Rajkumar Hirani must be feeling very proud of himself, now that his Sanju biopic teaser launched a few hours earlier has become the talk of the town. The Ranbir Kapoor starrer film is a biopic on the life of actor Sanjay Dutt with whom Hirani made his directorial debut Munnabhai MBBS. At the teaser launch, Hirani revealed how he thought that Sanjay’s life story is a goldmine for any filmmaker, but he was in a dilemma on how to tackle it.

RECOMMENDED READ: RANBIR KAPOOR ON SANJU BIOPIC: THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE SANJAY DUTT, I AM ONLY TRYING TO PORTRAY HIS CHARACTER

Hirani revealed how he embarked on the idea of making a biopic on Dutt, who for the major part of his career has been a controversial figure. He said, “I must tell you how I got attracted to it. I was writing Munnabhai. However, much earlier when I was penning PK, Sanjay was out on parole and I happened to meet him. He just started talking about his life. He was lonely. Maanayata (I think) was in the hospital and he used to go there (sometimes) and then come home to an empty house. So, he was just venting, speaking straight from the heart. And, he started giving me anecdotes that were just gems for a filmmaker... ki aisi film toh hum soch hi nahin sakte, likh hi nahin sakte... Even though I had worked with him, I wasn’t close friends with him, like, say, other filmmakers such as Sanjay Gupta, Mahesh Manjrekar and others were. I knew Sanju, but there was always a distance. He had never opened up like he did on that occasion. I had gone at 5 pm, stayed with him till 3 am and then came back home."

RECOMMENDED READ: SANJAY DUTT BIOPIC: RAJKUMAR HIRANI SPILLS THE BEANS ON THE RANBIR KAPOOR MOVIE

He further added, “The next day when I was editing, he called me and asked me to come over. I think he wanted to talk. After that, I called Abhijat (writer Abhijat Joshi) and told him I’m hearing these crazy anecdotes, which even if I want to write, I don’t know how to go about it. The following day, I took Abhijat along. For over 25 days, we sat for a crazy amount of time and recorded everything. We didn’t know if there was a film because most of the things he recounted were anecdotal. I had no idea how to string them together. But what we did feel was that there was a man who had led such a crazy life in every way.”

Hirani continued, “He (Sanjay) was coping with the loss of his mother, he had been to rehab for drug addiction, then he went to jail (sighs). Besides what he told me, I also met others who knew him — journalists, cops, relatives and friends. I felt there was a movie that should be told. The first thought that came to me was we will say it like it is. I told Sanju that we won’t glorify him and he was okay with it. He was like, jo bhi hai, banao.. He had talked about drugs, women, the gun, almost everything that happened. For a filmmaker, it’s like a goldmine.”

DESK: VANDANA SRIVASTAWA