Rajkumar Hirani made his directorial debut with 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.', starring Sanjay Dutt as the titular character. Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Jimmy Sheirgill, and Gracy Singh played key roles in the 2003 satirical comedy-drama, which became a turning point in Dutt’s career. However, Sanjay Dutt wasn’t Hirani’s first choice for the role of Murli Prasad Sharma, also known as Munna Bhai.
In an interview with Film Companion on their show My First Film, Hirani revealed that he initially wanted Anil Kapoor for the lead role. After Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi and Shah Rukh Khan were also considered. Hirani shared that when he approached SRK to narrate the story, the actor was busy shooting another film and asked him to leave the script.
Recalling SRK’s response the next day, 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."
Hirani further explained, “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.” Although Sanjay Dutt eventually took on the role, Anupama Chopra pointed out that Hirani still mentioned SRK in the end credits of the film.
This anecdote was shared in a segment posted by an IG page named Bollywood ORRYginals, which also included an interview with Shah Rukh, where he explained why he couldn’t do Hirani’s first film.
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In the video, SRK 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 elaborated that Hirani was making his first film and waiting for the actor wasn’t an option.
“Raju was making his first film. I was shooting for 'Devdas' when I had signed 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.'. 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,” SRK added.
Shah Rukh also revealed that Hirani had kindly asked if he would mind if they cast another actor, to which SRK, being friends with the director, encouraged him to go ahead with someone else. He praised Sanjay Dutt’s performance, admitting that he couldn’t have done justice to the character like Dutt did. “I do not regret it,” SRK said.
After several failed attempts to collaborate, Shah Rukh and Rajkumar Hirani finally worked together on the 2023 comedy-drama 'Dunki', which is based on the illegal immigration technique known as ‘Donkey flight’.
