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 Rajkumar Hirani (born 20 November 1962), also called Raju Hirani, is an Indian filmmaker, director, producer and editor known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards and eleve ...

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

) 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 Arshad Warsi (born 19 April 1968) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied film genres. Before making his acting deb ...

). 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

, 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 ...

'', 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 Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of M.K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The term ...

, 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 ...

''.

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) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare ...

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 ''

'' popularized the term ''Gandhigiri''.

Notes

External links

Murliprasad 'Munna Bhai' Sharma
at ''

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