Three years after the release of Dunkfilmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has spoken openly about why he thinks the Shah Rukh Khan-led film did not connect with a larger audience.

Speaking on Sanjay Arora’s YouTube channel, the 63-year-old said the film’s subject was one of the main reasons behind its limited reach.

According to him, unlike 3 Idiotswhich focused on the education system and connected with families across the country, Dunk dealt with a more specific issue.

“Every film will touch different people differently. When you make 3 Idiots, it is about the education system, which touched every household, so it will reach every household. So, when I am making a film like Dunki, it is restricted to the people who are into illegal immigration,” he said.

The director shared that he received messages from people living abroad who strongly to the story. Many, he said, told him they understood the struggles shown in the film because they had experienced them themselves.

The Munna Bhai MBBS director also felt that many regular cinema-goers could not fully relate to the issue.

“Our cinema audiences are middle-class audiences who can easily get visas,” he said, adding that many people facing visa and financial difficulties are often left out of such conversations.

Despite the mixed reaction, he remains proud of the film. “I am still very proud of the film. But if you don’t relate to certain things, they impact you less. Every filmmaker’s life has that graph, some films affect a larger audience, some affect fewer.”

Released in 2023, Dunk follows four friends from Punjab trying to reach London through illegal immigration routes after failing to secure visas through legal channels.