• It’s a consistently engaging film that makes its way to your heart even though the head frequently resists.

  • Shubhra Gupta
    Shubhra Gupta
    Indian Express

    5

    …what we get, and how we get it, in Sanju, is mostly engaging, and some of it good enough to make you laugh out loud in pleasure, especially when Hirani is killing it. But you wonder too what the film chose to leave out, and you wonder if this would have been more of a film if those things had been in here.

  • Divya Pal
    Divya Pal
    IBNLive

    -

    Sanju isn’t a family drama, Hirani offers wholesome entertainment to the viewers. He doesn’t use songs, dialogues to excite the audience or draw them to cinema halls. Nothing appears out of nowhere, just flows with the film.

  • Rohit Vats
    Rohit Vats
    Hindustan Times

    5

    Sanju is another gem in Ranbir Kapoor’s repertoire, but the same can’t be said about Rajkumar Hirani. Sanju is watchable but a very average fare.

  • Suparna Sharma
    Suparna Sharma
    Deccan Chronicle

    4

    Ranbir is outstanding in this dishonest film…

  • Rohit Bhatnagar
    Rohit Bhatnagar
    Deccan Chronicle

    6

    With a runtime of 161 minutes, the film is engaging and enjoyable but the film definitely tries to clear the image of Sanjay Dutt.

  • Ranbir covers a wide range of Dutt’s changing physicality — the minutest of details are captured in his shoulders, eyes, frame, voice — but it’s the internalisation of Dutt and the intelligence to know what to highlight and where to hold back that lends candour borderlining on conceit such awe-inspiring authenticity.

  • Sanju is the film that it is because of the infectious energy Ranbir Kapoor injects into the film. An absolute must-watch.

  • Rachit Gupta
    Rachit Gupta
    Times Of India

    8

    Presenting a biopic on a man with so many shades and one who’s lived a life of such extremes is a no mean feat. Hirani, in his signature style, takes you through Sanju’s remarkable journey with the finesse and commitment it needs. In the film, Sanju’s wife says that he’s the king of bad choices, and Hirani’s idea of making a film on his life has certainly paid off. Yes, there’s a lot missing, but even then, this is still an incredible story of a man and a movie star who made massive mistakes, walked through fire, survived it and lived one heck of a life.

  • “Sanju” is not a particularly engaging film because it stretches too long and resorts to melodrama over substance, but Bollywood also lost the opportunity to look at one of its own with a neutral lens and tell his story honestly.

  • Meena Iyer
    Meena Iyer
    DNA India

    8

    Watch Sanju—it’s an emotional roller-coaster that will give you the satisfaction of having read a bestseller.

  • Sushant Mehta
    Sushant Mehta
    India Today

    6

    Its watchable, but its not Rajkumar Hiranis best film. Im going with 3 and a half out of 5 for Sanju. I expected much more from Rajkumar Hirani, cant expect more from Ranbir.

  • Samrudhi Gosh
    Samrudhi Gosh
    India Today

    8

    It is not child’s play to make a biopic, particularly on someone whose life has been splashed all over the tabloids, in excruciating detail. Given the kind of biopics we have seen in commercial mainstream Bollywood so far, Sanju has definitely raised the bar. Watch Sanju for Ranbir Kapoor, Rajkumar Hirani, the laughs, the tears… in a nutshell, everything.

  • Sanju entertains, surprises & blows your mind. Ranbir Kapoor stays in the zone & rules it. Vicky Kaushal is going to fly high after this one. Rajkumar Hirani achieves the excellence 5th time in a row!

  • Taran Adarsh
    Taran Adarsh
    Bollywood Hungama

    9

    SANJU is an entertaining saga that blends emotions, humour and drama in adequate doses. It is powerful, engaging, emotional as well as compelling. The combination of Rajkumar Hirani and Ranbir Kapoor works like a dream. At the box office, despite not being a ‘typical Rajkumar Hirani family entertainer’, SANJU will score tremendously and emerge as a Monstrous Hit! Don’t miss it!

  • Sanju tells you superstars are humans too. They can make bad, even horrible decisions — like every other human being on earth and we shouldn’t be quick to judge them. Rajkumar Hirani, the director has made a hugely entertaining film for the audience. And for his friend Sanjay Dutt, he has given a vehicle to finally tell his version of events and say to his detractors  — bas ho gaya yaar!

  • Mohar Basu
    Mohar Basu
    Mid-Day

    6

    Few glaring hiccups in an otherwise watchable and frankly, very enjoyable film. Just don’t hope for a warts-and-all biopic…

  • Sanju is Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal’s film. Both actors pull even the flawed parts of the film together, and neatly wrap the histrionics with flavour and variety. Sanju is an entertaining film, and has all the elements of a blockbuster — but one wishes the honesty and nuance went beyond just the performances.

