Maryam Farooqui Moneycontrol News
Laughter is the best medicine and director Rajkumar Hirani follows this motto when it comes to his cinematic ventures which have resulted in big numbers at the box office with a 100 percent success rate.
So far, Hirani has churned out five films, the recent one being Sanju—biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt and his recent offering is all set to enter the Rs 200-crore club. With this, the winning streak continues for Hirani who has mastered the art of bringing light-hearted films with socially relevant subjects that have become commercial successes.
In 2003, Hirani got his directorial break with Munna Bhai MBBS which grossed Rs 50.5 crore and that was the beginning of a brand in the making. While Hirani has cracked the formula of entertaining the audiences by taking them through a roller-coaster ride of laughter and emotions, for audiences the director’s name is enough to hit the theatres.
After Munna Bhai MBBS, three years later in 2006 came along Lage Raho Munna Bhai that gave the world a new word--- Gandhigiri that not only entertained moviegoers but also left them inspired. The movie had recreated Munna Bhai’s magic again and with that, it raked in Rs 72 crore.
Again, after a three-year break, Hirani brought to the silver screen another cinematic gem which had little inspiration from his life. After trying his hand at engineering and honing his editing skills, Hirani got behind the camera to influence his audience for his third film --- 3 Idiots.
A critique on the education system, 3 Idiots became a rage not just in India but also abroad especially in China that also opened the gates to Indian films in one of the world’s largest film market. In India, 3 Idiots minted close to Rs 203 crore.
And then Hirani waited for five long years to explore religion in his next outing. With PK, the celebrated director took to the silver screen to talk about religion, superstition, and godmen in India. With worldwide collections of Rs 854 crore, PK became the fifth highest grossing Indian film. In India, the film minted Rs 340.8 crore.
As for his latest release, Sanju has emerged not only the biggest non-Holiday opener of all time but also recorded the biggest opening weekend of all time in Bollywood. Both the records were previously held by Salman Khan-starrer Tiger Zinda Hai which released during the Christmas weekend last year.
While Hirani’s films have the ability to charm audiences with humour, the director taps into latent reserves of public anger stemming from injustice which has worked for him every single time.
His films have evolved to become cultural ideas resulting in a wider reach but it is not just his story-telling techniques that linger with the audiences but his promotional strategies too, have a huge impact on the moviegoers.
From the use of bandages on the title of Munna Bhai M. B. B. S. to the butt-shaped chairs in cinema halls for 3 Idiots, promotional strategies for these films assimilates the core elements from the films into their promotional campaigns. And such promotional tools help Hirani’s films have a longer shelf life, resulting in more time at the box office and more collections.
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