Hirani, writer spend 40 days with Sanjay Dutt for biopic

Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi spent 40 days with Sanjay Dutt to learn all about his reported substance abuse issues, an aspect they intend to include in his upcoming biopic.

News about a biopic being made on Sanjay Dutt’s life has been doing the rounds for a while now. While Ranbir Kapoor will play the lead role in the film, it will be directed by Rajkumar Hirani. Currently, the film is in the scripting stage; it is being written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi. But what many are unaware of is the fact that the process of writing this script has not been an easy one for the writers.

Rajkumar Hirani is making a biopic on Sanjay Dutt with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead. (Agencies)

A source close to the makers, says, “The thought of making a biopic on Sanjay came to both Hirani and Abhijat a few years ago, when one day, they were hanging out with the actor at his place. At that time, Sanjay had narrated to them some anecdotes from his life. They got so interested, that they decided to make a film on him.”

Sanjay Dutt’s daughter cries in his wife’s arms as he leaves to go to jail in January 2015. (Hindustan Times File Photo)

Post that, they started visiting Sanjay often to learn more about his life. But what took them the most amount of time was writing the section about the actor’s reported drug addiction. In a few interviews in the past, Sanjay has opened up about his struggle with substance abuse.

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The source adds, “When Raju and Abhijat started talking to Sanjay about his struggles with alcohol and drugs, it took them 40 trips to the actor’s house to get the complete story about how it started, his anxieties, and how things came under control.”