Review: SANJU

Ranbir Kapoor Ka Mimicry Show!

Drugs, Guns, Dosti, Ghapaghap,

Sab Kitta Sweet Hai!

2 stars

Mini Review:

Let’s get one thing straight: This is a work of fiction

masquerading as a biopic. And Rajkumar Hirani may have

violins standing by to manipulate emotions, and he has

Ranbir Kapoor mimicking Sanjay Dutt’s mannerisms, but the

movie remains a vanilla version of a life full of violence

induced by drugs, guns, bad company and women.

Main Review:

Have you ever bought a fake bag, sunglasses, even books from

a roadside vendor who ran when the cops came? Have you ever

had a friend who was told they resemble a movie star and then

they became so annoying in that imitation that you are no longer

friends? Watching Sanju was just such an experience. Granted,

that Rajkumar Hirani’s craft is visible, because he plays with all

kinds of emotion. Granted also that Ranbir Kapoor has a

humongous talent for imitation.  

What should have been the story of a meteoric rise of a

privileged brat who turned into a superstar, brought down by

drugs and women and then guns and bad company, and then

rises against all odds, ends up being a two and half hour

mimicry show, which glosses over everything.

Kabhi Bambaiyya Kabhie Hindi

The storytelling style is like a conversation, Sanjay Dutt talking

about his life. And that’s a fine narrative device too. But the

writing swings from Bambaiyya style slang in dialog (‘Faad

daala’ and ‘Waat laagli’) to his internal dialog, when he’s

arguing with the lawyers, and pleading with the underworld don,

he speaks quite normally.

Grown Up Lads Fantasize About Phools Aur Butterflies

Whatever Happend to Pamela Anderson?

And what’s with seeing flowers and rainbows when showing us

drug induced hallucinations? Will troubled souls see flowers?

There is much better madness in Disney’s Fantasia, where

Mickey Mouse is a Sorcerer’s Apprentice and even he sees

pink elephants on unicycles, ostriches and hippos doing ballet

and twilring mushrooms and multiplying brooms when things

go out of control. And Rajkumar Hirani shows us flowers and

more flowers blooming and in his most drug induced sadness,

we see Sanju write his girlfriend’s name and blows on it and

the letters vanish as if made of smoke. If flowers is what Sanju

saw when he did drugs, then why is he so troubled?

350 Women Give Or Take, So Cute Na?

How cute and casual this is, about going through 350 women!

But that's not troubling at all! They casually dismiss his

womanising as a statistic. Something his wife jokes about and

the female reporter notes it down as, ‘How honest he is!’ No one

thought it was weird to reduce women to numbers? Who would

believe that a superstar who is rumored to have dated some of

the most beautiful women would just gloss over this part of his

life with one line? And no one tells us how he was married to the

woman who is shown to defend him with her all? Then call it

'Ghapaghap' to get laughs from the cheap seats.

Violence Bhi Sweet Hai!

Let’s gloss over the guns and the other violent parts of his nature

too! Show us how he ‘playfully’ makes a writer pray to him

because he dares to suggest that his biopic should have

comparisons to Mahatma Gandhi, and then forcibly removes

the writer’s shoes because he is made to look like a God in the

biopic he’s writing. Well, in that case, the same should be done

to the director who wants us to believe Sanjay Dutt was a super

good guy, just misunderstood.

He's As Innocent As A Daisy, The Press Is The Bad Guy

Cheap shots are taken at journalists because they're trying to

'sell' news, and again and again and again we are shown how

Sanju Baba got a bad rap. They forgot to show one big part of

his life as a movie star! And he’s been such a huge movie star,

the failure to show anything about his movies is a shame! In fact,

there’s nothing, nothing about his movies. No highs when his

screaming fans chase him, no lows when the movies fail. In fact,

apart from the first movie and one scene of his very first film,

and one of his last films we see nothing of Sanjay Dutt the

movie star.

All Is Not Lost...

But the one shining star in this movie is Vicky Kaushal. The friend

who stays with Sanju through all his ups and downs. He made me

cry and he made me smile. And you come away wishing you had

a friend like Kamli. This performance is not just the best, but

shows us what the film could have been, resemblance to Sanjay

Dutt be damned. Yes Paresh Rawal too gives off the Sunil Dutt

vibe and makes good dad to the Sanju.

But in the end, no matter how much lipstick and gloss and glitter

you put on a pig, it won't turn into a unicorn. Despite the creepy

similarity to the real Sanju baba, this film remains what it is, a pig.

(this review sans subheads appears on nowrunning dot com)