Vidhu Vinod Chopra on casting Ranbir Kapoor in Sanju: Initially thought Ranveer Singh could play Sanjay Dutt better

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who last wrote and produced Farhan Akhtar and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Wazir , is now gearing up for the release of the much-anticipated  Sanju . Directed and co-written by his longtime collaborator Rajkumar Hirani, the film is based on the life and times of Sanjay Dutt, played by Ranbir Kapoor . [caption id=“attachment_4489411” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Sanju poster. Image via Twitter[/caption] Although Ranbir's act as the troubled actor seems highly convincing, Chopra in an interview to The Telegraph, reveals that he wanted Ranveer Singh to play the role. “I thought someone else, like Ranveer Singh, could play this role much better. I thought Ranveer had the flamboyance, the emotional depth as well as the ability to change himself completely to play Sanjay Dutt,” he tells the publication. It was Hirani who convinced him to zero in on Ranbir for the role and as for, Chopra, the moment Sanju started filming and Ranbir became Sanjay, he had to eat his own words. Apparently, Chopra was not gung-ho about bringing Sanjay’s life story on screen initially. He reveals in the same interview that Sanjay’s struggle seemed nonsensical to him. However, when they began researching, they found out that everything — from having 302 girlfriends to begging on the streets of America for a bus ticket — was true. It took a lot of such stories from Sanjay himself and Hirani’s conviction to bring the story to life. Despite having known Sanjay and his father Sunil Dutt , Chopra says he did not know and believe a lot of stuff he heard from the former. When he did, he found the stories unmatched and could not believe that Sanjay would want to bring something like that out in the open. “He had no problems with it, so why should we? Sanju wants the world to know his story and honestly, I don’t think we are answerable to him at all. We are answerable to the people who will come to watch this film… we have to give them a good film,” he tells The  Telegraph. The last film Chopra directed was the 2007 mystery drama Eklavya: The Royal Guard, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan and Sanjay Dutt. Now, 11 years down the line, Chopra is directing another film, the trailer of which will be attached with Sanju. He reveals that he has picked up novice technicians and actors who have never faced the camera before. Also starring Manisha Koirala, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Anushka Sharma and Vicky Kaushal in pivotal roles, Sanju releases on 29 June.