If there is a particular Indian filmmaker who has mastered the art of dealing with socially relevant subjects with tasteful comic relief, it has to be Rajkumar Hirani. His films have a special formula of taking audiences into a roller coaster ride of bone tickling humour, combined with heart-melting issues which generally remain unaddressed.
Hirani’s parents wanted him to be a chartered accountant, but he was keener on theatre and film. His passion for theatre let him pursue acting in a school in Mumbai. But his identity crisis let him not fit in and returned home in 3 days. He was then compelled to join the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. But the acting course had shut down and his chances of admission to the directorial course looked slim as there were far too many applicants.
Hirani began his career in the advertisement industry and he did fairly well as a copywriter. However, his heart resided in films and filmmaking. And so, he took a break from the world of advertisement and focused on cinema. He joined director Vidhu Vinod Chopra and worked in promo and trailer edits. Finally, in 2000, Hirani got his first break as a film editor with Mission Kashmir. Three years later, Hirani made his directorial debut with Munna Bhai MBBS and the rest is history.
Munna Bhai MBBS is a film that not only established Hirani as a convincing filmmaker but also revived Sanjay Dutt’s career as an actor. The film grossed Rs 50.5 crore and it marked the inception of a brand, Munna Bhai. The phrase ‘jaadu ki jhhappi’ from the film is popular even after decades. The brand continued to flourish with another Hirani’s commercial and critical success. With the idea of ‘Gandhigiri’, the film became more than an entertainer, it inspired viewers to follow the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. When, a local punk, left behind his anger and violence and took up to live a life of ahimsa (non-violence), it surely impacted a lot of young minds.
To date, 3 Idiots is reckoned as one of his glorified works. He redefined the education system to a conceivable extent. With this film, Hirani discussed the loopholes in the Indian education system and the kind of pressure inflicted on students of top engineering colleges. 3 idiots created a wave and stir not just in India, but China as well. His iconic dialogue from the movie, ‘All is well’ kept rolling on the tongues of the audience for a long time. Let alone in India, the film earned close to Rs 203 crore. After the Indian education system, Hirani worked for five years to dive into the topic of Indian religious beliefs, malpractices godmen or gurus, and the undying growth of superstitions. Like his previous movies, Hirani plays the magic with words to create and address the issues with catchphrases. It was ‘Wrong Number’ this time, which he used ironically used to address the malpractices. The film minted over 800 cr worldwide.
After a gap of about 4 years, Hirani struck back in 2018 with a biopic, based on the life of actor and his good friend Sanju Dutt and illustrated his addiction with drugs, arrest for alleged association with 1993 Bombay bombings, relationship with his father, comeback in the industry, the eventual drop of charges from Bombay blasts and release after completing jail term. Upon release, it generally received positive reviews from critics and was praised for Kapoor and Kaushal’s performance; some criticised its image-cleansing of its protagonist. It registered the highest opening for any film released in India in 2018, and on its third day, it had the highest single-day collection ever for a Hindi film in India.
Hirani has directed just 5 movies in the total span of his career, all of them being huge commercial and critical successes. Most have won several awards, including national awards. He has won 11 Filmfare Awards out of his 23 nominations. He was won 30 awards in total, which include several Filmfare awards, IIFA, National Awards and Zee Cine Awards.
