Sanju: Interesting life. Interesting choices. And a lifetime of misunderstanding.

It’s hard to see an adult man being treated as a child. Or to think that a man with as much exposure as Sanjay Dutt would be so naive.

My instant reaction to Sanju: Oh the poor thing! He made a flurry of bad choices in life and then had to atone for it all. He still is. But is it that simple? Can someone be duped so easily? Can someone be so impressionable after being born into an affluent family? A child that had access to a cigarette at 6 years of age is no naive bunny. Could his parents have protected him that much? Did he really not know what he was getting into when he was housing an assault rifle?

Actually, Sanju left me with more questions than answers and I felt that it did not cover all facets of his life. He was married three times - what about those relationships? Or the many famous actresses he was with, in his prime? What about the birth of his first daughter? Did these things not have an impact on his life? Apparently, after his mother, he was deeply affected by the death of his first wife. Again, not covered in the movie.

But yes, the family bond and father-son relationship have been covered extensively and well. Raju Hirani has only gone on to show how out of control Sanju’s life had become - people weren’t taking him seriously, the underworld kept finding a way to manipulate him. And even as a 40-something-year-old adult, people around him treated him like a teenage druggie who didn’t know right from wrong. They manhandled him, ill-treated him, even insulted him. And every time he wanted to turn a new leaf in his life, he was misunderstood.

After letting my thoughts simmer overnight, I do still feel bad for Sanju. His life has been anything but easy. And nobody is born a criminal, circumstances make them take decisions that portray them in bad light. This is mostly what happened with Sanju and my heart went out to him.

But, there is still a very big BUT in my mind about his actions after he stopped using. After his stints in jail. After he supposedly disassociated with bad company. I guess we can never really understand why a person took a certain decision unless we were to walk in their shoes. He may have been assassinated or his family may have suffered bigger losses - who knows?

Coming to performances, Ranbir Kapoor finally found his way back to acting. His eyes do a lot of the talking and that’s what is marvelous about his performance. Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt and Jim Sarbh as Zubin leave a lasting impression. The rest of the ensemble cast plays their part well to enhance the storytelling.

I did really wish though that the makers would explore the dark side of Sanju. The lost and out-of-control part is understandable - but it would’ve been nice to see a deeply flawed personality rather than a sorry one.

My recommendation: Sanju leaves you asking for more. But it's definitely worth the watch just for Ranbir Kapoor.