The 'Panchajanya' in its cover story, titled “Kirdaar, daaghdaar” (a stained character), said such movies propagate dubious values. “We decided to do a cover story on the film as we felt that, as a news outlet, we had a duty to flag the point that these kind of films were not only whitewashing what Sanjay Dutt did but were also glorifying those values,” Panchajanya editor Hitesh Shankar was quoted in a news report published by the ‘The Hindu’ newspaper.
The RSS mouthpiece also attacked Hirani for mocking Hindu values in his previous movie ‘PK’. It also questioned what kind of message do Mumbai filmmakers want to give by producing films like ‘D-Company, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai and Raees.
It may be recalled that Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray had played a key role in getting Sanjay bail and having the Tada charges dropped against him in 1995. He believed that the actor was suffering unnecessarily. Till Thackeray’s death late 2012, Sanjay would often visit him at his home but the party’s stance changed later on.
Dutt was arrested in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case and was convicted for illegal possession of an AK-56 rifle. He was released from prison in 2016.
"Sanju", directed by Rajkumar Hirani and starring Ranbir Kapoor, was released on June 29. Despite garnering excellent reviews, Hirani has also been accused of whitewashing his friend Sanjay Dutt's tainted image. The film received a massive opening and is still doing well at the Box Officer in its third week.