Aamir Khan refused this film as he wanted to play lead character; movie became blockbuster, earned over Rs 500 crore

After directing Sanjay Dutt in Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Rajkumar Hirani wanted to make a biopic on the interesting life of the Bollywood actor. Thus, he decided to make Sanju and chose Ranbir Kapoor to play the titular protagonist. The 2018 film also starred Sonam Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Dia Mirza, Manisha Koirala, Anushka Sharma, Jim Sarbh, Karishma Tanna, Boman Irani, and Paresh Rawal in pivotal roles.

Paresh Rawal portrayed the late actor and Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt in Sanju. But before Paresh Rawal came on board, Rajkumar Hirani had offered Sunil Dutt's role to Aamir Khan, with whom he had worked in two blockbusters - 3 Idiots and PK. Aamir refused the film as he wanted to play the lead character of Sanjay Dutt.

In a media interaction in March 2018, Aamir Khan had said, "He (Hirani) approached me with the script and I loved it. He wanted me to play Dutt saab's role. It is a fantastic role and the story is largely on the father-son relationship. But Sanju's role is unbelievable. So as an actor, I told Raju that Sanjay Dutt's role is so wonderful that it won my heart. So in this film I can't do any other role but Sanjay Dutt's, which of course I cannot do because Ranbir (Kapoor) is playing it. So, do not offer me anything."


Ranbir Kapoor in Sanju

Even though Sanju received mixed reviews from critics, the film became a blockbuster. It emerged as the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2018 with the net domestic collections of Rs 342.57 crore and the worldwide gross collections of Rs 588.50 crore, as per the entertainment portal Sacnilk. Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal earned immense praise and acclaim for their excellent performances and even won several Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards in 2019.

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