'Sanju' is NOT a biopic, but a clean-up act
When a smoker chooses to smoke, he knows that his lungs would be subjected to toxic substances. But, when a moviegoer goes to watch a Bollywood movie, he hardly expects toxic materials to be fed to his brains. 'Sanju' is one such toxic movie. In all these very many years, we have been trained in such a way that we neither expect good acting nor good scripts from Bollywood. The strange part is - 'Sanju' didn't disappoint in either cases. But, which part of it was a biopic, I wonder.
In two unrelated incidents, an educated, well-read friend pinged me and called the movie 'Sanju' awesome, and in another, I read it has already entered the Rs. 100 crore club. This got me thinking - what a great 'cleaning' job Raju Hirani has done. He managed to hypnotise people, while minting money.
In order to not disclose all the spoilers, I will just list down 3 blatant lies shown in the movie: Real: In order to 'protect' himself, Sanjay Dutt accepted unlicensed AK56s and hand grenades from Abu Salem. Reel: Hand grenades were conveniently missed from the movie. Real: Even in 2005, Sanju baba spoke to Chota Shakeel on phone. A simple YouTube search would land you there. Reel: Chota Shakeel was conveniently portrayed as some local gangster. Real: He is a misogynist who ill treats women. Reel: His sleeping with 305+ women is shown as a comical act.
Every criminal should have a friend like Raju Hirani who is a master story-teller and can change public perception about you, one film at a time. He is brilliant at his craft, does it in a subtle way, manages to be funny and emotional all at once. And, voila, perfect redemption for the 'gullible' Sanjay Dutt. While blaming Dutt's sins on destiny, women, drugs and media, Hirani did a disservice to this nation.
Bollywood does not believe in the law of the land. We need a Uniform Civil Code for them, first. When Salman Khan 'killed' homeless people sleeping on the footpath, Bollywood was quick to label those innocent people wrong. Or did they lay the blame on footpath itself? When SRK fought on Wankhede stadium, the policemen were labeled racial. They are acquitted every single time in their own courts. Judge, jury and executioner. And, lest you forget, criminals too.
I am too naive to understand Raju Hirani's true motives to white-wash Dutt's sins - true friendship, money, protection from underworld given Dutt's camaraderie with them. It can be anything. But, what he has done with 'Sanju', it will be hard to top that. He will have to find another friend who has a criminal record of decades and then exonerate him. May be, the Bhai guy fits the bill?
