Rajkumar Hirani was named after father's typing institute

Director Rajkumar Hirani, best known for his feel good social dramas like 'Munnabhai' and '3 Idiots', borrows his first name from 'Rajkumar Commerce Institute', his father's typing institute.

Director Rajkumar Hirani, best known for his feel good social dramas like 'Munnabhai' and '3 Idiots', borrows his first name from 'Rajkumar Commerce Institute', his father's typing institute.

The director, who had to struggle hard to become what he is today, talks about his humble beginnings in the book '3 Idiots: Original Screenplay'.

Hirani says his father, Suresh Hirani, migrated to India during the Partition and having lost all his possessions started working in a bangle factory to make ends meet.
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He later moved on to selling ice-cream on the streets and finally opened a typewriting institute in Nagpur by investing his life's savings.

"My father christened it 'Rajkumar commerce Institute'. I was not even born then...I was named after a typewriting institute and not the other way round! Most parents would name their enterprises after their children, but I've had the rare honour of being named after my father's enterprise. I am proud of the fact," Hirani said.

The 47-year-old director, who began his filmmaking journey as an editor with Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Mission Kashmir', says like his film 3 Idiots' protagonist, he was also expected to take up engineering but he could not get enough marks in the 12th standard to make the cut.

Hirani started studying commerce and enrolled for chartered accountancy, which he despised.

"I had no interest in chartered accountancy and these classes were a huge imposition...I was wasting this time on something I knew was not for me. But I had the baggage of the engineering debacle on my head so abandoning this very viable option would have appeared self-indulgent, foolish and luxurious at the time," said the director.

But Hirani decided to leave the course and managed the courage to tell his father about his decision, which closely mirrors in the '3 Idiots' scene, when Farhan goes to his father with plans to join photography instead of studying engineering.

But unlike Farhan, Hirani had no future plan. "My father was standing alone in the living room. I walked in and walked upto where he was standing, taking lead-laden steps. My throat was dry with uncertainty and fear. It was one thing to tell your father that you did not want to pursue what seemed like and excellent career choice but it was another thing to not offer an alternative plan," the director said.

"My voice quivered with apprehension as I told him that I did not want to take the exams because I did not enjoy chartered accountancy at all. He looked at me and in the most nonchalant manner told me to not do it," Hirani added.