‘Sanju's been made with honesty'

by MOHNISH SINGH

PARESH RAWAL BREAKS DOWN THE STORIES AND SCANDALS FROM NEW BIOPIC

KNOWN for playing significant roles in some of the most profitable comedies of Bollywood, immensely-talented character actor Paresh Rawal has not starred onscreen in a serious role in some years.

However, the forthcoming film Sanju, which is a biopic on Hindi cinema star Sanjay Dutt, gives him an opportunity to show the serious side of his acting prowess once again.

Helmed by prodigious filmmaker Rajkumar Hi­rani, Sanju stars the seasoned actor in the role of veteran actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who moved heaven and earth to save his son Sanjay from drugs and al­so stood by him like a rock when his involvement in the infamous 1993 Bombay bomb blast case threw their lives into disorder.

Paresh is humbled by the fact Hirani approached him to play such a powerful character in his film despite the fact he had turned down the direc­tor’s maiden project, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003).

As the 63-year-old national award-winning ac­tor gears up to the release of the movie, Eastern Eye spoke to the veteran at Hirani’s spacious of­fice in Mumbai to learn more about his prepara­tion for the role, challenges he faced and how it was to work with Ranbir Kapoor on the project...

What was your initial reaction when you were offered the role of Sunil Dutt in Sanju?

Happy, overwhelmed and overjoyed. Disbelieve­ment also, because I was working with Rajkumar Hirani for the first time. I always wanted to work with him. He had offered me Munna Bhai MBBS, but for some reasons I could not do the film. Since then I have been waiting (to work with him). So, when he offered me Sanju, I readily agreed to come onboard.

Did you have any hesitation or qualms about playing Sunil Dutt onscreen?

No, there was no hesitation. In fact, there was a lot of excitement about how would I play the character. It’s a challenging character, after all. But then challenges also kind of motivate you.

You just mentioned that you were offered a part in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. Which role were you offered?

The role played by Boman Irani.

When the announcement was made that Paresh Rawal would play Sunil Dutt in the biopic, there were people who said that you might not look as tall and imposing as Dutt. But when the poster featur­ing you and Ranbir Kapoor came out, the entire emotion of a father-son relationship was captured beautifully in it. How tough was it for you to match to the physical part of your character in the movie?

When you look at Sanjay Dutt, he has distinct man­nerisms, a distinct body language and style known as the Sanjay Dutt style; whereas Sunil Dutt Saab was a completely simple person. He had no typi­cal mannerism as such. You look at any of his per­formance; you will find honesty in it, but no man­nerism. So yeah, it was quite difficult to play him.

But when I set out to play him I had only one thought in mind; that I wanted to capture his hon­esty, his niceness, his pain as a father and his no­bility. He suffered so much in life. He was fighting with his wife’s illness and at the same time was also fighting to save his son from the abuse of drugs.

Even in his politi­cal career, he was target­ed by politicians because of his stand on certain issues. He had two daughters to marry and then there were countless death threats. There was no surety whether the political party he sweared his alle­giance to was with him or not.

To top it all, his son was caught in connection with his involvement in the Mumbai bomb blasts, a crime against the country. Think how much he and his family must have gone through. Sunil Dutt was completely shattered.

But he did not give up; he fought his battle all alone, without blaming anyone, without complaining, and badmouthing anyone. He never self-pitied himself. He fought with dignity, like a true fight­er. So these were the qualities which helped me get into his characters.

I believe that only the person with a strong set of values can brave all odds and remove all obstacles, and Dutt Saab had those values in plenty.

Sanju is being promoted as a film about a father and his son. How was your bonding with Ranbir Kapoor off-screen?

Ranbir is not a recluse or a moody kind of person and all that, but he keeps to himself. Having said that, I don’t mean that he won’t talk to you if you meet him. He is a very casual guy. I am a big, big fan of him, from the time of Rocket Singh (Salesman Of The Year) (2009). I al­so liked him in Raajneeti (2010), Tamasha (2015), Rockstar (2011) and Wake Up Sid! (2009).

The kind of characters he picked up is amaz­ing. Normally what a star son does is star in a certain type of film where he gets to dance in a couple of songs, fights with goons and show all his skills. This guy has been working exactly the opposite. As an actor, I am highly impressed with his acting prowess. In Raajneeti, he worked with stalwarts like Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar and Ajay Devgn, and stood out and shined.

How was it to work with Rajkumar Hirani?

I have seen all his films. I know what kind of a di­rector he is and what kind of subjects he choos­es. He is the only filmmaker from our generation whose films stay with you even after they end in theatres. You take back something or the other from his movies. He is a gem of a person.

I feel Sanjay Dutt is quite lucky that Hirani has made his biopic. Had some other filmmaker made this film, he wouldn’t have done full justice to it. Sanju is such a dramatic film. Every situation and scene has so many emotions. It’s an event-oriented film, and a film like this needs to be handled very sensitively. Only a great storyteller can do that.

See, Sanjay Dutt’s life has been very sensational. Everything has been quite over the top, there was no subtlety. So to handle such a story sensitively, you re­quire a maker like Hirani. When you work with him, you get to know and understand the finer points of storytelling.

Even though Sanjay Dutt has led quite a controversial life, Sanju seems to have been made in a manner that it can easily pass off as an enter­taining film…

Sanjay Dutt has worked as an actor only in films; he has not done anything heroic in his real life. Generally, we make biopics on people who have done something heroic in life. But here, the whole picture is reversed. Having said that, I would also like to add that Sanju has been made with a lot of honesty.

I don’t know how the audience is going to per­ceive Sanjay Dutt after the release of the film, but one thing that I am certainly one hundred per cent sure about is after watching Sanju people will think twice before judging someone and passing judgements.

They will give it a thought. They will try to un­derstand the circumstance that pushes an indi­vidual over the edge.

Manisha Koirala is playing the role of Nargis Dutt in the film. How was your experience working with her?

Manishaji is so beautiful like Nargisji. She is so dignified like Nargisji. She is so fragile like Nar­gisji. Manishaji has all those qualities that Nar­gisji had.

• Sanju is in cinemas on June 29