Sanjay Dutt, Rajkumar Hirani, Ranbir Kapoor to make T20 debut in Mumbai

Sanjay Dutt and Ranbir Kapoor

Since last week, rumours have been rife that the teaser of Sanju, the Rajkumar Hirani-directed biopic on Bollywood's 'bad boy' Sanjay Dutt, would be launched on April 24. Considering the Ranbir Kapoor starrer is one of the most anticipated releases of the year, the makers are understandably going beyond the norm of launching the first look at a theatre in the presence of the press.

In a country that celebrates films and cricket to the point of feverish obsession, Hirani plans to combine the two forces for his next - the team is aiming to release the first glimpse at the T20 match on Tuesday, in the run-up to the scheduled game between Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Rajkumar Hirani

Fox Star Studios, the producers of the biopic, have pretty much inked the deal to launch the teaser on Cricket Live, the pre-T20 show, on Star Sports. The source adds the filmmakers are also eyeing the possibility of the trio launching the teaser at the Wankhede Stadium, the venue of the match, amidst spectators. A formal approval is on its way.

If all works out as planned, the talk show will see Kapoor, Dutt and Rajkumar Hirani speak at length about their labour of love. "The 30-minute chat will be moderated by Hirani. While Ranbir will talk about slipping into the character and the challenges they faced while shooting, Sanjay will speak about how he was surprised to see Ranbir's transformation.

Ranbir Kapoor as Dutt in the film

Hirani will also shed light on how difficult it was to pen an engrossing script, especially since Sanjay's life has been widely covered by the press. The officials at Fox Star have already started a dialogue with the channel for this. The idea is to ensure that the teaser reaches as many people across the country as possible, which explains the launch on the cricket pitch as well," says the source.

After its digital release on April 24, the sneak peek will also be attached to the Hollywood big-ticket, Avengers: Infinity War that hits theatres on April 27, owing to the merger of 21st Century Fox and Disney.

Ranbir in Sanjay Dutt's character

Besides the teaser, the next few weeks will apparently also see the makers release a series of video snippets as a run-up to the final trailer launch. Also featuring Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Karishma Tanna, Manisha Koirala and Paresh Rawal, the biopic is scheduled to hit theatres on June 29.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates