Watched Sanju yesterday ... Spoilers ahead!
Thoughts on the movie - Ranbir Kapoor is absolutely fantastic as Sanju, he smashes it out of the park with his performance. Vicky Kaushal as his friend, is equally superb, in fact in a few scenes, he overshadows RK. The scene where he gets drunk to pluck up the courage to talk to Sunil Dutt to save Sanjay, is brilliant. Ranbir's acting in the drug scenes, in the scene where he breaks down at his movie premiere, pretty much all through the first half of the movie ... is also brilliant. he has gotten into the character of Sanjay Dutt, not just the physical resemblance, but also the mannerisms, the slouching walk, the dialogue delivery ... the change in body and physique ... amazing. His fear of his father, his struggle to live under his shadow, and the way he pretty much gave up and went haywire ... that would have made a movie of its own. The whole drug addiction phase and how he came out of it, is a good lesson for all youngsters who might be tempted to try drugs ... he was lucky that his father could afford a de-addiction program for him, but many people are not so lucky. But kudos to him that he came out of it, and went the opposite direction - into being a fitness freak.
Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt is okay ... I couldn't connect him with Sunil Dutt, but as a father worried about his son and wife, and torn between his son and his own moral compass, he was good. Sonam is bad as usual, her screechy showdown with Sanjay was awful. Dia Mirza as Maanyata was okay ... as I have no idea what Maanyata is like in real life ... she was the supportive loving wife in the movie, and was okay, but unremarkable ... probably more a fault of the scripting, which didn't give her any opportunity to show much acting skills. Anushka was average as well .. don't know why an A lister actress was needed for the role. Manisha was sweet as Nargis, especially in the song Kar Fateh ... her resemblance to Nargis was strong in the song, not so much in the other scenes.
The second half was about the terrorism tag ... as a story it was good, but since it is based on real life, it felt like a major attempt to whitewash Sanjay Dutt. Apparently Sanjay Dutt was desperate to get rid of the 'terrorist' tag ... in the movie, Hirani made it all about wanting to protect his family, after the threats on Sunil Dutt and his sisters. Also made the contacts with the underworld more based on fear and wanting to keep on good terms with them and not antagonise them, rather than being buddies despite knowing their involvement in the Mumbai blasts, Was Sanjay Dutt really so naiive that he didn't know what they were involved in? The jail scenes were powerful, especially the scene with the overflowing toilet ... yuck!!! He lived in really bad conditions in the jail, especially when imprisoned under TADA ... when you feel bad for him momentarily, but then one really can't sympathise with terrorists and anti-nationals, and he was suspected of being both at the time. The movie tries to build sympathy for him all through the jail scenes, his fear of the underworld, his fear for his family ... as a fictional hero, he would walk away with the sympathy ... problem is, he is not fictional, and the whitewash gets quite blatant.
Just hope Hirani doesn't attempt a similar whitewash for Salman Khan!
But as a movie, Sanju is very good ... very well made, and brilliantly acted. Ranbir Kapoor, take a bow. Vicky Kaushal ... take several. Another movie where the main character has the author backed role, and VK walks away with major applause ... he was brilliant in Raazi, he was great in Lust Stories, and he is absolutely brilliant in Sanju.
Thoughts on the movie - Ranbir Kapoor is absolutely fantastic as Sanju, he smashes it out of the park with his performance. Vicky Kaushal as his friend, is equally superb, in fact in a few scenes, he overshadows RK. The scene where he gets drunk to pluck up the courage to talk to Sunil Dutt to save Sanjay, is brilliant. Ranbir's acting in the drug scenes, in the scene where he breaks down at his movie premiere, pretty much all through the first half of the movie ... is also brilliant. he has gotten into the character of Sanjay Dutt, not just the physical resemblance, but also the mannerisms, the slouching walk, the dialogue delivery ... the change in body and physique ... amazing. His fear of his father, his struggle to live under his shadow, and the way he pretty much gave up and went haywire ... that would have made a movie of its own. The whole drug addiction phase and how he came out of it, is a good lesson for all youngsters who might be tempted to try drugs ... he was lucky that his father could afford a de-addiction program for him, but many people are not so lucky. But kudos to him that he came out of it, and went the opposite direction - into being a fitness freak.
Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt is okay ... I couldn't connect him with Sunil Dutt, but as a father worried about his son and wife, and torn between his son and his own moral compass, he was good. Sonam is bad as usual, her screechy showdown with Sanjay was awful. Dia Mirza as Maanyata was okay ... as I have no idea what Maanyata is like in real life ... she was the supportive loving wife in the movie, and was okay, but unremarkable ... probably more a fault of the scripting, which didn't give her any opportunity to show much acting skills. Anushka was average as well .. don't know why an A lister actress was needed for the role. Manisha was sweet as Nargis, especially in the song Kar Fateh ... her resemblance to Nargis was strong in the song, not so much in the other scenes.
The second half was about the terrorism tag ... as a story it was good, but since it is based on real life, it felt like a major attempt to whitewash Sanjay Dutt. Apparently Sanjay Dutt was desperate to get rid of the 'terrorist' tag ... in the movie, Hirani made it all about wanting to protect his family, after the threats on Sunil Dutt and his sisters. Also made the contacts with the underworld more based on fear and wanting to keep on good terms with them and not antagonise them, rather than being buddies despite knowing their involvement in the Mumbai blasts, Was Sanjay Dutt really so naiive that he didn't know what they were involved in? The jail scenes were powerful, especially the scene with the overflowing toilet ... yuck!!! He lived in really bad conditions in the jail, especially when imprisoned under TADA ... when you feel bad for him momentarily, but then one really can't sympathise with terrorists and anti-nationals, and he was suspected of being both at the time. The movie tries to build sympathy for him all through the jail scenes, his fear of the underworld, his fear for his family ... as a fictional hero, he would walk away with the sympathy ... problem is, he is not fictional, and the whitewash gets quite blatant.
Just hope Hirani doesn't attempt a similar whitewash for Salman Khan!
But as a movie, Sanju is very good ... very well made, and brilliantly acted. Ranbir Kapoor, take a bow. Vicky Kaushal ... take several. Another movie where the main character has the author backed role, and VK walks away with major applause ... he was brilliant in Raazi, he was great in Lust Stories, and he is absolutely brilliant in Sanju.
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