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.
Munna Bhai was first introduced in the 2003 film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. which involves his adventures as a faux medical student, who finally tells the truth about himself and learns to help people along the way.
In the second movie, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Munna Bhai becomes a faux professor. He begins to have visions of Mahatma Gandhi 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.[2]
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.[3]
TV commercials
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.[4] Dutt reprised his role of Munna Bhai in several Acko commercials.[5]
^Allagh, Harjeet Kaur (31 January 2009). "Bole tho... Gandhigiri". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2009.((cite news)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Sharma, Swati Gauri (13 October 2006). "How Gandhi got his mojo back". boston.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
^Shaikh, Zeeshan (9 January 2008). "Real-life Munnabhai, in Nashik jail". Hindustan Times. Nashik. Retrieved 14 February 2016. The 30-year-old once had 19 cases of assault and extortion against him. He now swears by non-violence. The transformation, much like the character of Sanjay Dutt in the blockbuster movie Lage Raho Munnabhai, is thanks to Mahatma Gandhi.
