Sanju

Spoiler alert! Please do not read the following plot summary if you have not seen the film.The film begins with Sanjay Dutt (Ranbir Kapoor) talking about having his biography written. One of the film industry’s lyricists reads out from the book for the first time. There’s a comparison of Sanju Baba with Bapu, aka Mahatma Gandhi. It pisses Sanjay Dutt off and he throws the lyricist out and burns the lot of books. Just then the TV news shows that Sanjay is about to go to jail and he decides to get a famous international author Winnie (Anushka Sharma) to write his story so people will know the truth. She is stopped by Zubin Mistry (Jim Sarbh), a wealthy businessman, who warns her against Sanjay. She goes to her first meeting with Sanjay and asks about Mistry, Sanjay tells his first flashback. When he was making his first movie, Zubin was hanging around the set, Sunil Dutt (Paresh Rawal) made Sanjay nervous by never praising him, and so he tried the drugs that Zubin offered. While high, he went to the house of his girlfriend Ruby (Sonam Kapoor) and insulted her father (Boman Irani). The next day, he learns from Sunil Dutt that his mother Nargis (Manisha Koirala) is dying and they have to go to New York for treatment. He tries LSD to forget, and goes to New York with the family an addict. In New York, he meets Kamli (Vicky Kaushal), an innocent young immigrant who just wants to help and they become best friends. Sanju returns to India after his mother gets better determined to marry Ruby, only to learn that Boman has gotten her engaged to someone else. He calls Kamli, who rushes to India to support him and speaks to Ruby on his behalf and convinces her to meet him at the registrar’s office. But, Sanju doesn’t show up, Ruby goes searching for him to find out that he sold the mangalsutra to get drugs.

Kamli then confronts Sunil Dutt and asks him to forgive Sanju, to be his friend instead of always expecting so much of him. Sunil Dutt tries, greets Sanju calmly when he wakes up after two days and tries to get him excited about his new movie. He suggests that Sanju start sleeping in the hospital room with Nargis who is in a coma so he won’t do drugs. Sanju gives in to temptation and does them and then Nargis dies. At the Rocky premier, Sunil Dutt leaves a seat between them for Nargis and Sanju is overcome and rushes out sobbing. Sunil Dutt follows and promises he will save him. Sanju goes to rehab in America, suffers terrible withdrawal pains, finally escapes and tries to buy drugs but doesn’t have any money. He hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Kamli and get money, but is surprised to see Sunil Dutt there instead. Sunil Dutt gives him the tapes with a dying Nargis talking on them, and suggests that Sanju follow Sunil Dutt’s idea of taking famous singers and their songs as his ustaads (guides) to get through tough times. Sanju goes back to rehab and buys a tape player from the drug dealer instead of drugs, and then overcomes addiction through music and imagining his mother there with him singing. He returns to India and is approached one last time by Zubin and beats him up, finally ending his drug years. Winnie listens to all of this and is touched, and then goes and finds Zubin and tells him he is trying to stop the book because he doesn’t want people finding out he was a drug dealer. Zubin instead taunts her to track down Kamli and find out what Sanju’s “best friend” hasn’t talked to him in 20 years. Winnie flies to America to meet Kamli who tells her that he stopped talking to Sanju because he had RDX for the bomb blasts in a truck outside his house, and Kamli heard that from Sanju’s own father.

Winnie asks Kamli to tell her more. He flashes back to the early 90s, Sanju was off drugs but addicted to exercise, and Kamli was successful now in computers and flying back and forth to India to see his girlfriend Karishma Tanna. Sanju tried to help Kamli seduce her, but then Kamli ended up drinking too much and falling asleep, so Sanju slept with her instead and the next morning tried to convince Kamli that he had saved him from an unfaithful woman. Kamli was angry with him, but all the anger was forgotten when he was arrested. Sanju explains that during the riots they got threatening phone calls accusing his father of being “pro-Muslim” and when he went to see his father, the police in charge of his safety were silly and didn’t even know how to use guns. In fear, he turned to some producers he had who offered him 3 assault rifles for the protection of his family. But he changed his mind and gave all but one gun back, and then even that one, he asked a friend to cut down and hide the pieces. Kamli and his family stand by him as he is in jail, and then he finally gets bail and returns home. Kamli is ready to stay in India until his name is cleared, but then sees a headline about the RDX trucks and goes to ask Sanju about it in the preview theater where he is meeting with his father, and walks in just in time to hear Sunil Dutt say “say you knew about the bombs” and then Sunil Dutt asks him to leave. Kamli is sure that Sanju is guilty and gives an excuse about it damaging his business to stay in India and leaves. Winnie turns down the book and refuses to meet with Sanju again. Sanju goes to jail. A year later, Manyaata (Dia Mirza) meets with Winnie again when she is in India for a book launch and gives her a recording of one of Sanju’s jail radio shows that they had to smuggle out. In it Sanju, talks about the dangers of the press and the “question mark” which allows them to write any headline they want. He describes the years after getting out on bail, when the press was constantly after him. Sunil Dutt stood up for him and tried to help, first inspiring him to start turning down jobs entertaining gangsters, even if they threatened him. Sanju goes to a Hindu gangster and explains that he can’t perform for him because if he does it will shame his father, and if the gangster kills him it won’t shame his father and that is worth it. Weeks later, the gangster tracks him down and gives him a puja tray, impressed by his bravery. Sunil Dutt also wants him to get serious about work, and so takes a job in Munna Bhai MBBS and forces him to learn his lines and get to work on time and so on.

After Munnabhai, Sanju is famous and beloved again. But the case still hangs over him, he is supposed to give a speech introducing his father at a humanitarian award event and is told he cannot because of the bad publicity. The next day, Sunil Dutt dies. Sanju is heartbroken, especially because even after the court clears his name, the reporters still say he was convicted of terrorism, not a weapons charge, the truth doesn’t matter. Winnie listens to it and is open to learning more, goes to see Sanju in prison. He tells her to tune in to his prison radio show from outside the walls with Kamli and he will tell the truth. Kamli comes and he and Winnie listen as Sanju explains that the RDX truck was just a rumour, and after it came out, Sunil Dutt asked him to meet with a lawyer who suggested Sanju just lie and say he was involved and give false evidence against other people in order to get his charges reduced. He can leave the country after that, start life new. Sanju angrily refuses, he won’t lie and he won’t shame his father that way, and he throws the lawyer out. But Kamli only heard part of the conversation and never even noticed the question mark at the end of the headline. Kamli is heartbroken and regretful. Finally, Sanju is released from jail. He kisses Maanyata and then looks behind her at all the reporters and everyone and sees Kamli, in the same bright red coat Sanju bought him the first night they met, all is forgiven. And then he gets in the car to see Winnie who hands him a copy of her book on his life, titled for the Anand Bakshi song his father was going to recommend to him before he died, “Let the people talk”. Sanju goes home to be with his family and Kamli.

One of the most awaited films, 'Sanju' has finally hit the theatres this Friday. The film based on actor Sanjay Dutt's life has Ranbir Kapoor essaying the role of Dutt. The critics have already given their thumbs up for the film and now the moviegoers are going gaga over the film.

Here are some tweets by the people: