HIRANI’S MAGIC
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
A director chances his charmed career on a biopic about his favourite hero—with Ranbir Kapoor starring as Sanju
Ilive 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.
Sanju, Hirani’s first attempt at a biopic, is another risky endeavour, more so since it comes without the billing of a superstar like Aamir Khan. When the heroics of Neerja Bhanot and Milkha Singh have been celebrated on the big screen and biopics on astronaut Rakesh Sharma and cricketer Mithali Raj have been commissioned, that Hirani recreates the misdemeanours of an actor for entertainment seems bewildering. “Bad choices make good stories,” says Hirani, seated in his office at Chakala, a Mumbai suburb that’s not the adda of Bollywood filmmakers. “When you get fascinated with a subject, you become stupid or fearless sometimes. Sanju’s life gave me readymade scenes.”
When Dutt was out on parole in 2014, Hirani and Abhijat Joshi, his writing partner since Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), spent 25 nights listening to the actor tell the tales of his tumultuous life. Five decades worth of stories kept them up till the wee hours. By the end of it, they had 200 hours of conversations which ran into 752 pages of transcript. “We’d leave his house feeling like complete dwarfs,” says Hirani. “We felt we hadn’t lived life at all. Kisi ki aisi zindagi ho sakti hai (Can someone’s life be this crazy)?” It further helped that Dutt gave them the liberty to tell it as they pleased. For Dutt, whose rocky career got a boost with Hirani’s Munna Bhai films, there was no one else he could trust with his story. After all, Hirani has cemented himself as the filmmaker whose stories sell the inherent goodness of mankind despite all its frailties. “I have seen the final draft of the script,” said Dutt to india today in 2017. “It is not glorifying me at all. It is a true story, my story. He believed in my life.”
DUTT’S THE WAY
The only person Hirani believed could pull off the part was Ranbir Kapoor. The slight physical resemblance aside, Kapoor is one of the most talented actors of Hindi cinema. “The way Aamir loves to prepare, Ranbir loves to do too,” says Hirani of the actor. “He was practically living in my office for a year. His dedication to the film is immense.” Kapoor set aside a year-and-a-half to do his first biopic, primarily because he’d “give his left arm to work with” a filmmaker of Hirani’s repute, one who has delivered two back-to-back blockbusters in 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014). “I have worked with a lot of filmmakers who make films for film festivals or to impress the film industry,” says Ranbir. “Rajkumar Hirani’s philosophy and desire are just to entertain the audience. He does it in a very simple and honest way.” Ranbir says he thrived in the democratic atmosphere of Hirani’s set where ideas were welcomed. “Any interpretation or suggestion for a scene or dialogue was heard,” he says. “They gave me so much freedom and respected me as an actor. I have understood what entertainment is and the value for money from him.”
Dutt hasn’t seen the final cut yet but he visited the set on a few occasions and later saw a few rushes. His reaction suggested that he was impressed and a tad worried too. “I’m overwhelmed that a film is being made on my life,” Dutt said in a video clip released before the film’s teaser launch. “I can’t believe how much Ranbir is looking like me. Raju, Munna Bhai mein Ranbir ko mat lena, samjha (Raju [Hirani], don’t cast Ranbir in Munna Bhai 3, OK)!”
Follow Hirani’s small but successful filmography of familyfriendly films and you discover that the filmmaker has a fondness for leaving the audiences with a ‘thought for the day’ served with dollops of humour. For Paresh Rawal, who plays Sunil Dutt in Sanju, the director is warning audiences about the repercussions of the ‘bad choices’. “He is saying don’t fall into the trap of false bravado,” says Rawal. “Deep down, he must be thinking that this shouldn’t happen to anybody else.”
Any biopic runs the risk of lapsing into hagiography. Hirani has a reputation for producing endearing characters. Will Ranbir’s Sanju be a saccharine hero? “I feel some people are cynical by nature,” says Hirani. “You show them anything, they only see the problems and negatives. We don’t look at life like that. We feel there’s a journey here that many don’t know about.” Sanju, he says, essentially focuses on two turbulent phases in Dutt’s life—his initial battle with drugs and the 1993 Bombay blasts case that dented his life—and the support that Dutt’s father and friend Paresh (played by Vicky Kaushal) extended during the crises.
