Are We Ready For Honest Biopics?

Not yet, says Maithili Rao.

- Maithili Rao

The question contains the answer. We get the films we deserve, especially biopics and 'historicals.' The latest proof (of this unwritten Bolly wood law that packing sufficient emotional masala into the narrative is all it takes to entertain an uncritical audience that overlooks factual fidelity) comes from the much anticipated, much lauded and equally criticised Sanju that galloped past the 300-crore benchmark — the new, revised indicator of the true blockbuster. Films are not all about numbers. At least for non-box-office watchers, who look for more than just entertainment in a film, set in a tumultuous, divisive period of recent history. The years 1992-93 have scarred Mumbai forever; the wounds have not healed and fault lines have further deepened in these days of hyper, chest-beating nationalism.

The film’s title should have been, My name is Sanjay Dutt, and I am not a terrorist. Strategically placed before a mirror, Sanjay Dutt (a brilliant Ranbir Kapoor, who gives the film whatever credibility it has) declares: yes, I am a junkie, a womaniser. But, he pleads directly with the audience: I am not a terrorist. The vindication comes later, in a scene in which the judge acquits Sanju of the terrorism charge under the draconian TADA. He is sentenced for unauthorised possession of an assault weapon. Rajkumar Hirani’s script and direction preempts this, bent as he is upon proving Sanju’s assertion in many obvious and not-so-obvious ways. I realise I am using the film’s title to refer to the protagonist instead of the formal Dutt. It is because this man, who is now over 50, has been infantilised in our collective imagination: a result of the collusion between the media and film industry.