Vidhu Vinod Chopra says distributors in South India rejected Munna Bhai MBBS, recalls being told ‘this film won’t work’

Vidhu Vinod Chopra revealed that no one was ready to buy Sanjay Dutt-starrer Muna Bhai MBBS outside Mumbai.

With successful credits for films such as 3 Idiots, PK, Sanju and more, Vidhu Vinod Chopra is one of the most seasoned filmmakers in Bollywood. In a recent interview with Screen, the filmmaker recalled how his film Munna Bhai MBBS was rejected by distributors in South India—but the film still made him rich.

Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi's still from Munna Bhai MBBS.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra on how Munna Bhai MBBS made him rich

Vidhu revealed that nobody bought Munna Bhai MBBS outside Mumbai and said, "Munna Bhai MBBS opened to empty theatres. Munna Bhai MBBS is the movie that made me rich, but that’s because nobody bought that film outside of Mumbai. I had a distributor in the South of India, who had bought Munna Bhai for ₹11 lakh. In those days, they used to take delivery. So he came to take delivery four days before the film’s release. When he saw the film, he said, ‘Sir, this film won’t work even for a day. Nobody outside of Mumbai would get the language of Munna Bhai’.”

He added, “The bottom line is I had no distributor for South India. I had friends—Shyam Shroff and Bala Shroff—who had a company. There was a cinema there, and I got just one morning show at 11 am in Chennai. I sold my print there for ₹5 lakh. My final business from that one centre was over ₹1 crore. Nobody went to see the film the first day or the second day. But when you do good work, (it’ll pay).”

About Munna Bhai MBBS

Directed by Rajkumar Hirani in his directorial debut and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film stars Sanjay Dutt in the titular role of Murli Prasad Sharma, aka Munna Bhai—a kind-hearted Mumbai gangster who decides to pursue a medical degree to fulfil his father’s dream, by fraudulently gaining admission to a medical college.

As Munna fumbles his way through medical school, he challenges the rigid and often cold healthcare system with his compassion and “jadoo ki jhappi” (magical hug), transforming the lives of those around him.

The film also featured Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Gracy Singh, and Sunil Dutt in key roles. The movie was a massive success and marked the beginning of the beloved Munna Bhai franchise, with its sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai releasing in 2006.