  • Komal Nahta
    Komal Nahta
    Komal Nahta's Blog

    -

    Sanju is a definite blockbuster. It will work wonders for Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal in particular. It will also boost the image of Sanjay Dutt in the public eye, which will help in Dutt’s future career. It can easily cross the Rs. 250-crore mark in India. It shouldn’t be a surprise if it even joins the 300-crore club, making it one of the biggest blockbusters of Hindi cinema!! Its business in multiplexes will be HUGE.

  • Manisha Lakhe
    Manisha Lakhe
    NowRunning

    4

    Let’s get one thing straight: This is a work of fiction masquerading as a biopic. And Rajkumar Hirani may have violins standing by to manipulate emotions, and he has Ranbir Kapoor mimicking Sanjay Dutt’s mannerisms, but the movie remains a vanilla version of a life full of violence induced by drugs, guns, bad company and women.

  • IndiaGlitz
    IndiaGlitz
    India Glitz

    6

    Watch Sanju for Ranbir’s transformation into one of India’s most controversial actor. Sanju is a display of some fine acting with a story that mostly reveals what the world already knows on a light hearted note

  • Tushar Joshi
    Tushar Joshi
    Bollywood Life

    7

    Sanju is undoubtedly Ranbir Kapoor’s career best performance and will fetch him all the awards and recognition. Don’t go looking for a fair and accurate depiction of Dutt’s life and you won’t be disappointed. Watch it for the sheer entertainment it provides and the unmatched versatility of Ranbir Kapoor.

  • IANS
    IANS
    Sify

    8

    Sanju with a special emphasis on the father-son relationship, as well as his bond with his friend Kamli, is a heart-warming tale, honestly told.

  • Kunal Guha
    Kunal Guha
    Mumbai Mirror

    7

    Some may complain that Sanju makes light of the convicted actor’s inglorious misadventures. But if one really hoped for a bittersweet account, we’d watch an Anurag Kashyap.

  • Namrata Joshi
    Namrata Joshi
    The Hindu

    -

    Sanju started off on a dissonant note for me, it took a long while to settle down in its world of excesses. The caricaturish feel, the slapstick tone, the garish colours, the kitschy backdrops and in the midst of it, manipulative scenes like the one juxtaposing Dutt’s innocent kids next to the rabble-rousing reactions against him on television news and a shrill Sonam Kapoor yelling aloud for a missing mangalsutra.

  • Murtaza Ali Khan
    Murtaza Ali Khan
    APotpourriOfVestiges

    6

    Sanju has its moments but as the story progresses it gradually begins to loosen its grip. The acting performances are solid all around. Apart from Vicky Kaushal, Ranbir Kapoor and Paresh Rawal another actor who deserves a special mention is Jim Sarbh who yet again impresses in a rather insignificant role. The movie’s focus is more on redeeming Sanjay Dutt than telling an honest story. It is the kind of a film that one would expect from an average filmmaker but from someone like Rajkumar Hirani one is bound to expect better.

  • Though second half gets a tad slow, Hirani holds your interest firmly with an equal dose of humour, emotions and a bit of suspense. After a long time, we have a film with good songs which you can hum even after coming out of the theatre. Sanju is definitely worth your time.

  • Madhuri
    Madhuri
    FilmiBeat

    8

    …the film makes you realize that Sanjay Dutt’s life is made of flaws. But it’s Rajkumar Hirani’s skilful direction and Ranbir Kapoor’s fine performance which stitches it into a wholesome entertainer with good intentions. After all, there’s a crack in everything. Isn’t that how the light gets in?

  • At 161 minutes of screen time, Hirani manages to give Sanju a massive ‘jaddoo ki jappi’, like no other, and one that will surely win over many hearts. But, does that validate the misgivings of a fallen star? I don’t think so.

  • ou wish Hirani had exhibited more maturity in the script. Somehow, the favourable approach towards Dutt bothers you but the film is so high on entertainment value, energy and brilliant storytelling that the buff in me is satiated and the journalist in me is enraged.

  • Sanju is the fawning biopic of Sanjay Dutt that the trailer warned us about. It promises complexity and psychological acuity. Until a point, it appears to be on track to creating a nuanced portrait of controversy’s favourite child – but then it plummets into unquestioning and misty-eyed reverence.

  • Sanju is not a multiple time watch film but its a definite watch for the sake of mighty performances that you will surely be blown away with. 

  • Technically, the film is upbeat, though some of the hallucination sequences look tacky, unlike the neater job in “Kaalakandi.” The background score (Sanjay Wandrekar and Atul Raninga) is minimalistic and thus most welcome. Vikram Gaikwad’s make-up, Clover Wootton’s prosthetics, and Viral Thakkar’s VFX help create the world in which Dutt rules. And we loved the re-created sequences from “Munna Bhai MBBS.”

    This is a biopic that cannot be missed.

  • Joyjeet Das
    Joyjeet Das
    CatchNews

    7

    Hirani, undoubtedly, knows which tale to tell. He knows how to tell it and who to tell it with.