Rajkumar Hirani- The Master Alchemist

Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju may be a troubled subject, but in the hands of the ace director, it could well become an inspirational story for our times

- Suhani Singh

I live a real life. I don’t live a reel life,” says Sanjay Dutt in BBC’s 1996 documentary To Hell and Back. “I live like a normal human being should live. If that’s called wild, then I think all of us are wild in some ways.” Dutt’s idea of ‘normal’ may be warped, for not all can have the privilege of surviving a life that includes a dangerous stint with drugs, illegal possession of a weapon, conversation with the underworld, court hearings and prison time. That topsy-turvy life of Bollywood’s bad boy gets the big screen treatment in Sanju.

More than Dutt, the bigger draw of Sanju is the man behind it—Rajkumar Hirani. A filmmaker with the Midas touch, Hirani has aced the fine art of drawing audiences to cinemas. In a career spanning 15 years and four films, he belongs to the small pantheon of popular directors, such as Ramesh Sippy (Sholay) and, more recently, S.S. Rajamouli (Baahubali), who have made blockbuster entertainers. 3 Idiots was the first Hindi film to hit the Rs 200 crore mark at the Indian box office and PK the first to cross the Rs 300 crore mark. Hirani’s films may lack in grand scale but then again his purpose is to not to blow the mind but to aim for the heart. The Hirani films now inevitably carry the label of being ‘meaningful outings’. Given that he appears with a story once in three to four years, a Hirani film is now a much anticipated event.