Rajkumar Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani
Hirani in 2014
Born (1962-11-20) 20 November 1962 (age 62)[1]
Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Other namesRaju
Alma materFilm and Television Institute of India
Occupations
Years active1993–present
SpouseManjeet Hirani
ChildrenVir Hirani[2]
AwardsFull list

Rajkumar "Raju" Hirani (born 20 November 1962) is an Indian filmmaker known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards. Hirani is referred as one of the most successful filmmakers of Indian cinema.[3] His movies are often lighthearted but revolve around significant societal issues with humour and emotional intelligence.

Starting his career as a film editor after graduating from FTII in editing, a bad experience forced him to shift to ad films, where he made several successful ads. His first film as a professional editor was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's action drama Mission Kashmir (2000). Although Hirani wanted to make films, he took a one-year break and came back with the script of the comedy-drama Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. to Chopra to help him finance it, who agreed. Upon release, the film emerged as a widespread critical and commercial success. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Film (Critics) and earned Hirani the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay and his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

After the success of MBBS, he helmed its sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), which emerged as the second-highest grosser of the year and the coming-of-age comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009) emerged as the highest grossing Indian film of its time. Both of them won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and were nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, with 3 Idiots, winning all three categories. His next film, the science fiction religious satire PK (2014), again emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of its time and the biographical comedy-drama Sanju (2018) based on the life of actor Sanjay Dutt released to critical and commercial success. Both films were nominated for Best Film and Best Director at the Filmfare Awards, with PK winning him the Best Screenplay. Domestically, both films are currently the fifth and seventh highest grossing Bollywood films.[4] He is the founder of the production house Rajkumar Hirani Films. His latest film is Dunki, starring Shah Rukh Khan was released theatrically on 21 December 2023 with mixed reviews.

  1. ^ "Rajkumar Hirani makes entertainment profound: Boman Irani". The Indian Express. IANS. 21 November 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. ^ Vyavahare, Renuka. "Rajkumar Hirani's 15-year-old son is a cinematographer - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  3. ^ "With 5 films and 100% success rate, Rajkumar Hirani is one of the most profitable directors". 5 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Sanju box office collection day 5: The Rajkumar Hirani film earns Rs 167.51 crore". The Indian Express. 4 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.