RSS slams Rajkumar Hirani's 'Sanju' for glorifying 'gangsters and criminals'

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has slammed Sanjay Dutt’s biopic ‘Sanju’ in its mouthpiece ‘Panchjanya’. In its latest edition, Panchjanya has attacked Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Sanju’, questioning the reason for glorifying gangsters and criminals in movies. In its cover story titled ‘Kirdaar Daagdar’ (Roughly translated to ‘Tarnished Character’), the RSS claimed that the movie has nothing which could inspire the youth and questioned whether the movie, featuring a ‘tainted character’ was made under some kind of pressure. The RSS mouthpiece also slammed the makers of the film for glorifying gangsters and underworld through ‘Sanju’.

The mouthpiece, ‘Panchjanya’ also criticised Rajkumar Hirani for making a movie on a person who “was framed for his connections with underworld, hoarding weapons and destroying evidence, who was a drug addict and was known to be a womaniser.”

‘Panchjanya’ while slamming the Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Sanju’ said the movie defeats the ‘high moral ground’ taken by the film industry, which claims that movies shows right direction to the society, as the movie, which tries to “whitewash the tainted past of the protagonist” seems more like a PR practice.

The RSS mouthpiece has also claimed that the movie ‘Sanju’ defeats the purpose of a biopic as the movie has either veiled the negative features of Sanjay Dutt’s life or has portrayed them on screen just as a passing reference.

The mouthpiece has also questioned the recent trend in the film industry of making movies on underworld and glorifying it. Panchjanya has also cited the examples of movies like ‘Company’, ‘D-Day’, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara’, ‘Haseena Parkar’. ‘Raees’ among others, to substantiate its point.

Panchjanya is an Indian weekly magazine published by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Hindi. It was launched by RSS pracharak Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1948 in Lucknow.

Sanju, which is steadily rushing towards the Rs 300 crore club after crossing the coveted Rs 200 mark, has garnerd mixed reviews from the critics. Even as the mass showered praise on the Sanjay Dutt biopic, the movie was slammed by a section of critics for glorifying drugs, misogynistic attitude and underworld. Several movie critics and journalists slammed the movie for its media bashing (for allegedly portraying Sanjay Dutt in a bad light) and downplaying Sanjay Dutt's association with underworld and his hoarding weapons during the 1993 Mumbai blast.