Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has revealed that Sanjay Dutt was not his first pick to play the lead in the hit comedy Munna Bhai MBBS.
The 2003 film featured Dutt as a lovable goon who poses as a doctor.
Hirani said the film was originally planned as a TV series and he had approached R Madhavan for the titular role.
“Before Munna Bhai MBBS got made into a film, years back I had written it as a series. I wanted to do a serial out of it and that time Maddy [Madhavan] was doing many serials. He was a big star on television and I had approached him and he said, ‘I am too busy. I don’t think I can do it’.
“If he had agreed, Munna Bhai wouldn’t have gotten made as a film,” Hirani said.
To which Madhavan added, “I always knew [the film] had a better future.”
The duo was speaking at the trailer launch of Saala Khadoos, which stars Madhavan and is co-produced by Hirani.
Hirani also said that he is working on the next script for Munna Bhai.
“We have four to five Munna Bhai scripts written but they were never as good as the earlier two, so we kept them aside.
“Now we have an idea which is taking shape. Before that I have a biopic on Sanjay Dutt and then we are working on three to four other scripts,” Hirani added.
The sports drama Saala Khadoos is scheduled to release in India on January 29.
