After months of getting delayed, the much awaited Sanju is finally ready for release. As you are already aware by now, the movie is about the controversial life of actor Sanjay Dutt. Ranbir Kapoor is stepping into his shoes, and he is joined by Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Dia Mirza, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Boman Irani and Jim Sarbh. Sanju is directed by Dutt's good friend and blockbuster director, Rajkumar Hirani. Our in-house critic, Sreeju Sudhakaran, is watching the movie and here's what he thinks of the first half -

"The movie begins when Sanjay Dutt learns that he has to go to jail again, after Supreme Court finds him guilty in the 1993 TADA case. He wants the world to know his story so on the insistence of his wife, Maanyata, Dutt asks a world-famous biographer, played by Anushka Sharma to listen to his story. So he narrates his early days in Bollywood when he was about to make his debut with Rocky. The first half details his ascension into drugs and booze thanks to bad company, how he copes with his mother's cancer and eventual death and later his girlfriend's marriage. All along, he had his persistent father and best friend trying to get him back to life.

No praise feels adequate to describe Ranbir Kapoor's stellar act as Dutt. Except for a couple of scenes in the start, you really don't feel he is aping the senior actor. Other actors who make an indelible impression in the movie till now are Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal and Jim Sarbh. The humour in the first half makes the proceedings an easy-breezy watch for the viewers, though you can't get rid of the feeling that Sanju is a persistent effort to make us like Dutt. However, thanks to Hirani's terrific direction, it has been a good watch till now." There is still a lot to say about the movie, so do return here to read the complete review of Sanju

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2018 09:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).