Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi’s Munna Bhai MBBS is considered a cult film now. However, when the film first came out in 2003, it opened to empty theatres and creators Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra lost a lot of money. However, Vidhu Vinod Chopra believed in the film’s potential and asked Rajkumar Hirani to make the film’s sequel despite the heavy losses incurred.
Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Vidhu Vinod Chopra said, “Munna Bhai MBBS opened to empty theatres. Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) was very upset thinking I lost a lot of money. At that time, I told Raju, here is a little money, about Rs 11,000. He said, ‘I will take nothing.’ I was like ‘This is for the next film, make one more. It’s a great film.’ At that time, we had about Rs 4 crore. I was like make another film. I didn’t care if Munna Bhai worked or not. Although the film started to pick up pace after Monday, the seats were empty during the weekends. I didn’t really wait for the film to become a success for me to make another film.”
In an earlier conversation, he recalled how the distributors in Tamil Nadu had backed out of their agreement after watching the film. He said, “After watching the film, Mohammed Bhai (distributor) told us he can’t take the film as no one will understand the story. The decision was made to return his money and this was just three days before the release.” The producer added, “I called a friend of mine, Shyam Shroff, who was a distributor and got one show added in Satyam, a big theatre in Tamil Nadu. He gave me one single show, 11:45 am show for Munna Bhai. You know how much money I made from Tamil Nadu? Rs 1.67 crore.”
Munna Bhai MBBS was also Sanjay’s father, Sunil Dutt’s last film before his demise. The film’s sequel, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, which was released in 2006, also became a cult hit and received widespread acclaim. Sanjay Dutt’s Munna and Arshad Warsi’s circuit became an unforgettable duo in Bollywood.
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