Mumbai: Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani straightway entered the A-list league and became a fixture after he debuted with Munnabhai M.B.B.S. in 2003. Dodging the formulaic Bollywood cinema, Hirani paved his own path as a filmmaker and tasted success in the crowded industry.
The Nagpur born filmmaker aspired to be an actor having done theatre in college. After a failed attempt at an acting school in Mumbai, Hirani turned to Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and got himself enrolled in editing course since chances of getting into acting and directorial courses seemed bleak.
A still from Munnabhai M.B.B.S. While the world woke up to this incredible storyteller after the success of his maiden film Munnabhai M.B.B.S. in 2003, little did anyone knew about his nearly a decade long grind in the advertisement industry. Since movies were where his heart was, Hirani left the lucrative ad world for a chance to watch the process of filmmaking from close and joined Vidhu Vinod Chopra as a promo editor and eventually got into film editing with Mission Kashmir. All these learnings and experiences came handy when he finally embarked on his filmmaking journey.
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Hirani's close friend and frequent collaborator, Boman Irani once rightly said that the filmmaker knows how to make entertainment "profound" without making anyone realise it and we couldn't agree more. All his cinematic endeavours are well-constructed and clearly argued ideas that appealed to audiences' intellect and at the same time did not lack entertainment.
Sanjay Dutt with Dilip Prabhavalkar in a still from Lage Raho Munna Bhai Another trait which is believed to be one of the reasons behind his success is that he banks on a unique idea. The filmmaker opines that to survive public scrutiny is likely achievable task if something "never seen before" is served on the platter. Lage Raho Munna Bhai received humungous response because it revolved around 'Dadagiri meets Gandhigiri'. Even after the blockbuster success of both the films, Hirani did not give in to the temptation of churning out more movies under Munnabhai franchise as he had once said that without a good story "it would mean killing the series.”
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To keep the story interesting Hirani derives a lot from what he observes around him and picks up cues from his personal experiences to create the nuances that make his stories endearing. While speaking at the second edition of Cinestaan script contest in 2018, Hirani had said he believes that the small towns are a huge bank of stories as people have more exposure to life there while big cities lack a strong social connect resulting in limited life experiences.
Anushka Sharma and Aamir Khan in a still from PK Revealing how he knows if a scene would sink or float, Rajkumar had once said that the key lies in three elements--laughter, tears and drama coupled with the right amount of exaggeration which would entice audience reaction. Hirani who closely works with his writer Abhijat Joshi has said that before anyone else listens to the script they gauge it with how they react to the scene during narration. "For Abhijat there has to be a flicker of emotion, just a tiny tear in my eye when he explains an emotional scene. I, too, need him to crack up when I narrate something funny, then we know the scene is right," said Hirani on his creative process.
Abhijat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani during an interview Hirani and Joshi who are two peas in a pod never follow the set rules. The only thing that the duo follows religiously is that the film should be entertaining; no compromises on personal conviction and give your heart and soul while making the film as if it's your last venture. And the results are out there for everybody to see. Mindboggling commercial success coupled with critical acclaim.
