Shah Rukh Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani finally joined forces for the film Dunki, marking their maiden collaboration. While their paths were set to cross back in 2003 for Munna Bhai MBBS, circumstances prevented it, and it took two decades for this cinematic partnership to materialize. In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, the filmmaker delved into his experience of working with the superstar, shedding light on their dynamic and addressing the possibility of a future reunion for another project.
Rajkumar Hirani on reunion with Shah Rukh Khan after Dunki
In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, when asked about the prospect of collaborating with Shah Rukh Khan once again after their recent comedy drama Dunki, Rajkumar Hirani expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “I would love to. I had such joy working with him, itna maza aya (we had so much fun). When you have happiness working with somebody, you definitely want to work again with that person. But abhi toh scripts hi chal rahi hain (But currently I am working on scripts).”
Rajkumar Hirani on collaborating with Shah Rukh Khan for Munna Bhai MBBS
Disclosing his long-standing desire to collaborate with Shah Rukh Khan, Rajkumar Hirani shared, “I always wanted to work with him when I saw him in his television series when I was a student in the film institute. In a common room, I saw him on television. That time nobody knew the Shah Rukh Khan we know today, and I used to think mai bahar jaunga yaha se pass out karke (when I go out after passing out from here), ‘Who will work with me? No big star will work with me, he’s the man I should work with, yeh ek accha actor lag raha hai, naya actor hai (he’s looking like a good actor, he’s new).’ By the time I passed out from the institute, he was already a big star.”
It’s been 20 years actually, Munna Bhai was 2003 and it’s 2023 now. It took us 20 years to work together. We kept on meeting, baatcheet hoti rehti thi ki karenge but I actually do such few films so when the opportunity came I jumped onto it I said this time we have to work together.
When we were doing Munnabhai, he had read that script and he had loved it and he wanted to do it. I had many interactions with him, I sat with him many times. He had put in two bits of his, he had many interesting inputs on the film but then he had a spine problem and he had to go for a surgery and he was very unwell amd he wasn’t sure how long it’ll take him to recover and then he had some other films to do after he came. So which meant I had to literally wait for 1 and a half – 2 years and it was a very small film. so he was generous enough and he said nahi abhi aap karlo, baad me kabhi hum karenge
Rajkumar Hirani on his experience of working with Shah Rukh Khan
Best part of working with Shah Rukh Khan is apart from the effort he puts in to understand his characters and the amount of rehearsals he does, he lets you know how he’s going to do it the next day. He doesn’t shy away from the number of takes or he’s always willing to do that one extra more. Apart from as an actor I think it’s also great to work with him because he’s a great human being I think. So the amount of love he spreads on the sets is and he walks into the set and everybody smiles and he makes everybody happy. I have never see him making anyone unhappy. It looks like he’s got all the time in the world to talk to everyone. Sometimes I get tired ki yaar yeh kisi ko kuch samjha raha hu mai, but he can spend all the time that is necessary and more than that to explain things properly to somebody, never in a rush to go away somewhere or run away somewhere and he spreads a lot of love I should say. That’s why he’s the icon of love completely.
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