Munna Bhai MBBS remains one of the most celebrated films in Hindi cinema, but filmmaker and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra recently revealed that the movie  initially struggled to find an audience. Despite this setback, Chopra remained confident in its potential and decided to market it to theaters in South India, where it ultimately gained popularity and earned significant revenue.

Speaking at IFP Season 14, Chopra recounted, “When Munna Bhai MBBS released, it flopped on day one, no one went to see it.” Determined not to give up, he approached distributors in the South, one of whom offered him Rs 11 lakh initially. However, after watching the film, the distributor retracted his offer, believing it wouldn’t succeed beyond Mumbai’s Borivali area. Unfazed, Chopra managed to secure a morning screening at a Tamil Nadu theater, which proved to be a turning point. “We managed to get one morning show in a theatre in Tamil Nadu where the film did a business of over Rs. 1 crore,” he shared.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra also described how he tried to give Rs 11,000 to Munna Bhai MBBS director Rajkumar Hirani, who declined the money, assuming the film had flopped. “He said, ‘I won’t take it because the film is a flop. I told him, ‘I’m paying you this money for the next movie.’ Eventually he got Rs. 11 lakhs, Rs. 51 lakhs, Rs 1 crore and God knows how many crores… (as it did well).”

Encouraging aspiring filmmakers, Chopra advised, “Don’t lose your belief system. The industry will try to corrupt your soul, telling you to make certain types of films because ‘this is what sells.’ I believed in this film,” he concluded.

Munna Bhai MBBS eventually grossed Rs 33 crore at the box office against an Rs 11 crore budget. Starring Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi in the lead roles, the film became a beloved hit and was followed by its equally successful sequel, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006).

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