Director In The Spotlight - Rajkumar Hirani

This week, caught under BollyCurry's scanner, is a man who is known to have set a benchmark in the industry for being a phenomenal director, producer, film-editor and screenwriter - Rajkumar Hirani. Commonly known as Raju Hirani among industry friends and bigwigs, he is famous for his contribution towards Bollywood in the form of movies that keep people in splits straight till the end with just the right amount of emotions.

 

His first big break came in the form of the Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Preity Zinta and Sonali Kulkarni starrer action-thriller Mission Kashmir (2000). The movie dealt with the critical issue of terrorism and was a commercial as well as critical success, which got Hirani noticed and lauded for his impeccable work.

 

Hirani's first directorial venture came a few years later, a movie which turned into a cult-classic - Munnabhai M.B.B.S (2003). The comedy boasted of a stupendous star cast including Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Gracy Singh. The movie broke all norms and stereotypes that prevailed in the industry and emerged as a trendsetter of its own. Apart from its commercial success, it won accolades including the prestigious Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, Best Screenplay, Best Dialogue, among many others. Before his next directorial stint, Hirani worked as the creative producer for the period drama Parineeta (2005), which was a critically acclaimed film with the likes of National Awards in its kitty.

 

Next, Hirani went on to direct the sequel to his debut movie - Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). The movie popularised the concept of "Gandhigiri", following the notions of Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. The movie repeated the star cast of the prequel - Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and had a new face in the form of Vidya Balan. Jimmy Shergill and Dia Mirza were seen in supporting roles. Akin the prequel, this movie was one of the highest grossers of the year and was bestowed with numerous awards, including the prestigious National Film Awards. It was also India's official entry for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

 

Hirani's next film came as a record-breaking and astonishing surprise to the film industry - 3 Idiots (2009). The comedy-drama was directed, co-written and edited by the man himself. An adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone, the film saw Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and Kareena Kapoor Khan in prominent roles. The movie's unparalleled success made it the highest-grossing film for a four year period, until the release of Chennai Express in 2013. Apart from claiming many records to its credit, the film went on to garner about 40 accolades, including the Filmfare Awards, Star Screen Awards and National Awards. It was also nominated in the Best Outstanding Foreign Language Film category for the 37^th Japanese Academy Awards.

 

Writer: Pooja B.

Graphics: Komal P.