Murliprasad Sharma, better known as Munna Bhai, is an Indian fictional character who appears in the
''Munna Bhai'' film series. The character is created by
Rajkumar Hirani and portrayed by
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...
.
Films overview
Murli Prasad Sharma (portrayed by
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...
) is a leader in the
Mumbai underworld
Organised crime in India refers to organised crime elements originating in India and active in many parts of the world. The purpose of organised crime in India, as elsewhere in the world, is monetary gain. Its virulent form in modern times is d ...
. His
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
''Munna Bhai'' has a
double meaning
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
; ''bhai'' literally means
rother Rother may refer to:
General
*Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther)
*Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England
*Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
*Rother Kup ...
but in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
it has also come to mean a hoodlum. His sidekick is Circuit (portrayed by
Arshad Warsi). They both speak in
Bambaiya Hindi
Bombay Hindi, also known as ''Bambaiya Hindi'' or ''Mumbaiya Hindi'', is the Hindi dialect spoken in Mumbai (Bombay), in the Konkan region of India. Its vocabulary is largely from Hindustani, additionally, it has the predominant substratum ...
, a
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
specific to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, India.
''Munnabhai M.B.B.S.''
Munna Bhai was first introduced in the 2003 film ''
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
''Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.'' () is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani (in his directorial debut) and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It was the first installment of '' Munna Bhai series''. Releas ...
'' which involves his adventures as a
faux
Faux may refer to: People
*Faux (surname)
Places Places in Belgium
* Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne
Places in France
* Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department
* Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...
medical student, who finally tells the truth about himself and learns to help people along the way.
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai''
In the second movie, ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up t ...
'', Munna Bhai becomes a faux professor. He begins to have visions of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
who persuades him to stop pretending he is a professor and teaches him to help other people solve their problems through
Gandhism, which Munna Bhai terms ''
Gandhigiri
Gandhigiri is a neologism in India which is used to express the tenets of Gandhism (the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi which include Satyagraha, non-violence, and truth) in contemporary terms. The term became popular due to its usage in the 2006 Hindi f ...
''.
Third Munna Bhai film
On 25 February 2016, Sanjay Dutt was released from Yerwada Central Jail after completing his sentence (2013-2016) for
illegal possession of firearms in 1993. Vidhu Vinod Chopra announced on 29 September 2016 that production on the third ''Munna Bhai'' film, again starring Dutt in the title role, will begin in 2017.
TV commercial
A television commercial named "Munna Bhai fight against dengue" made by the
Minister of Health and Family Welfare (India) in 2016 features 'Munna Bhai' and 'Circuit'. It was made to create awareness of
dengue fever
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characterist ...
.
Popularity
The character Munna Bhai was counted as one of top 20 fictional characters in Bollywood The film ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up t ...
'' popularized the term ''Gandhigiri''.
See also
*
Laxman Gole
Laxman Gole is a contemporary Indian Gandhian who has been described as the real-life Munnabhai. He is the 2011 winner of the Zindagi Live National Award given by IBN-7. The 2015 Indian biographical Hindi film ''Laxman Gole'' is based on Gole's ...
a contemporary Indian
Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians.
Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...
who has been described as the real-life Munnabhai.
Notes
External links
Murliprasad 'Munna Bhai' Sharmaat ''
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
''
{{The Munna Bhai series
Indian film characters
Fictional Indian people
Film characters introduced in 2003
Fictional con artists
Fictional gangsters
Sanjay Dutt