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Rajkumar Hirani
Occupation:Editor • Director • Screenplay • Writer • Dialogue Writer • Producer
Born:November 20, 1962
Birthplace:Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Spouse:Manjeet Hirani
Children:1
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About
Rajkumar Hirani, a popular Bollywood director is noted for making blockbuster films Munna Bhai M.B.B.S (2003), Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006), 3 Idiots (2009) and the satirical science fiction comedy P.K (2014). The winner of four National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards, wanted to pursue a career in film editing but after failing to find work as an editor, he moved to work in the advertising field. Over the years, he established himself as one of the leading producer and director of advertising films before eventually getting a break as a film editor with Mission Kashmir in 2000.

Early Life
Born in a typical Sindhi family in Nagpur, Rajkumar Hirani has a Pakistani descent. His family who were originally hailed from Mehrabpur, Sindh, which is now in Pakistan moved to India during the partition in 1947. After moving to India, the family settled in Nagpur where Rajkumar`s father, Suresh Hirani ran a typing institute. After completing his schooling in St. Francis De`Sales High School, Hirani pursued his graduation in commerce as his parents wanted him to become a Charted Accountant.

Rajkumar Hirani, after completing his college started helping his father in his business but he always had a penchant for working in the theater. While in college he also acted in a few plays. After much convincing, his father finally gave in and sent him to Mumbai to study acting. However, Rajkumar found it difficult to adjust in Mumbai and he returned home to Nagpur within three days. Dejected at first, Rajkumar then applied for an acting course at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. However, by the time he applied, the acting course had shut down and so he opted for an editing course instead and earned a scholarship for the same.

Personal Life
In 1994, Hirani married Manjeet, a pilot working with Indian Airlines and the couple have a son named Vir Hirani.

Movie Career
As a Director
Hirani`s directorial debut was the hugely popular comedy drama film, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S (2003) starring Sanjay Dutt, Gracy Singh, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Jimmy Shergill. The comedy film deviated from the stereotypical romances that were prevalent in Bollywood films at the time and was a massive international success. The film earned him his first National Award for Best Director. The director followed the success of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S with another blockbuster film Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), which was the second instalment in the Munna Bhai series.

After 2006, the director took a break for three year and made a strong comeback with the Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, R. Mahadevan and Sharman Joshi starrer 3 Idiots (2009). The coming of age comedy-drama film, which was based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat titled Five Point Someone emerged to be one of the highest-grossing films that year. The film which highlighted the shortcoming of the Indian education system won several awards including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

After the success of huge success of 3 Idiots, the director delivered yet another blockbuster in 2014 titled PK. The film starring Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Dutt and Boman Irani received wide positive reviews and emerged to be one of the highest-grossing films of the year; it grossed more than 630 crore INR worldwide. His 2018 release include Sanju, an Indian biographical drama film based on the life of the Bollywood actor, Sanjay Dutt featuring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role.

As a Producer
The stalwart director made his debut as a producer with PK (2014), which was also his directorial venture.

As an Editor
Rajkuar Hirani made his debut as an editor with Mission Kashmir in 2000 and since then he has worked as an editor for all his directorial ventures.
Peers & More
Imtiaz Ali
Director
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Producer
Rohit Shetty
Director
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Producer
Family
Manjeet Hirani
Spouse
Vir Hirani
Son
Sheela Hirani
Mother
Suresh Hirani
Father
Anju Kischanchandnani
Sister
Sanjeev Hirani
Brother
Popular Movies
View All
Dunki
Sanju (Hindi)
Saala Khadoos
PK
Chukkalanti Ammayi Chakkanaina Abbayi (Telugu)
Ferrari Ki Sawaari
Nanban
3 Idiots
Shankar Dada Zindabad
Lage Raho Munnabhai

Did You Know? (12)

  • Boman Irani has been a part of all movies directed by Rajkumar Hirani, Dunki was their sixth collaboration.
  • Dunki is the first Rajkumar Hirani movie to not be produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
  • Dunki marks Shahrukh Khan`s first collaboration with director Rajkumar Hirani.
  • While performing at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu, actor Ali Fazal was spotted by one of the unit members of Rajkumar Hirani who then recommended the actor to the director. He was then cast in one of Bollywood blockbuster hit, 3 Idiots in the small yet effective role of engineering student Joy Lobo.
  • Hirani worked as a salesman for his father's business before he followed his dream of joining the film industry.
  • During his struggle to make it in the film industry, Hirani stayed with his friend Sriram Raghavan who is well known for his movies Ek Hasina Thi and Johnny Gaddar.
  • Rajkumar Hirani's greatest inspiration is his mother Sheela Hirani, and the director has stated that he vets all his screenplays by his mother first.
  • During his school years, Hirani played the role of Noorjehan in a play, appearing on stage in female clothes for the first time in his life.
  • Before becoming a director, Rajkumar Hirani tried his luck as an editor but due to the bad experiences he had, he moved to work in the advertising industry.
  • Rajkumar Hirani was actively involved in Hindi theatre during his college days.
  • Rajkumar Hirani's father got his photographs shot and sent him to study in an acting school in Mumbai, but Hirani could not fit in and he returned home within three days.
  • Rajkumar Hirani watched over 300 hours of footage to make the film Sanju, authentic.
  • Personal Quotes (9)

  • ""The pressure does weigh one down. The more you succeed, the more you want people to love your efforts. I am never in a race to know how much money my film makes - at times I don't even know till I am informed - but it is important my film makes money because there are people who invested their faith in me.""
  • ""We are trying to make it simple so that it reaches as many people as possible, because in India you are talking about literacy levels which are from 0 to a 100. So how do you simplify things, and make them universal? You have to sugarcoat it. Trust me, the most difficult thing is to make it simple. When you are doing it in a commercial format, where you have to make money and make sure your film recovers money… it’s an expensive hobby.""
  • ""I've been making films that come from within. This is the kind of cinema I've liked, the kind of cinema that I've enjoyed.""
  • ""Experiences come out in whatever you make. But off late, when I analyze it, I realize that we start on a journey to tell a story, but we end up putting things we very strongly believe in.""
  • ""Focus is a must for what you're doing.""
  • ""Success is all about being able to do what you want to do.""
  • ""See, if you look at a film like 3 Idiots - it's about the constant chase to reach excellence. I truly believe in that. I think as a human race, we're very ritualistic.""
  • ""The idea is to do what you believe in. When you write, you need to write about something that you really know about or you deeply connect with. I have made films about social issues but I have not made it for the sake of it. These are issues that I feel strongly about. The moment you fake it, you will fail. The stories have to come from within.""
  • ""When things don't work out, we don't fail. We just learn.""
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