In 2002, SRK began shooting for a movie whose script he felt very uncomfortable with. He caused the director to change the script several times to ensure the script didnt slip into Comedy Territory
Finally SRK spoke to the Director – a man SRK knew from his Advertisement days and said “I cannot do this”
He also told the Director, the Script in its current form would be a Disaster and that the Hollywood movie it was based on couldnt be fathomed in Bollywood
Make it a Comedy, get Govinda – SRK advised
Govinda said “No!!!”. He felt the movie wouldnt do well as the Director was a newbie and Govinda didnt do movies with newbies
A few days later Anil Kapoor said “No”.
The Director went back to SRK with the Producer. SRK listened and said “Boss. I am very busy. I am in NY for 4 months and later am shooting for my own movie. I dont like your script. It wont work as a Drama. And if its a pure comedy, i wont do it”
Desperately the Director didnt know what to do when Balasaheb Thackeray called the Producer and said “Do you have any script for Sanjay Dutt? He wants a comeback”
The Script reached Sanjay Dutt. He turned it down immediately. Then Sunil Dutt saw the script and he saw something others didnt. He talked to the Director who wasnt interested in Sanjay Dutt but ultimately was convinced.
He rewrote the script as a full comedy
Aishwariya Rai who heard SRK had backed out, immediately said she wouldnt work with Dutt.
The desperate director finally got Gracy Singh – the only actress with dates ready
Then Vivek Oberoi backed out. He wouldnt play second fiddle to Dutt. The Desperate Director picked Arshad Warsi, the out of luck struggling actor who had never done comedy before
Anupam Kher backed out and the desperate director got another newbie Boman Irani
The Financiers slashed the budget by 50% when SRK left and the movie was to become a comedy.
There was actually no money left to show the wedding between Sanjay Dutt and Gracy Singh and the director resorted to Photo stills
The Movie was MUNNABHAI MBBS – a Classic of Bollywood
The most profitable movie of 2003
The Second Biggest Domestic Hit of 2003 beating SRKs Kal Ho Na Ho by 67 lakh despite being made at 30% of the budget of the former.
After the first week, the Director Rajkumar Hirani sarcastically added a Thank you to SRK for his advise with the script.
SRK who had opted out of the movie, had agreed to play a small role of Zaheer but later opted out of that role too claiming to have injured his back, leading to a sporting Jimmy Shergill agreeing to that small role and 8 day shoot
Aishwariya Rai ultimately worked with Dutt as his heroine in SHABDH.
Then Time played it’s role
As SRKs market plummeted, he desperately called Hirani day and night to give him dates. Hirani refused initially but finally shrugged and agreed. Dunki is the result. Let’s see how it goes.
SRK still says Munnabhai was a regret but he is sure that the role was Tailor made for Sanjay Dutt and Dutt was born to play Munna.
Bittueditx