Rajkumar Hirani, who is one of the finest filmmakers that Bollywood has seen, turns a year older today. Over the years he has helmed some of the biggest films and those films have had some of the best characters. Hirani's films have churned out some very relatable and interesting characters over the years. On his 59th birthday, here’s taking a look at some of the most loved and memorable characters that he has given to the audiences:
Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt – Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai)
No Rajkumar Hirani list is complete without the mention of Sanjay Dutt or the Munna Bhai series. The titular character played by Sanjay Dutt etched his way into the hearts of the audiences as soon as the film was released. A brash guy turned into a soft-hearted kind guy, Munna, is all of us who was forced by love to change his ways and ever since then the fans have been waiting for Sanjay Dutt to reprise his role - such is the love the character received.
Librarian Dubey (Akhil Mishra – 3 idiots)
Even with a very short duration of screen appearance the actor turned up ready for the challenge. A film stacked with a lot of serious messages needed comic relief every now and then to make it not too heavy on the head. Akhil Mishra came in as that funny clueless guy who found himself in odd situations without having any knowledge of how or what had happened. The actor played a very relatable character and in a very short time made the audience laugh hard.
Circuit (Arshad Warsi – Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai)
Just like Munna Bhai, Circuit also makes it to all the lists around Rajkumar Hirani's. Partnering with Munna Bhai Circuit played the friend we wish we all had. A loud-mouthed guy who will do everything for friendship was played by Arshad Warsi. The actor with his way of talking and his friendship won over one and everyone.
Kamli (Vicky Kaushal – Sanju)
Another friend we all wish we had was Kamli in Sanju. A true friend and a testament to friendship, Kamli, in Sanju was another character that Hirani gave to people which was very relatable and indeed someone we can all get behind.
Virus (Boman Irani – 3 Idiots)
Who doesn't love a bittersweet character? Virus from 3 idiots was that one strict teacher we all came across in our lives. The character played by Boman surely left its impression on the minds of people be it for his ways, or his nature but he did have an instance or two very he showed that he liked a joke or two surely.
Lucky Singh (Boman Irani – Lage Raho Munna Bhai)
A sweet Punjabi man and a good friend, Boman made his mark in the second instalment of the Munna Bhai series. He eventually turns evil and his true face comes to the forefront, however, he goes through transition and does eventually come across as the good kind man we all wish he would be and he surely left a mark on the fans with his well-timed comic punchlines.
Dr Asthana (Boman Irani – Munna Bhai MBBS)
There is something about Boman Irani nailing the character he plays. A doctor who is supposed to be strict is sent into a panic when a promise made in past starts to haunt him and what follows is a class act by Boman. Dr Asthana a strict and particular about his work, principal, is sent on a whirlwind and in the way, he tries to deal with the problems, gives birth to this gem of a character and another memorable character bought to life in a Rajkumar Hirani film.
Chatur (Omi Vaidya – 3 Idiots)
It's hard not to laugh when even just mentioning Chatur from 3 Idiots. Written perfectly and brought on screen perfectly, the character stole the limelight time and again as he sent the audiences into rounds of laughter with well-timed jokes and top-class acting. The character has surely etched itself in the minds of people and won't be forgotten anytime soon.
Chinki aka Dr Suman (Gracy Singh – Munna Bhai MBBS)
A sweet and loving doctor, Chinki, was the cause of all the trouble that Munnabhai inflicted on Dr Asthana. Such sweet were the ways of Chinki that it compelled Munnabhai to give up on all wrongdoings in order to try and win her.
Raju Rastogi and Farhan Ansari (Sharman Joshi and Madhavan – 3 Idiots)
Raju And Farhan, two different ends of a spectrum, were two such wonderful characters that Hirani brought to life. Both of them could easily have been comic reliefs but there was a lot of depth added to each of them as they showed contrasting problems and ways to deal with them when friendship was at stake and we all surely have a Raju and a Farhan in our group.
Mahatma Gandhi aka Bapu (Dilip Prabhavalkar – Lage Raho Munna Bhai)
Mahatma Gandhi in the 21st century! Now, who would have thought that? Rajkumar Hirani did something out of the box Father of the Nation played by Dilip Prabhavalkar found its way into a Bollywood movie. While this was a reason enough to remember the character, the nuances of the actor were on point and the contribution to the plot was never in question and thus, here we have another iconic character that we are happy to talk about.
Batuk Maharaj (Saurabh Shukla – Lage Raho Munna Bhai)
Saurabh Shukla can pretty much play any role and still not be hated. The actor played Batuk Maharaj in Munnabhai part 2 and gave us a character we would all love to hate. The screen was cast aptly and even after being a villain kind of figure we loved the character.
Dr Rustam Pavri (Kurush Deboo – Munna Bhai MBBS)
Who does not love a cute Parsi? Aren't they the sweetest? Dr Rustam Pavri was just another Parsi we all fell for without any reason. The character that knew wrong from right and wasn't afraid to change sides when his eyes opened is surely someone worthy of all our love and that is exactly why the character is on the list, for being the lovely person that he was.