RAJU BAN GAYA FILMMAKER
Hirani’s own journey to the summit of Hindi cinema has been fascinating, and his father played a pivotal role in it. It was Suresh Hirani, owner of a typewriting institute in Nagpur, who introduced his firstborn to the cinema of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Basu Chatterjee and Gulzar. A day before his chartered accountancy foundation course exams, Hirani informed his father he didn’t want to be a CA, a scene that he’d replicate in 3 Idiots with R. Madhavan’s character mustering up the courage to tell his father that engineering wasn’t his dream. “He gave me the freedom to choose a profession, which is what 3 Idiots was about,” says Hirani. By day, Hirani was studying commerce in Hislop College and assisting in his father’s business then extended to selling and repairing calculators, and by evening he would take to theatre. He co-founded the group Awaaz, acting, writing and directing Hindi plays for it.
Suresh Hirani acknowledged his son’s interest in the performing arts and encouraged him to apply to the Film & Television Institute of India in Pune. After failing to get into FTII’s sought-after direction course in his first attempt, Hirani made the cut for editing in his second. In Pune, he would be exposed to more Indian filmmakers such as Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and those from Eastern Europe and France. He would cry for 15 minutes after watching Pyaasa; enjoy Truffaut’s cinema and struggle with Godard’s films barring Breathless.
Once in Mumbai, like many Bollywood aspirants, Hirani too had his share of struggle. He edited documentaries and ad films and modelled in a few commercials to make ends meet. Two of Hirani’s most popular ads as an actor include Fevicol and Luna. Rajesh Mapuskar, who met Hirani in 1992 on the sets of the Vardhman Threads ad—Hirani was the salesman and Mapuskar the tailor—and would be his associate director on Lage Raho Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots, remembers Hirani exuding “positivity and warmth”. “He’d always joke around then,” says Mapuskar, director of the National Award-winning Marathi film Ventilator. “He’d recite poetry. We’d gorge on sasti waali fish at Goa Bhavan.”
While editing films, Hirani wasn’t so lucky; a few were shelved midway or went unreleased, some he wasn’t paid for. But making a feature was what brought him to Mumbai. That dream was reignited when he edited Mission Kashmir (2000) for Vidhu Vinod Chopra, for whom he’d also cut promos of 1942: A Love Story (1994) and Kareeb (1998). Hirani took a year off from ad films to write Munna Bhai MBBS. But getting a noteworthy actor to star in a project helmed by a first-
SANJAY DUTT’S REACTION AFTER SEEING THE RUSHES? “I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH RANBIR’S LOOKING LIKE ME!” “HE TELLS YOU SOMETHING VERY DRAMATIC, BUT HE DOES IT WITH HUMOUR. SO YOUR ABILITY TO ENGAGE WITH IT INCREASES DRAMATICALLY” AAMIR KHAN Actor
time director was a tall order. With Chopra’s intervention, he found Sanjay Dutt. Many questioned the wisdom of making a light-hearted film with a hero known for action and negative roles but Hirani’s “jaadu ki jhappi” warmed audiences.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Unlike his FTII editing batchmate Sanjay Leela Bhansali, there is no highfalutin artiness or cutting-edge style to Hirani’s cinema. In fact, some see it as emotionally charged, a bit oversentimental in parts. More than the extravagant songs or elaborate sets, it’s his characters and dialogues that are memorable. Munna Bhai will wear only three shirts because that’s all he needs; ‘Aal izz well’ is a mantra that Rancho (3 Idiots) espouses when confronted with adversity, and the naive alien PK gives humans muchneeded perspective on the pitfalls of blind faith. Hirani’s films examine relationships and social issues that resonate with moviegoers who want a feelgood story. The most noteworthy aspect of Hirani’s work is how simple yet effective it is. Director and writer Ali Abbas Zafar, whose last two films Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai collected over Rs 300 crore each in India, praised Hirani’s ability to find humour in the most serious of relevant issues. “It is difficult to be simple,” says Zafar who equates Hirani with a modern-day Hrishikesh Mukherjee. “His cinema has the feel of a Charlie Chaplin film. No matter who you show it to, you will always enjoy his work.”
