With a mop of curls and coloured eyes, Anushka Sharma is sparking curiosity about just which character she plays in Sanju. Director Rajkumar Hirani spilled the beans… “In a biopic, the truth stays but you need to compress a person’s life, and even combine characters.” He then warned people not to laugh, as he revealed that Anushka is playing the role of writer Abhijat and himself!
“Anushka is playing a biographer who lives in London,” he added. “She is in two minds whether to write his biography or not. Abhijat and I also had our moments of doubt. Sometimes we would be sitting with the police, sometimes with the lawyers, sometimes with the family, wondering if we should do it or not. So, Anushka is actually us but she doesn’t play a filmmaker but a biographer.”
Paresh Rawal, who plays Sunil Dutt, shared an interesting anecdote about his connection with the film. On May 25, 2005 he had returned to Mumbai, when his wife Swaroop Sampat informed him that there was a letter for him from Sunil Dutt.
“She said it was a birthday wish from him. I replied that my birthday was on the 30th; why would he wish me five days in advance? Cut to January 2017, when I visited the Sanju office, I received a call from Swaroop saying that she had found the letter from Dutt sa’ab in my drawer. Generally wishes are discarded after some time, but this letter remained in my drawer for 12 full years. It was perhaps my destiny to play Dutt sa’ab’s role,” he mused.
Manisha Koirala, who plays Nargis Dutt, had another tale to share… “I felt it was such a great honour to play her. When my movie Bombay had released, Dutt sa’ab had sent a letter to me saying that I reminded him of Nargis Dutt ji. So I really take that as a huge compliment.” Her revelation took Raju Hirani by surprise, as he exclaimed, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”
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