Lage Raho Munna Bhai (English: Carry on Munna Bhai) is a 2006 Indian musical comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the second film in the popular Munna Bhai series of Bollywood. Sanjay Dutt stars in this film as Munna Bhai, a Mumbai (Bombay) underworld don, who begins to see the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi. Through his interactions with the image of Gandhi, Munna Bhai begins to practice what he calls Gandhigiri (Satyagraha, non-violence, and truth) to help ordinary people solve their problems. His sidekick, Circuit, is portrayed by Arshad Warsi.
Lage Raho Munna Bhai has had a strong cultural impact in India, popularising Gandhism under Munna Bhai’s notion of Gandhigiri. As noted by critics, the film has “stirred the popular imagination”, leading to a number of Gandhigiri protests in India and in the United States: “For generations born after Gandhi’s assassination, Munnabhai, the eponymous hero of the film, has rendered “Gandhism” passé and “Gandhian” arcane. The new buzzword is “Gandhigiri”, a value, and valuable, addition to the lexicon of a culture suffused with every abominable kind of “Dadagiri” and “Goondagiri”.
The film was generally well received by both the critics and mass audience. It was a box office success and was elevated to a blockbuster rating (grossing over 720 million Indian Rupees),. The film received a number of awards, including four National Film Awards of India. It is the first Hindi film to be shown in the United Nations. and won popular accolades at various International film festivals including Cannes Film Festival, 2007 edition . It was praised by the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, who stated (using Gandhi’s nickname, “Bapu” or father) that the film “captures Bapu’s message about the power of truth and humanism.”
Influences and allusions
Rather than follow the traditional sequel format, each film in the Munna Bhai series features Munna and Circuit in a story which is comprehensive unto itself and is not continued or referred to in another film in the series. Indeed, director Rajkumar Hirani has compared this format to the films of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, as well as to the James Bond series. Others have also likened the series to the work of Laurel and Hardy.[25] Some, however, have negated this comparison, stating that the series is more akin to the Road to… “buddy films” of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.[26] Director Rajkumar Hirani admitted that his work was deeply inspired by the films of Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
Cinematic works by Vidhu Vinod Chopra (such as Parineeta) often contain allusions to other important films and works of music or literature. In Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Jahnavi’s opening line for her radio show, “Gooooooood Moooooooorninnnng Mumbai!”, resembles Robin Williams’ opening for his radio show (“Gooooooooood morning, Vietnaaaaaaaaammm!”) in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam. Critics have also noted similarity with the 1977 film Oh, God!, in which God appears as a kindly old man to the protagonist.
In addition, parts of the melody of the song “Pal Pal…Har Pal” are reminiscent of the Cliff Richard song “Theme for a Dream”.
Cast
- Sanjay Dutt as Murli Prasad Sharma, known affectionately as Munna Bhai
- Arshad Warsi as Circuit, Munna’s loyal sidekick
- Dilip Prabhavalkar as Gandhi, or rather, the image of Gandhi that Munna sees
- Vidya Balan as Jahnavi, radio-jockey and Munna’s love-interest
- Boman Irani as Lucky Singh
- Dia Mirza as Simran, Lucky’s daughter
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Kkhurana, the father of Simran’s fiancee
- Saurabh Shukla as Batuk Maharaj, his astrologer
- Jimmy Shergill as Victor D’Souza, who having lost his father’s money, heeds Munna’s advice
- Parikshat Sahni as Victor’s father
