Here’s Why Aamir Really Said No to Sunil Dutt’s Role in ‘Sanju’

Aamir Khan confesses he wanted to play Sanjay Dutt and not Sunil Dutt in Dutt biopic, ‘Sanju’.

Did you know that Aamir Khan was offered the role to Sunil Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani’s Dutt biopic? But he said no to it. When we asked him why, he had quite a valid reason.

According to Aamir, Sunil Dutt’s role in the film is fantastic and he even told us that when we watch the film, we will mainly get to watch the relationship between the father-son duo.

Aamir Khan’s heart, though, was somewhere else.

As an actor I told Raju ‘Yaar, Sanjay Dutt’s role is so amazing that, that the role has won my heart. So in this film I can’t do any other role but Sanjay Dutt’s.’ Which I can’t do because Ranbir is doing it. So then don’t offer me any other role because I can’t come to set thinking ‘Hmmm....those lines should have been mine.’

Aamir Khan, Actor

The Dangal actor goes on to talk about how moved he was with Sanjay Dutt’s character and he is sure that Ranbir Kapoor has done a great job. And just like us, he can’t wait to watch the film.

Paresh Rawal is now playing the role of Sunil Dutt in Sanju, starring Ranbir Kapoor.

This conversation about the casting of Dutt got Aamir all nostalgic. He even reminisced some moments he had spent with Sunil Dutt. He mentioned that Dutt sahab was the one person who would always send him telegrams. So every now and then, Aamir would get a telegram from him. From Diwali and Eid wishes to birthday greetings, and sometimes even congratulatory telegrams after a movie’s success.

One particular incident that Aamir holds very close to his heart is during the time of the 1993 Mumbai riots. At that time, the film industry had taken a delegation to the then Chief Minister Sudhakarrao Naik - requesting him to bring the army, and do what must be done to stop the riots.

So, Aamir remembers, how the film industry had come together. Some 30-40 people had driven to the CM's office. But since no immediate action was taken, they decided to sit under the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Mantralaya and hold a peaceful protest. All 40 of them came and sat under the statue, promising to hold protests until the violence didn't stop. They decided to do the protest in turns. The first day five people decided to stay under the statue all night.

Aamir says, “Dutt sahab, Yash Chopra, Johnny Walker, me and the fifth person was a producer, I am forgetting his name. So five of us stayed alone at night, everyone left. At that time, we didn't have any security and all. There was absolutely nobody. Only the five of us and we spent the whole night under the statue and in the morning others came with chai. We sat there for three to four days as a non-violent protest.”

I remember that night very well because we were sitting there all night. It was amazing for me because I was surrounded by Johnny Walker, Dutt sahab, Yash Chopra. And I’m a cinema-lover. So I was asking them all these old stories and Dutt sahab was telling us about his career and Johnny sahab was telling us about his career. It was a very memorable night for me, spending it under the statue with them. Dutt sahab was a graceful, dignified, very principled, strong gentle person. He was warm and apathetic. 

Aamir Khan