If Ranbir Kapoor’s turn as the down-but-never-out superstar leaves you both smiling and misty-eyed, it’s his startling similarity to Sanjay Dutt that really stays with you once you walk out of the theatre after watching Sanju. “The good thing is that you are portraying a person with whom there is already an image associated. The scary part is that you don’t want to mess around with that image,” says Eka Lakhani, who styled Ranbir and the rest of the cast in Sanju. The stylist, who enjoys working on biopics, spoke to t2 about transforming Ranbir to Sanju.

When or where did the research start for Sanju?

The research starts mentally first. While you are reading the script, itself you are jotting down notes. With a film like Sanju, where you are working with Raju Sir (director Rajkumar Hirani), who I think has known Sanju the closest, we had a very good encyclopaedia with us. Whatever we needed, Raju Sir had the answer for it. 

Of course, I started rewatching a lot of Sanju’s films that I have watched as a child and have grown up seeing. There were small nuances… from his body movements to his accessories… like how he wears a dhaga or a chain, how his belt is tucked in… those were the things that we caught on to. We prepped era-wise to make it simpler. While Ranbir was making his physical transformation, we were making clothes that would match that era.

Ranbir was also studying Sanju in a very detailed manner. While I was styling the clothes, it was Ranbir who carried them in a way that made it look real, like Sanjay Dutt. 

You said you rewatched a lot of Sanjay Dutt films. What film did you start with?

We started from before Rocky. The movie starts before he acts in his first film. We kind of had to understand the style from before that because Rocky onwards you can follow his style through his films. His face had a lot of honesty and innocence before Rocky. We wanted to capture that to develop Ranbir’s character. 

It was through the family pictures, through Nargisji’s and Sunilji’s (Dutt) photographs that we got a lot of ideas about how he was and who he was. Small things like how he was big on leather, how he loved studded jackets and boots… those formed our pre-Rocky phase. 

Then we kind of started watching his films. Before he started working out, he had a thin body. He wore oversized clothes to compensate for his physique. It was only after he started working out and he built a muscular body that he started wearing muscle tees. When he had this drugs phase, he was really thin. We took that from the ’80s and ’90s. 

Then when he was doing Kaante and Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., he got broader on his shoulders, arms and waist. There was a transformation in his clothes as well — his jeans moved from bell-bottoms to straight-fit to boot-cut. His body size affected his style in every era. 

We did our homework and decided on what our favourite Sanjay Dutt looks were and those are the looks you see on the poster. From among the looks we have done in the film, I think Raju Sir likes the release (from Yerwada jail in 2016) look the most. 

Have you taken some liberties?

See, what we have done is, instead of sticking to his personal style as something and his film style as something else, we have taken the liberty of mixing his personal style and film style. When you are doing a biopic, the audience needs to relate to a character and it is easier to make the audience relate to the character with a look that they have seen before. 
Ranbir Kapoor is a superstar. The audience knows him well. And the same goes for Sanjay Dutt. The whole of India has seen him grow in front of them. You don’t want the audience to feel that they are watching Ranbir. Only if the audience can disconnect from Ranbir and see Sanjay Dutt in Ranbir, then my job is correctly done. So the intention was to merge Ranbir into Sanju. 

Did Sanjay Dutt let you into his wardrobe?

My one-point contact has been Raju Sir for any affirmation. It was my first project with him and I am very happy and filled with gratitude that he let me be a part of such a big film and trusted me with the responsibility of the entire cast. We did take a look at Sanju’s boots and jeans and the brands he wore and got them made for Ranbir. 

What was it like to see Ranbir Kapoor transform into Sanjay Dutt?

It was magical, yet freaky as to how we managed such a big similarity. Raju Sir always said that before Sanjay Dutt became an actor... in his early days, he was quite like what Ranbir is now. He said let’s take it from there and then build on it. So, Ranbir’s initial stages are just the way he is actually. It’s just the facial expressions that needed to match with Sanjay Dutt. Then with the help of the make-up, hair, beard, hairstyle, he just got the look correct. In the end, it was Raju Sir 40 per cent, Ranbir 40 per cent, hair, make-up and wardrobe 20 per cent. It was teamwork. 
We also studied what else was happening in that era. We were concentrating on everything you’d see on screen, with Ranbir being the biggest part. Raju Sir was extremely particular. I remember Manishaji’s (Koirala) look test where we spent hours to make sure that there was a curl in the hair which he wanted exactly the way we could see on Nargisji. We were dying to make sure he got what he wanted. 

At what point do you think Ranbir Kapoor became Sanjay Dutt?

It happened on a daily basis actually. When Ranbir walked into the vanity every day, he was Ranbir. When he walked out, he was Sanjay Dutt. I think he made himself believe that. 

What do you think of Sanjay Dutt’s sense of style?

I think he has a very individualistic style. It isn’t copied. He was a rock star. He had his phases with different styles. He loved experimenting… from fitted to baggy clothes to denims to cargo pants… ganjees… the formal double-breasted blazers… he has aced every look. He kind of made it belong to himself. His appearance had a lot to do with his personal life… when he was going through the drugs phase, he was going through a hippie-ish phase… he enjoyed being carefree. Then when he started building his body, he was very proud of his physical transformation… flexing his arms and taking pictures. 

His fashion was what his soul felt. I love his ’80s look. From his films, I like Munna Bhai. It kind of changed this bhai image that he had to an adorable one. 

What would be Sanjay Dutt’s typical accessories?

I have always noticed a Rolex watch. Lots of rings… a white stone ring, gold rings. He has a couple of chains around his neck. You’ll often find a laal dhaga on his hand. 

And Ranbir Kapoor?

Ranbir has a phenomenal personal style. I like his distressed-fashion vibe. He wears rugged clothes in a very casual way. So effortless and comfortable. The comfort you see in his body language is his style.

What’s your takeaway from Sanju?

You take back a lot from the script. It shows you what you should or shouldn’t do and how clean your heart should be. It makes you realise the importance of relationships in your life. All of us who worked on this film felt like a big family. We never thought that we were working too hard. We always thought that we were making something so precious.