Rajkumar Hirani made his directorial debut with Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., which starred Sanjay Dutt as the titular character. Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Jimmy Sheirgill, and Gracy Singh played other pivotal roles in the 2003 satirical comedy-drama. The film proved to be a turning point in Dutt’s career. However, did you know the Khalnayak actor wasn’t the first choice of Hirani to play Murli Prasad Sharma, aka Munna Bhai?
In an interview with Film Companion on their show, My First Film, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S’s director revealed that he initially wanted to cast Anil Kapoor in the lead role. After that, Vivek Oberoi and Shah Rukh Khan were their choices. During the conversation, Hirani said he went to SRK thinking he would narrate the story of his directorial debut. However, as the actor was busy shooting one of his films, he asked him to leave the script. Recalling that SRK had called him the next morning, Hirani said, “Right next morning, he read it or must have skimmed through it, so he called me, and he said, ‘Next week, come and meet me.’ So, I said if he’s calling me, that means he’s interested and over a period of time, I realised he was very keen.”
He continued, “He really loved the script. He then called up Aishwarya (Rai), and he said, ‘Go and narrate it to her also.’ Then, I met Aishwarya.” While Sanjay Dutt ultimately did the film, Anupama Chopra pointed out that Hirani had mentioned SRK in the end credits. This particular segment from the show has been posted by an IG page named Bollywood ORRYginals, who has also included the interview of Shah Rukh where he revealed why he couldn’t do Hirani’s first film.
In the video, the Pathaan actor said, “I could not do Munna Bhai because I was injured at that time. I had undergone a spinal operation. I was not sure when I’ll be able to join.” He further explained that ‘Raju’ was making his first film and waiting for the actor wasn’t an option for the director. “Raju was making his first film. I was shooting for Devdas when I had signed Munna Bhai MBBS. When I got injured, Raju dialled me from London and asked, ‘When will you do it?’ With due respect, Raju was not a big director. He was making a small film. Waiting for a star was difficult for him,” added SRK.
Shah Rukh then revealed that Hirani had sweetly asked him if he would mind if they cast any other actor. Being friends with the director, he asked him to go forward with another actor. In the same interaction, the Jawan actor heaped praises on Sanjay Dutt and said that he could have never done justice to Munna Bhai’s character like Sanju. SRK said, “I do not regret it.”
After many failed attempts at collaboration, Shah Rukh and Rajkumar Hirani worked together on the 2023 comedy-drama Dunki, based on the illegal immigration technique called ‘Donkey flight’.
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