It’s raining biopics in Bollywood these days. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Sarbjit, Azhar, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Mary Kom and the list goes on. This year, Ranbir Kapoor will portray Sanjay Dutt in the veteran actor’s biopic. A lot has been widely reported across various sections of the media regarding the much-hyped film. Manisha Koirala has been roped in to play Sanjay’s mother Nargis in the film, which is being helmed by Rajkumar Hirani.
No other actor in the film industry has witnessed as many ups and downs than Sanjay Dutt. Right from his days of being addicted to drugs to being jailed under TADA for illegally possessing arms in the aftermath of 1993 Mumbai blasts, Sanju baba has seen it all. So, his biopic is supposed to be interesting and full of startling revelations.
But, wait. Recently, I stumbled upon a news piece from which I learnt that a major event in the Vaastav actor’s life will not be there in the film. Yes, you guessed it right. It is his rumoured affair with the gorgeous diva Madhuri Dixit. It is reported that the dhak-dhak girl became anxious upon hearing that she would find a special mention in the Christmas release. It was reported in The Times of India that Madhuri called up Sanjay and requested not to be mentioned in the film. Some websites also quoted her rushing to Hirani regarding this issue.
Both the actors were rumoured to be dating in the early 90s. Their affair ended after Dutt was implicated in the Arms Act case. It is, in fact, the most important event in the actor’s life and should have been included. But is it the only biopic in which the makers have refrained from presenting an honest account of the person’s life?
Last year, Indian cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s biopic MS Dhoni: The Untold Story hit the theatres. The film, starring Sushant Singh Rajput in the titular role, turned out to be a runaway success. But here lies the problem. We are aware of MS Dhoni’s rise from humble beginning to holding the World Cup trophy in 2011. But the biopic did not show the not-so-fancy side of Dhoni’s life. His struggles in away tours, differences with teammates and of course, allegations related to betting were ignored. These facets, if revealed, could have at least portrayed the life which most of us don’t know.
If MS Dhoni: The Untold Story showed only the positive side of MSD’s life, Emraan Hashmi-starrer Azhar was not without its share of controversies. The film, based on the life of former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, portrayed the match-fixing accused cricketer in a victim’s cloak. The protagonist in the film was shown to have accepted a bribe of Rs 1 crore but ended up taking India to victory. Later, Azhar tells the bookie that he took the money so that his teammates do not fall into the trap. Now, we all know that Azharuddin was banned for life in 2000 over allegations of match-fixing. So why was the cricketer portrayed as a victim?
If you are a public figure, it becomes quite difficult to maintain your personal space. While matters related to love affairs can be guarded, there is no point in hiding the truth as shown in Azhar.
