Who inspired Anushka Sharma's character in Sanju?

Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju is creating quite a buzz with actor Ranbir Kapoor essaying the role of Sanjay Dutt in the biopic. While most of the supporting cast, including Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal, Dia Mirza, have been introduced through posters and the trailer, the character of actress Anushka Sharma in the film was not talked about, except that she will play a journalist.

At the trailer launch of Sanju on Wednesday (30 May), Hirani was asked about Sharma’s character and who was it inspired by.  

“Anusha Sharma is actually playing ...[pauses] Abhijat Joshi [writer] and me,” Hirani replied.

This might sound vague but Hirani had an explanation. “Anushka Sharma is playing a biographer who stays in London. Sanju wants someone to write his book, but at first she is not interested,” he added.

The filmmaker then shared how stunned Joshi and he were when they first listened to Dutt as he narrated his life for hours.

Despite knowing the actor for years, there were many aspects about his life that came as shock to them. Sharma's character was thus born out of the conversations that Hirani and Joshi had with Dutt.

It must be recalled that this is the second Hirani film where Sharma plays a journalist, after PK (2014).

Sanju is set to be released on 29 June.