Raj Bansal: My friend Sanju

On a rainy evening in Mumbai, renowned film distributor Raj Bansal joined his friend of over three decades, Sanjay Dutt, and another friend’s son, Ranbir Kapoor to watch a movie that links the three closely. He travelled to Mumbai to watch a special screening of Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic, Sanju that traces the life of the former, before releases on Friday. It was as much an emotional moment for Bansal as it was for Dutt. 

A man misunderstood, misjudged 

During the course of the film, he had tears in his eyes — not once, but thrice. That’s a first; in his long association with the silver screen, reel stories don’t move him much. Speaking to AFTERhrs from Mumbai, where he watched the film on Wednesday evening, Bansal said that the film does ‘complete justice’ to the most misunderstood person of the film industry. “Sanjay has openly admitted his mistakes. Yet, his image in the media is very wrong. This film clears everything. It shows you that even after making many mistakes, your family will eventually pull you out of it all,” Bansal said. 

While the film has only one character to show Dutt’s relationship with his closest of friends, it does have glimpses of the camaraderie he has shared with Bansal over the past 35 years. “It has some moments we have shared; some things that I had said to him — all of this has been beautifully woven into the story,” added Bansal, whom Dutt addresses as ‘Thakur’. “After all, there is only a little of such an elaborate life that you can squeeze into 2.5 hours,” he added. 

Joined by divinity 

Years ago, Dutt was on his way to the Ajmer Dargah Sharif, when he first met Bansal in Jaipur. During the same trip, the two made their way to the Vaishno Devi shrine for the first time together. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. “We made a pact that neither of us will visit Vaishno Devi without the other. Ever since, we have been there 5-6 times,” he shared. Bansal recalls an interesting anecdote from a decade ago. “Sanjay planned a trip to Vaishno Devi and asked me to meet him in New Delhi, where he was to fly from Mumbai on a chartered plane. We were supposed to travel together from there. His flight was diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather and I had reached Gurgaon by the time he called to inform that the trip will have to be cancelled,” Bansal shared. “I turned around and his second call happened when I was close to Amber. He was still stranded at the airport and asked me to meet him there. By the time I reached the airport, they had the clearance and we finally flew from Jaipur to Vaishno Devi together,” adds Bansal.

A family that eats together

On his frequent visits to Jaipur, almost one every year, Dutt would insist on having vegetarian food while staying at Bansal’s home. “He is a hard-core non-vegetarian and all of us in the family are vegetarians. Before every visit, he calls my wife from Mumbai and tells her that he will only have veg food. He asks her to cook her special yellow dal and tries his best to make everyone comfortable,” Bansal shared. “Once, I made the mistake of ordering a non-veg dish and he warned me not to do that again. He said, ‘even if you are hosting the president of the United States, don’t compromise your family values for him’,” Bansal shared.

Bansal and his family’s friendship with the Dutts is visible in his social media posts, where one can find pictures of Dutt and his wife Maanyata with Bansal, his wife and his children, Meghna and Abhimanyu, all clicked over the years.

‘I have known Ranbir since he was 5’

For the first 20 minutes of the movie, Bansal, who has himself brought many films to screens in Rajasthan, was very conscious of the fact that it was his best friend’s real life on celluloid. Add to that the fact that the role was being played by another best friend’s son, Ranbir Kapoor. “I am very close to the Kapoor family too. For my son’s first birthday, Ranbir was also here. I have known him since he was five,” Bansal shared. 

“After the first few minutes into the movie, I forgot everything... The awareness of a friend and a friend’s son coming together on screen faded away. The movie pulled me into the story. A day later when I think of it, I still have goosebumps,” he said, his voice soaked in happiness.

‘An extraordinary film’

In the words of Raj Bansal, Sanju (directed and co-produced by Rajkumar Hirani) is an extraordinary one. “Ït is not only Ranbir’s career best, but also an excellent film. To say that Ranbir has delivered an ‘award-winning’ performance won’t do justice to his work,” Bansal shared. “The film is a roller-coaster of emotions and events. It is an emotional journey, where you can see the relationship between a father and son, his mother’s struggle with cancer and his own story,” he added. He wrote on twitter: Saw the most awaited film #Sanju last night. What a film. It takes you to a journey of laughter, tears, joy, melody, human relations. @RajkumarHirani excels once again. #RanbirKapoor s performance is outstanding & so are all other actors. SUPER HIT.