. It’s said that bad choices make good stories. And this is a classic case of that.

The teaser gets launched later today. A penny for your thoughts on this occasion?

I have a terrible reputation for being nervous. If you ask Abhijat and Boman Irani, I’m a nervous wreck before every film. I recall after seven days of 3 Idiots’ release, I asked Boman if people were liking the film or was it just Aamir’s presence. I’m a bit of a mess like that because as I pointed out earlier on, I write, shoot and edit a film for months. So being objective about the end product is so hard. Every moment, every joke stops affecting me after a point in time. However, I am fortunate to have people like Abhijat, Boman and a couple of others. So, I see it from their point of view. Their reactions are fantastic to the teaser of Sanju, so I guess it’s good.

You managed a coup when you cast Ranbir Kapoor as Sanjay. The two of them are not directly connected. How did you manage to see him as Sanju?

I had a basic draft of this biopic when I sent Ranbir a message, ‘I’ve a script, let’s meet up when you’re free.’ Ranbir is usually aware of everything that is happening in the industry. He is very sharp. I’m guessing he already knew that I was planning a biopic on Sanjay. When I sent him the message, Ranbir promptly replied, ‘I hope it’s not the Sanjay Dutt biopic.’ And I thought, ‘Oh God, maybe he has heard and he may not want to do it.’ I told him it’s the same script, but let’s meet. When I met him, I realised he knew a lot about Sanju. He had spent time with him and knew him well. He used to work out at his gym and had probably heard the stories. But when he saw the angle of the story, he was like, ‘It’s interesting, let’s do it.’

Yet, Ranbir made for an unusual choice...

Hmmm. Why Ranbir? The first reason for choosing him is that he’s a fantastic actor. And the second reason is that he is at the perfect age. I needed an actor who could be 21 (years old) because that is where the film begins. That was the age when Sanju was shooting for Rocky and his drug phase started. And then we have Sanju when he came out of prison (around 56 years). So, we needed someone who could fit that transformation.

Since you managed to get up, close and personal, did you spot any similarities between them?

Both come from film families, and have that X-factor, the charm. They have lived the life of actors all through. Ranbir is not someone from outside the industry who came here to be a hero. In a sense, it was easier for me to see him as Sanju. Physically, they’re not similar. Sanju is bigger, but Ranbir is slightly taller than him. He doesn’t seem so, but it is true. Ranbir worked very hard to get the physicality right. He spent days watching tons of videos to strike the right balance and when you observe him in the film, you will notice that there is a resemblance of Sanjay Dutt, yet you know it is Ranbir Kapoor. If he did anything slightly more, it would look caricaturish and if he did a little less, it wouldn’t work. I didn’t think about anyone else. I first thought of Ranbir and went straight to him and I can tell you, we were right.

Have you shown the teaser to Sanjay?

Yes, I have shown it as well as some scenes to him. He gets overwhelmed. In fact, I told him to see the full film, but he said no, he would watch it when it’s complete. He came to the sets only twice. I think he is pretty brave. He has talked about everything in his life. I don’t think everyone will have that courage.