Films like ‘Sanju’ are a cultural sanction for people who have made a habit of living dangerously and on the wrong side of the law.
After Sanjay Dutt’s biopic trailer released, a friend texted me, “Ranbir Kapoor is killing it in the Sanju trailer. Have you seen it yet?”.
Sanjay Dutt is notorious – from having done every drug in the world to serving five years in jail under the TADA Act. There seems to be no drama lacking in his life.
But, here’s the problem: Should cinema portrayals of gangsters or convicted criminals come with a trigger warning?
The trailer of ‘Sanju’ released this week: Sanju’s assertions that he is not a terrorist to his loud cries when the prison toilet starts leaking have the viewer sympathising with him already. The emotionally charged song “har maidan fateh” (will overcome all hurdles) in the trailer, with Ranbir Kapoor body-building and grappling with drug addiction, makes it is hard to not like the character in Raju Hirani’s upcoming ‘masterpiece’. Sanjay Dutt’s drug habit, his promiscuity suddenly become badges of honour.
Films like these are a cultural sanction for people who have made a habit of living dangerously and on the wrong side of the law.
And it’s not just about ‘Sanju’. When the movie ‘Raees’ came out, I struggled with the same issue.
Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’ glorified the character as a ‘Robinhood’ criminal. Raees peddles alcohol during prohibition in the same elevated and ingenious manner in which Oscar Schindler smuggled Jews during the holocaust (‘Schindler’s List’). As a viewer, they have you convinced that Raees is also saving as many lives.
Raees was viewed as loosely based on Abdul Latif, one of the most wanted gangsters in India. Latif was shot while trying to escape Sabarmati jail, but Raaes kills the arms smugglers, bids an emotional farewell to his family before he is killed. It’s as if the filmmakers wanted to write him off in style, the tall anti-hero heading towards his end with pride.
It was hard not to think about the popular series ‘Narcos’ as I watched ‘Raees’. Pablo Escobar is also a ‘people’s gangster’. But we see Escobar’s downfall. We see him scrambling to survive, hiding under cover, chased and decimated. We may admire him but we never sympathise with him.
‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai’ opens with a very empathetic portrayal of Sultan Mirza, another character loosely based on Haji Mastan. He saves the lives of thousands by risking his own life, generously gives money to beggars, and romances with poetry. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, audiences are already empathising with a mafia don.
Martin Scorsese directed several gangster films –from ‘Goodfellas’ to ‘The Departed’. It’s not just the charm and decadence of the world of crime that you see, but also the dirty part. The cold-blooded murders and violence remain central to the plot. Bollywood seems to efface all that as it focuses on glitz and the glamour.
Think about ‘Don’, or ‘Gangster’, or even ‘Deewaar’, where in order to portray the gangsters and/or criminals as likeable characters – as good people – Bollywood conveniently ignores their bad decisions.
When you watch the ‘Sanju’ trailer, you feel the very opposite of what Scorsese or ‘Narcos’ would want to make you experience. DiCaprio’s portrayal of Jordan Belfort in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ may soon be trumped by Ranbir’s portrayal of Sanju.
Right from the time of ‘Khalnayak’, Indian citizens and the Indian media have treated him like a loveable villain, a poor, hapless victim of circumstances. The movie ‘Sanju’ appears to do nothing different.
Let us not forget that Sanjay Dutt’s conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court, which believed that the charges against him were serious. He has served his time in prison and was finally released in 2016.
His infamy obviously makes his life perfect fodder for the silver screen. Who doesn’t love a good anti-hero? Even as the cinematic experience overwhelms us, we need to think about the deaths his seemingly ‘innocuous’ actions caused. And while we are at it, can Bollywood learn a lesson or two on how to make biopics from ‘Narcos’?