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An Extraordinary Film Director & How He got it Right!




Fondly known by everyone within the Bollywood industry as 'Hirani', Rajkumar is also known as Raju outside the industry and is currently the toast of Bollywood! 


This video explains his filmmaking style.
https://youtu.be/l_650e1Clr4

Every single actor and actress from Arjun Kapoor to Parineeti Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan to Ranveer Singh and more – ALL just want to be directed by this phenomenal man! Known as one of the most established and acclaimed Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and Hirani is also a film- editor.

There is a lot more to be known  about this director & editor that makes him stand apart from others. These include:

  • He was born in Nagpur to a Sindhi family and his father owned a typing institute there in Nagpur. 
  • He is a Sindhi refugee from what is now Pakistan.
  • He dabbed in theatre in school and college - and writing in plays which bears the imprint of the work that he does now.
  • He studied in St Francis De'Sales High School, Nagpur and graduated in commerce.
  • Munnabhai MBBS was his first directorial debut and broke all formulaic conventions associated with Bollywood. It was a cult in itself.   
During the past fifteen years, Rajkumar Hirani has directed five films such as Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006), 3 Idiots (2009), PK (2014) and now a biopic on the explosive life of Sanju (2018) being the most explosive hits of the year. 


    







However, not many are aware of this, but his early professional life was not as he predicted. For many years he tried his luck at being a film editor but failed.

This forced him to shift to advertising where he established himself as a director and even a producer of advertising firms. He was seen in a Fevicol ad where some elephants and men were trying to pull and break a Fevicol plan saying "Jor laga ke Haisha". In addition to this he was even seen in an ad campaign created by Ogilvy Mather, the Kinetic Luna ad.  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xep4RftkRdo

A turn of events happened after this and he decided to break free from advertising and began working with Vidhu Vinod Chopra. 


Some of his early works included the promos and trailers of 1942: A Love Story and he even edited Kareeb. This led him to his big opportunity Mission Kashmir

What differentiates him from other filmmakers is his ability to create a story where he has a clear idea of using humour as a tool to break the mindset of the audience. Raju Hirani is known as the Christopher Nolan of India – only because they both have the distinction of being critically and commercially acclaimed directors with only a limited number of movies in their kitty.  

An expert at understanding the psyche of the Indian moviegoer, his movies are lighthearted but revolve around significant issues such as those, which deal with the society and abound the society. 

Each and every single one of his films has been a success – a super-hit blockbuster, each one bigger than the previous. This made him the only director at the box office to have a 100% success rate. What is really special about Hirani is that his films don't just do well at the box-office, but they also have a good shelf life.

There are two types of directors that can be found in the industry – one who directs the movie in their own style and the other who directs the movie as per the script style. In almost all of his films there is one protagonist who is afraid to tell the female protagonist that he loves her.

There is always a father who is fed up with their son or daughter and at the same time there is always an antagonist who at the end of the movie becomes good. There is always a gigantic challenge that the protagonist has to face; which of course –he/she succeeds in doing so.  However, there are way too many characters in his films and they perpetually end on a positive and happy note.

According to him, "Our minds are preconditioned to believe things and you gave us a different viewpoint to think," I think I've done something worthy.

 Every film is like a first film for him and it gets incredibly harder to capture the attention of the audience - for ever single sound effect and music element, content and changing technology. Cinema is an an entire experience in itself. 

 As a film director, one might wonder what really makes his film strike such a chord with the audience; but if you look back at some of his movies such as 3 Idiots, Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai or even Peekay. 

He has been able to take the uncanny elements of life and weave them together in a film and make them magical.

What some film directors say about him?

·         Karan Johar on ‘An Afternoon Film Bazaar with Rajiv Masand 
    I love the fact that he (Hirani) is the country’s biggest filmmaker and he has been making good films time after time. He is making socially-relevant blockbusters. I hope I come up with a brilliant idea of a movie with a social relevance.

·      Writer-lyricist Javed Akthar says the reason why Rajkumar Hirani is able to make cinema that touches the heart is because he is a good human being. "I am huge admirer of Rajkumar Hirani. 
     
      He does really good work and now again, he has done an amazing job. I always say one thing about him that to make such kind of films you not only have to be really good director or writer, but you have to be really good human being."He is really good human being and that's what works for him".

·        Anurag Kashyap has even been impressed by Rajkumar Hirani's film 'PK', saying that the filmmaker is one of the bravest directors.

Moreover, there are plenty of new directors coming up such Anurag Kashyap Farhan Akhtar, Vishal BhardwajDibakar Banerjee, Aparna Sen, Zoya Akhtar, Meghna Guna Gulzar, Konkan Sen Sharma, Deepa Mehta, Gauri Shinde as well.

To make every scene entertaining and engaging has been the most challenging part and this can be assumed to be easy as has been seen in movies such as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Gandhi or even Dhoni; and even the biopic of Lincoln

For Sanju though, it has been far trickier than expected because of his association with drugs right from an early age, the tragedy of losing his first wife - Richa, the 1993 bomb blasts where he was accused of being a terrorist.      


 Although films such as 3 Idiots have come out almost 7 years ago, it has managed to stay in our hearts right up till now and this has even given rise to a discussion of sequel on the same being made.This film is not even directly linked with India and Indianness! 

It does not rest on stars or even opulence but on sheer good writingRajkumar has been able to entertain the audience despite the prejudice and duplicity that is ingrained within the Indian society. 

However, Rajkumar claims that there are auteurs such as Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Ritwik Ghatak, Prakash Mehra, Yash Chopra, etc. who have been able to redefine Indian cinema and place Bollywood on the international map, each one bigger than the previous. This made him the only director at the box office to have a 100% success rate. 

What was once a male-dominated industry has more and more women who challenge the status quo, voice their opinions and refuse to be silenced. Is this the spark of a new revolution, with movies showing a female-dominant side such as Raazi, Queen, Bol, Highway, Mary Kom, That Girl in Yellow Boots and the likes? 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOSYciZ-6U


As of now his latest film is a departure from his usual 'track record' of quintessential comedies and is actually a biopic about the troubled life of Sanjay Dutt; along with a social message. Will Rajkumar Hirani take on the challenge of directing a female dominated biopic in the future or not? Only time can tell!

Sanju trailer



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOSYciZ-6U

For Sanju though, it has been far trickier than expected because of his association with drugs right from an early age, the tragedy of losing his first wife - Richa, the 1993 bomb blasts where he was accused of being a terrorist.      

 Although films such as 3 Idiots have come out almost 7 years ago, it has managed to stay in our hearts right up till now and this has even given rise to a discussion of sequel on the same being made.This film is not even directly linked with India and Indianness. 

Its just been a matter of days of the movies release and Sanju has set the box office on fire!


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