message: "there is the father-son story, a friendship and one is a question mark. For the last one, you’ll have to see the film. Hirani also revealed that he did initially get "attracted to all the anecdotes [that Dutt was conveying]" but soon "realized it was not enough – we had to be able to string it all together." which led him to come to the conclusion that "people need to know is his gun story [and his drug story], because it is important. If there is no gun story, there is no biopic" which then in turn formed the "spine" of the film." Post the release of the film, both Hirani and Joshi reasoned that Dutt has not been "whitewashed" in the film as many critics have openly said so. Instead, Hirani questioned, "I want to know what have I whitewashed? I have shown that he had 308 girlfriends, that he was so addicted to drugs, he slept with his friend’s girlfriend. Is this whitewashing?". Joshi also commented that "What we are bashing is a certain section which sensationalizes things and uses a question mark to make things ‘chatpata’ (spicy). That has been critiqued, and I am amazed there has been no introspection on that side. No one has even said that it happens." Casting Actor Ranbir Kapoor was Hirani's first choice to play Dutt's character. Hirani stated, "I first thought of Ranbir and went straight to him and I can tell you, we were right." He also stated that he thought Kapoor is a fantastic actor and "at the perfect age." He further revealed the similarities and differences between Dutt and Kapoor stating that "they have lived the life of actors all through. Ranbir is not someone from outside the industry who came here to be a hero. In a sense, it was easier for me to see him as Sanju." He also revealed that Ranbir Kapoor worked very hard to get the correct physicality, spending days watching videos "to strike the right balance". Initially Kapoor was reluctant to portray the role. However, he agreed once "he saw the angle of the story" and that the story "broke certain notions I had about him [Dutt]". Kapoor also revealed that his initial "hesitation" about playing Dutt's role was that he is "still so relevant today" and is a "superstar" who is "working in movies today... [and] has lots to