meet sanjay-dutt-best-friend-paresh-ghelani

‘Sanju’ must have bowled you over, if you have seen it. In case you haven’t, you’re not only missing out an important story of one of the most controversial Bollywood celebrities of our times but also one of the finest movies made in this decade. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, ‘Sanju’ can be seen both as an attempt at ‘rectifying’ the battered image of Sanjay Dutt and also as an honest retelling of a part of the actor’s roller-coaster of a life.

Sanju film Ranbir Kapoor
Indian Express

Whichever way you see it, ‘Sanju’ impresses all with the astounding performances of the lead actor – Ranbir Singh – and the principal supporting actors – Paresh Rawal and Vicky Kaushal. In case you have been living under a rock all these years, Kaushal is the stupendous actor you saw in ‘Masaan’, then in ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’, then in ‘Love Per Square Feet’, then in ‘Raazi’, and now in ‘Sanju’ as the best friend of Sanjay Dutt. He is someone who has built a reputation for choosing the right role and a different character in all his films so far turning himself into a sensation like none other.

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Vicky Kaushal as Kamli - Sanjay dutt best friend
Rajkumar Hirani Films/Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films/Fox Star Studios.

But this article is NOT about Vicky Kaushal; it is about the character he plays in Hirani’s film – Kamlesh Kanhaiyalal Kapasi.

So who is this ‘Triple K’ or Kamali as he is addressed by Ranbir Kapoor’s Sanju in the film?

vicky Kaushal as Paresh Ghelani
Rajkumar Hirani Films/Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films/Fox Star Studios.

It was earlier believed that the character was based on Sanjay Dutt’s real-life brother-in-law Kumar Gaurav. It is a well-known fact that Kumar Gaurav aka Bunty, the son of actor Rajendra Kumar, was a childhood friend of Sanju. It is also a fact that when Sanjay was battling drug addiction in the US, Sunil Dutt decided to marry off his daughter Namrata to Bunty. Kumar Gaurav has always remained close to Sanju but Kamali is not Kumar Gaurav.

Vicky Kaushal as sanjay dutt best friend kamlesh
PeepingMoon

It has now come to light that the character is largely based on Sanjay Dutt’s best friend Paresh Ghelani.

Ghelani is a businessman based in the US. He is tycoon who has under his belt companies such as Moon Express, Xprize and Radimmune.

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Paresh Ghelani had moved to Chicago early on in his life. Sanjay Dutt is believed to have met him in New York when the two were in their teens. (That’s a long time ago.) Dutt lovingly calls Ghelani Parya. And Parya, like a true friend, has stood by Dutt all these years in the best and worst of times of the actor.

Sanjay with best friend Paresh Ghelani
Twitter

In fact, he is believed to be the only one not a member of the Dutt family to have stood by Sanju in the darkest of days. This was acknowledged by Ranbir Kapoor before the release of his film.

He had reportedly revealed that Sanjay Dutt shared two strong bonds in his life – one with his father and the second with Parya.

Sanjay Dutt best friend - Paresh Ghelani
PinkVilla/Twitter

But the Parya that we see on-screen is a mixture of the personalities of Paresh Ghelani and some others. Vicky Kaushal had in an interview revealed that he met Ghelani when he was in Mumbai. He said that though the mannerism and personality of the character was fictional, the events depicted were not.

Parya enjoying his beer.

Paresh Ghelani sanjay dutt friend
Sanjay Dutt

Parya considers Sanju as a brother. The two have often been seen together spending vacations. Sanjay Dutt has often posted pictures on Instagram with Parya.

parya and sanju
Sanjay Dutt

At the screening of ‘Sanju’, it was Parya who Dutt took with him to the venue.

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