‘What have you done?’: Rajkumar Hirani recalls director declaring Sanjay Dutt-starrer Munna Bhai MBBS a ‘disaster’

RAjkumar Hirani took a chance with Munna Bhai MBBS to exhibit the softer face of Bollywood's Khalnayak, Sanjay Dutt, and it worked the like thaumaturgy. Still, the film did not have only supporters from the beginning. In a recent interaction, Hirani shared how a director declared the film a 'disaster' after watching its trial show.Director declared Munna Bhai MBBS a 'disaster'While speaking to Sanjay Arora, Rajkumar said that the director questioned his choice of putting a full-fledged action hero like Sanjay Dutt in a hospital, wearing a uniform. He recalled, “I remember when the film was completed and we were holding a trial show. A few people had come to watch it, including a director. After seeing it, he told me, ‘What have you done? You’ve made a disaster. Sanjay Dutt is an action hero, and you’re making a film with him set in a hospital? And you’ve even shot the songs here. At least one song should have been filmed at a foreign location.' ‘This should have been a colourful film. The characters should have been dressed in colourful clothes. What is this? You’ve put everyone in hospital uniforms.'”Munnabhai MBBS' opening was underwhelmingHirani also mentioned that he went to Mumbai's Gaiety Galaxy to see the audience's reaction to the film on its first day in theatres, and his heart sank after the gatekeeper gave him a thumbs-down sign."When I went inside, I saw that the theatre was only about 50 per cent occupied. Then I realised that he meant the occupancy was low and that the show wasn’t housefull. As a ticket seller, that’s all that mattered to him. But inside, I could see that the audience was thoroughly enjoying the film.” Hirani added that by evening, multiple theatres had Housefull signs outside.About Munna Bhai MBBSThe Sanjay Dutt-starrer marked Rajkumar Hirani's directorial debut and was produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film also marked Sunil Dutt's final film appearance, and he played the father of his real-life son, Sanjay. The film, also starring Arshad Warsi and Gracy Singh, was a massive commercial and critical success and bagged the National Film Award for Best Popular Film. The film was followed by a 2006 sequel, Lage Raho Munna Bhai.Hirani is currently busy writing the script of the sequel of his another big film -- 3 Idiots. The filmmaker, in a recent interaction, revealed that the three main lead characters of the film – Aamir Khan, R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi – will go through a mid-life crisis in the sequel.