Ranbir Kapoor starrer Sanju based on the life of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is without a doubt one of the most anticipated releases of the year.
However, in a recent interview with the Telegraph India, the producer of the film, Vidhu Vinod Chopra revealed that he was a little hesitant when director Rajkumar Hirani approached him for the film.
“When he [Hirani] told me, I was like, ‘What’s there in Sanjay Dutt’s life that merits being made into a film? It’s better you make a film on my life… how I left Kashmir as a young boy and struggled when I came to Bombay.’ I thought Raju and Abhijat [Joshi, Sanju’s co-writer] had lost their minds!,” Chopra remarked.
However, it was the life of Sanjay Dutt and his bond with father Sunil Dutt which made Chopra rethink his decision.
“When he [Hirani] sat me down and started narrating all that had happened in Sanjay’s life, I was stunned! At first, I thought it was hogwash… that Sanju was somehow not telling the truth, but when we started researching all that he’s said — from the 308 girlfriends he had to how he begged on the streets of US for the money to buy a bus ticket — we realised that everything he had told us was true!”
Chopra was taken aback when he understood that the tears in Munna Bhai MBBS’s scene where Sanjay asked his father’s forgiveness were for real.
“I was standing there on the set of Munna Bhai and I had no idea they were actually living that scene,” he told the newspaper.
Chopra further added that he wasn’t keen on casting Ranbir Kapoor in the film and thought Ranveer Singh would have been a better choice.
“When he told me about Ranbir, I wasn’t happy at all. I thought someone else, like Ranveer Singh, could play this role much better. I thought Ranveer had the flamboyance, the emotional depth as well as the ability to change himself completely to play Sanjay Dutt. But Raju was adamant that Ranbir would be perfect. And when we started shooting and Ranbir became Sanjay Dutt, I kind of had to eat my words.”
Ranbir’s transformation as Sanjay has stunned the world, creating even more anticipation for the film.
