New Sanju poster: Hard not to see Madhuri Dixit in Karishma Tanna

Rajkumar Hirani, director of the Sanjay Dutt biopic Sanju, and writer Abhijat Joshi have said that the star opened up to them and so they learnt many things about him that they had not known before.

In the film's teaser and trailer, Dutt, played by Ranbir Kapoor, boasts of having had over 300 girlfriends. It is also known that Dutt was once romantically linked with 1990s star Madhuri Dixit, with whom he featured in several hit films.

Neither Hirani nor Kapoor nor anyone else connected with the project has said whether Sanju will shed any light on their relationship. But a poster of the film that was released yesterday and features popular television actress Karishma Tanna with Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal suggests that it just might.

Looking at Tanna and her smile and demeanour in the poster, you can't help but be reminded of the 'Choli Ke Peeche' actress. Kapoor has one of the many stylish looks Dutt sported in the early 1990s. Vicky Kaushal plays a man Dutt is said to have befriended during his stay in the US and his presence on the poster is what creates an element of doubt about Tanna's character, because you wonder what connection he could have had with Dixit.

It is already known that Dia Mirza plays Dutt’s wife Manyata. While Sonam Kapoor also featured in the film's trailer and some reports claimed she plays Dutt's first wife Richa Sharma, Hirani said during the trailer launch that she plays one of his many girlfriends.

Tanna so far has been kept away from the promotions, to the extent that rumours began doing the rounds that perhaps her role had been excised from the final cut of the film. But the new poster lays those rumours to rest and confirms her presence in the film. What role she plays may only be clear when the film is released on 29 June.

Dutt’s run-in with the law following the 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai is what is said to have led to Dixit moving away from him. She has been married to cardiac surgeon Dr Shriram Nene for almost two decades and the couple has two kids.

Yet, when asked at an event last year if there was any actress he would have liked to marry, Dutt coolly named Dixit. Interestingly, the two stars will reunite after many years with Dharma Productions' Kalank.