Hirani is a late bloomer by Bollywood standards. He made his first feature at the age of 41. He is also not a prolific filmmaker, taking a minimum of three years to finish a film; a year-and-a-half devoted to developing the script and another to shoot and edit, which he does himself. It explains why his wife Manjeet, a pilot with Air India and, of late, an author too, says her only memory of her husband is of him “always working”. Raju’s films, says Manjeet, are a reflection of his values and ideology. “I used to wear stone rings as a pandit had told me it was important,” says Manjeet. “It took me a while but Raju convinced me that nothing will happen if I took them off.” Hirani would tackle these issues in PK too. The couple have a son, Vir, a student
“I USED TO BE AFFECTED THAT I COULDN’T WRITE A FILM LIKE RAJU HIRANI. BUT NOW I’M NOT BOTHERED. I AM HAPPY FOR THEM” KARAN JOHAR Filmmaker, in his memoir An Unsuitable Boy “IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE SIMPLE. HIS CINEMA HAS THE FEEL OF A CHARLIE CHAPLIN FILM. NO MATTER WHO YOU SHOW IT TO, YOU WILL ALWAYS ENJOY HIS WORK” ALI ABBAS ZAFAR Director, Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai “RAJU HAS BECOME A GENRE UNTO HIMSELF. ME AND MY WRITERS ASPIRE TO WRITE A RAJU HIRANILIKE SCENE WITH WHAT HE CALLS LCD—IT EITHER MAKES YOU LAUGH, CRY OR HAVE DRAMA” RAM MADHVANI Director, Neerja
of filmmaking at Whistling Woods International in Mumbai, and Buddy, a rescued dog Hirani brought home and was featured in PK. The Hiranis are consciously absent at Bollywood soirees. Instead, their friend circuit is limited to a few industry professionals, including actors Boman Irani and Dia Mirza, Abhijat Joshi and Chopra, and a few batch mates from FTII and friends from Nagpur.
Joshi, with whom Hirani has gone on more holidays than with Manjeet thanks to screenwriting, is one half of the now formidable writing partnership, the most successful duo since SalimJaved. “Over a decade, I have never felt shortchanged as a writer,” said Joshi in an interview to india today during the release of PK. “A lot of the time people are scared of sounding foolish in a discussion. He is able to give that confidence that no idea is dumb. I feel like honing that craft of understanding him better. I feel I will improve as a writer.” Their aim is to never undermine the audience’s intelligence. “You need to write about something that you really know about or you deeply connect with,” says Hirani. “Don’t fake it.”
LAGE RAHO RAJU BHAI
One of Hirani’s favourite anecdotes from his FTII days is how he wrote a critique of Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend—a film he couldn’t get himself to finish despite three screenings—beginning with “Godard is rightly called the bastard of cinema”. He got a B grade. When asked if he could see himself directing as long as Godard, who at 87 is still calling the shots and pushing the definition of cinema, Hirani suggested that while his passion for cinema wouldn’t wane, the on-set reality is challenging. “As directors age here, they direct less because you don’t just direct here. You do 20 jobs together,” he says. “In Hollywood, the system is so streamlined, the administration is in place. That’s why every six months Spielberg is able to make a film. Their job is not as strenuous as our job. Yahaan band baj jaati hai (it takes a toll).”
Hirani’s thoughts reveal why the shelf life of Bollywood directors is not as long as that of the male superstars they help create. Many successful filmmakers of the ’90s have struggled to fit into a more corporatised film industry and get their projects green-lit by studios. Audiences, too, have evolved, more aware of world cinema and open to original ideas packaged well. Hirani, at 55, is relatively senior but he has not seen any career bumps so far. His assistants speak of how he still works with the zest of a first-time filmmaker. “He pushes himself and keeps questioning ‘Am I doing it right?’,” says Vinay Waikul, first assistant director on 3 Idiots and director of web series The Test Case. “He doesn’t get complacent at all, which is inspiring.”
Hirani thinks his great run, the envy of many filmmakers, will eventually end. “Chaar toh filmein banayi hain maine, mujhe mauka do, main bhi banaoonga kharaab filmein. Thoda ruko, jaldi hai kya? [I have made only four films. Give me a chance, even I will make a bad film. Wait, what’s the rush?”] quips Hirani. There are many things that Hirani can do— move audiences with a heartfelt message, tickle them with clean humour and infuse positivity. In Hirani’s hands, even the chequered life of Sanjay Dutt could prove inspirational.
“CHAAR HI TOH FILMEIN BANAYI HAIN
MAINE (I’VE MADE ONLY FOUR FILMS),” SAYS HIRANI. “GIMME A CHANCE, I TOO WILL MAKE BAD FILMS”