I'd Make Sanju Even If I Hadn't Worked With Sanjay

They collapsed the boundaries between mainstream entertainers and meaningful cinema much earlier in the day and, released at crucial post-lib junctures, came to almost define a 21st century national cinema—passing muster with the masses and the classes alike. Just four films—Munna Bhai MBBS (2003), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014)—make Nagpur-born director Rajkumar Hirani one of the finest filmmakers of his generation. The 55-year-old auteur is now ready with his next, Sanju, a biopic depicting the turbulent life of Bollywood’s enfant terrible, Sanjay Dutt. With Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, the film, due for release on June 29, may well be the master filmmaker’s litmus test, as he has made a foray into the unfamiliar and dicey terrain of biopics with a movie on the life of somebody he has known professionally and personally for years. In conversation with Giridhar Jha, Hirani spells out the reasons behind making the biopic, dismissing the charge that he has made it to glorify his actor-friend, known for his chequered life and career. Excerpts from the interview:

- Giridhar Jha

You have delivered four blockbusters on the trot. With that kind of resume, I presume there should be no reason for butterflies in the belly ahead of the next release. Far from it, I get butterflies with every rel­ease.

I remember—Boman Irani still jokes about it—how I had called him a week after the release of 3 Idiots, asking him if the film was really working at the box office, or was it just because of Aamir Khan that people were flocking to the theatres.

So yes, I do get nervous before a release. The only time you do not get nervous is when you are making your first film. At that time, just the joy of making a movie is so high that you do not care; you are happy to have finally made it. It is only later that you want your film to be seen and appreciated by people. So there’s some amount of nervousness even now, but I am feeling happy and upbeat that I have made a different kind of movie. I am eagerly waiting for people to react to it.

Making this movie in particular must have been very challenging, if not scary. A biopic is expected to be an objective and dispassionate account of someone’s life. And you have dared to make a movie on someone with whom you have had a long association, both personal and professional. Weren’t you apprehensive that you might end up making a hagiographic film meant to glorify Sanjay Dutt?

There is no reason for us to make a movie to glorify Sanjay Dutt. We are in a pretty good space, and we can make any film we want to. I could have chosen to make the next edition of the Munna Bhai series instead of Sanju. Even if it were a bad Munna Bhai, people would still go and watch it initially. The only reason I have made this film is that I found it to be a very compelling story. I discovered the many sides of it which people did not know.