Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRajkumar Hirani
Screenplay byRajkumar Hirani
Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Abbas Tyrewala (dialogues)
Produced byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Starring
CinematographyBinod Pradhan
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byAA Films
Release date
  • 19 December 2003 (2003-12-19) (India)
Running time
157 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget100-120 million[1][2]
Box officeest. ₹562.8 million[1]

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (translation: Munna Bro M.B.B.S.) is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani in his directorial debut and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the production banner of Vinod Chopra Films. The film was released in India on 19 December 2003, and is the first installment of the Munna Bhai film series before its sequel, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). The film stars Sunil Dutt in his final film role as the father to his real-life son, Sanjay Dutt, who stars as the titular character of Munna Bhai, a gangster in the Mumbai underworld. Gracy Singh portrays the female lead, being replaced by Vidya Balan in the sequel, and Arshad Warsi portrays the role of Munna's sidekick, Circuit, while Boman Irani, Rohini Hattangadi, Jimmy Sheirgill and Neha Dubey also appear in the film. Based in Mumbai, the film follows Munna trying to please his father by pretending to be a doctor, but when a doctor, Asthana (Irani), exposes Munna's lies and tarnishes his father's honour, Munna enrolls in an Indian medical college with the help of Circuit. Chaos ensue when Munna, on finding that Asthana is the dean of the college, vows revenge, while also sparking a romance with a house doctor, Suman (Singh), unaware that she is Asthana's daughter and his childhood friend, "Chinki".

The film was a major critical and commercial success, and went on to win the 2004 National Film Award for Best Popular Film, and several Filmfare Awards, including the Best Film (Critics) and Best Screenplay. At the box office, it achieved a silver jubilee status (25-week run) being one of only eight Hindi films to have achieved this status since the year 2000.[3] In its 26th week of release, the film could still be found playing on 300 screens throughout India.[4] The film's release was also accompanied by a mobile video game based on the film by Indiagames.[5]

Hirani revealed in an interview in September 2019 that production on the third Munna Bhai film starring Dutt in the title role will begin in towards the end of 2020.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Munnabhai M.B.B.S." Box Office India. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  2. ^ Unnithan, Sandeep (12 April 2004). "Southern film industry rushes for Munnabhai remakes, Hindi sequel in offing". India Today. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  3. ^ "10 movies we couldn't imagine without Sanju Baba". The Express Tribune. 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  4. ^ Sharma, Mukul (25 December 2021). "From Swades to 3 idiots and Bajirao Mastani: Why these Christmas releases remain special". Jagran English. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Munnabhai M.B.B.S". phoneky.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Work on Munnabhai 3 to begin next year: Vidhu Vinod Chopra". India Today. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.