Rajkumar Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani

Hirani in December 2014
Born (1962-11-20) 20 November 1962
Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Other names Raj Kumar Hirani
Ethnicity Sindhi[1]
Occupation director, producer, screenwriter, film editor
Years active 1993–Present
Spouse(s) Manjeet Hirani
Children (1) Vir Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani (born 20 November 1962) is an Indian director, screenwriter and film editor of Hindi films, best known for the films Munna Bhai MBBS (2003), Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006), 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014). All the films directed by him went on to become huge successes at the box office. He has also won 11 Filmfare Awards.

Early life and education

Rajkumar Hirani was born on 20 November 1962 in Nagpur to a Sindhi family. His father Suresh Hirani ran a typing institute in Nagpur. Hirani family migrated to India from Mehrabpur, Sindh (now Pakistan) during Partition of India when Suresh Hirani was 14-year-old. Rajkumar Hirani studied in St. Francis De'Sales High School, Nagpur, Maharashtra. Rajkumar did his graduation in commerce. His parents wanted him to be a Chartered Accountant but he was more keen on Theatres, Films.[2] Hirani helped his father in his business but he wanted to be actor in Hindi films. In college days he was involved with Hindi theatre. Suresh got his son's photographs shot and packed him off to an acting school in Mumbai. But Raju could not blend in and returned to Nagpur after three days. His father then asked Raju to apply to the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, but the acting course had shut down by then and chances of admission to the directorial course looked slim as there were far too many applicants.[3] So Raju opted for the editing course. He earned a scholarship, thereby reducing the load on his father's shoulders.[4]

Career

Early career

Hirani tried his luck as film editor for many years. Bad experiences forced him to shift to advertising,[5] and gradually established himself as a director and producer of advertising films. He was also seen in a Fevicol ad where some men and elephants are trying to pull and break a Fevicol plank saying "Jor laga ke Haisha".[6] He was also seen in the famous Kinetic Luna ad campaign created by Ogilvy & Mather. He was doing fairly well in the advertisement industry but he wanted to make movies so he took a break from advertisement and started working with Vidhu Vinod Chopra. He worked on promos and trailers for 1942: A Love Story.[7] He edited promos for Kareeb.[8] He got his first big opportunity as a film editor with Mission Kashmir.[9]

Munnabhai MBBS and afterwards

Hirani in 2012.

Rajkumar Hirani's first directorial venture was Munnabhai MBBS (2003) which is considered a cult classic.[10] Munnabhai MBBS broke all formulaic conventions associated with Bollywood films. Made on a budget of Rs. 10 million, it was a huge hit worldwide and took a distributor share of Rs. 25 million from the Indian market.[11] His second directorial effort was Lage Raho Munnabhai which had a strong cultural impact in India, popularising Gandhism under Munna Bhai's notion of Gandhigiri. The film was generally well received by both critics and the mass audience and was a box office success.

His third film was the comedy 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Omi Vaidya, Parikshit Sahni and Boman Irani. The film was also very well received by the critics. 3 Idiots became the highest grosser in Indian cinema shattering all records across Indian and overseas markets.[12] His fourth film was the alien satirical drama PK which stars Aamir Khan, Saurabh Shukla and Anushka Sharma in lead roles. It was released on 19 December 2014 and broke existing records in India and became the highest grossing Indian film collecting over Rs.500 crore at the box office.[13][14]

After PK, he has confirmed his plans to make a biopic on Sanjay Dutt, and will go on floors before he gets out of jail. Dutt's family is keen to see Hirani direct the film with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role.[15] He is currently scripting the biopic with his co-writer Abhijat Joshi.[16]

Filmography

Year Film Role(s)
1994 1942: A Love Story Promos
1998 Kareeb Promos
2000 Mission Kashmir Editor
2001 Tere Liye Editor
2003 Munna Bhai MBBS Director, editor, writer
2005 Parineeta Creative producer
2006 Lage Raho Munna Bhai Director, editor, writer
2007 Eklavya: The Royal Guard Creative producer
2009 3 Idiots Director, editor, writer
2012 Ferrari Ki Sawaari editor
2014 PK Director, editor, writer, producer
2016 Saala Khadoos Producer

Awards

For Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.[17]
For Lage Raho Munna Bhai[17]
For 3 Idiots[17]

Nominations

References

  1. ↑ List of Sindhi people
  2. ↑ "Aiming to Please". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  3. ↑ "Will Munnabhai now take on religion". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "From Nagpur to 3 Idiots, Raju Hirani's amazing journey". Rediff. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Raju Hirani's interview about 3 idiots". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Raju Hiraniin fevicol ad". Youtube. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  7. ↑ "IMDB Title for 1942". IMDB. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  8. ↑ "IMDB Title for Kareeb". IMDB. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  9. ↑ "IMDB Title for Mission Kashmir". IMDB. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  10. ↑ "A runaway success". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 6 August 2004. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  11. ↑ "Box office report for 2003". Boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  12. ↑ "Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots' becomes Bollywood's biggest grosser". The Independent. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "PK may stagger past $100 million milestone at boxoffice". The Times of India. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "'PK' (14 Days) 2nd Week Collection at Box Office: Aamir Khan's Film Turns Fastest ₹500 Cr Grosser". International Business Times. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2693889/Rajkumar-Hirani-confirms-Sanjay-Dutt-biopic-with-Ranbir-Kapoor-in-the-lead
  16. ↑ http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/PK-has-a-Unique-Story-Unlike-3-Idiots/2014/12/20/article2579756.ece
  17. 1 2 3 "Rajkumar Hirani : Awards & Nominations". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  18. ↑ "Lage Raho Munnabhai upstages Rang De.. at GIFA as Best Film". zeenews.com. 10 December 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
  19. ↑ "Lage Raho Munnabhai takes top honour". dnaindia.com. 10 December 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
  20. ↑ "This ones' bigger than FIFA's". screenindia.com. 10 November 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2006.

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