Aamir Khan was offered Sunil Dutt's role in Ranbir Kapoor's Sanju but refused, Hirani reveals reason

Rajkumar Hirani's upcoming biopic Sanju starring Ranbir Kapoor in and as Sanjay Dutt has left everyone intrigued and curious ever since its inception. There has been a lot of curiosity to know which actor will be playing which character who has been closely associated with Dutt. For the uninformed, Hirani wanted to bring his PK star Aamir Khan onboard and had offered the role of Sunil Dutt, late veteran actor and father of Sanjay Dutt, in the film but he refused. Why?

It is a known fact that Hirani and Khan share a great bond of friendship and have always been fond of each other's work. So when Hirani was narrated the script to Khan, he was pretty excited to portray the role of Sunil Dutt in Sanjay Dutt's biopic when he was shooting for Dangal in 2016. And since Khan was already playing the role of an ageing wrestler in the film, he changed his mind and said no to Hirani.

"Aamir is a friend. Any script I write, I bounce it to him. When I narrated ­Sanju to him, he loved it and said, 'Main bhi kuch karta hoon (I should also do something in it).' Then I said, do this (Sunil Dutt's role). But he was already doing the role of an elderly man in Dangal (2016) around the same time," Hirani revealed the reason why Aamir Khan said no to star in Sanju in an interview with Outlook.

Hirani, who has always maintained that he is not making Sanju to glorify Sanjay Dutt, strictly told Khan and made it clear that if he would ever ask him to change any line or hide any scene, he would not make it.

After Khan said no, the role of Sunil Dutt was tossed over to Paresh Rawal. Sanju also stars Manisha Koirala as Nargis Dutt (Sanjay Dutt's mother), Dia Mirza as Maanayata Dutt (Sanjay Dutt's wife) while Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal will be seen in important roles.

After launching the Sanju teaser a few weeks ago, Hirani has kickstarted promotions for the film. For the past few days, the filmmaker had been sharing different looks of Ranbir Kapoor as Sanjay Dutt a glimpse into the various phases of Munna Bhai's life.

Dutt's life has been all about dizzying heights and darkest depths, adulation of diehard fans, unending battles with various addictions, underworld, prison terms and loss of loved ones. And going by the teaser, the Rockstar actor looks promising and impressive in his portrayal.

Produced by Vinod Chopra Films and Rajkumar Hirani Films in association with Fox Star Studios, Sanju is scheduled for release on June 29.

Watch Sanju teaser featuring Ranbir Kapoor here: