20 years of Rajkumar Hirani: Filmmakers reflect on his cinematic legacy
Marking 20 years of Rajkumar Hirani’s impact on Indian cinema, celebrating his unique storytelling and legacy of memorable films.
Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, who has worked with Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S, has revealed he never imagined that Siddiqui would become a prominent name in Bollywood.
On Wednesday, during an interactive session titled ‘Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) Masterclass’, Hirani recalled the early days of Nawazuddin’s journey as an actor when he played a small role in his film and said, “He acted really well and I told him ‘Nawaz, you are a very good actor’. But in my head, I never thought that Nawazuddin Siddiqui would become such a huge actor that he is today.”
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In the film, Nawazuddin played a mugger who picks the pocket of late actor Sunil Dutt’s character, who in turn saves him from the irate public.
Hirani also went on to disclose that Sunil Dutt’s introductory scene was initially not a part of the script but he added it after a suggestion from the film’s producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
The scene was inspired by a real-life incident of his childhood memory of his father.
“Once a young man from Raipur came to my father saying that his money had been stolen and he needed Rs 2,000 to go back home, and asked if my father could lend the money. My father gave it to him,” Hirani said.
“Later when he came back home in the evening and shared the story with our uncles, they said that the man is a fraud and that he goes to people and borrows money telling the same story but never pays back,” the director continued.
“My father found out the man and instead of taking him to the police station or beating him up, he took him to the Sindhi Panchayat which consists of some of the who’s who of our Sindhi community of the town.”
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“While they tried to beat him up, my father saved him and said ‘Look, everyone here is stealing something and doing scam in their business, but they never got caught because they are smart thieves. Be a smart thief, not an idiot thief that you are’,” he added.
“I applied the same story in that scene,” said the Sanju director.
-With agency inputs
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