Sanjay Dutt celebrates '20 years of Munna Bhai MBBS', hopes for a third part to the franchise

Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi in Munna Bhai MBBS

20 years of Munna Bhai MBBS: It's been two decades since the audience was introduced to Munnabhai and his sidekick Circuit. The loved characters were portrayed by actors Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi and created by filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani. The film that marked the debut directorial of Hirani was released in theatres on December 19, 2003. The film made people laugh, cry and taught them 'jadoo ki jhappi'.

As the film completes twenty years today, Sanjay Dutt took to his Instagram handle to celebrate the same. Sharing montages from the film, he wrote, "Two decades of laughter, emotions, and a whole lot of jadoo ki jhappi! Celebrating 20 years of Munna Bhai MBBS, a journey filled with unforgettable moments. Grateful for the love and support that made this film a timeless classic. Hoping that Munna Bhai 3 will be made soon!"

In 2006 the makers of the film came up with the sequel titled 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' bringing back Munna and circuit with a new adventure. While the makers had promised a third part to the franchise it was never made. Looking at Dutt's post, it seems that the hope for a third part is still alive.

Arshad Warsi also took to his Instagram handle to share a still from the film and wrote, "20 years, wow, seems like yesterday… I thank you all for loving Munna & Circuit so much".

Meanwhile, director Rajkumar Hirani is gearing up for the release of his film 'Dunki', The film will mark his first collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan. Did you know that Khan was Hirani's first choice for Munnabhai? Earlier this year, SRK had revealed the reason behind declining 'Munnabhai' and '3 Idiots'. "When Raju was narrating Munna Bhai to me, I thought, ‘naya director hai kar hi lega agar main bolunga 6-8 mahine baad karenge (He is a new director, he will agree if I will tell him that I will do it after 6-8 months). So, I told him I would do it after 9 months. But he went away. Then when he came for 3 Idiots, I again thought, how big he would have become. Then again he went away. That is when I decided ki ab chance nahi lena. So, when he narrated Dunki, I caught him in the Covid-19 bubble and told him not to go away this time," said Shah Rukh Khan.

Rajkumar shared, "I used to study at a film institute and I used to wonder, ‘I am graduating from here, but who would work with me?' I used to look at big stars like Bachchan sahab and think, ‘Why would a star like him work with me?' So, one day, in my hostel's TV room, I was watching Circus. In a particular scene, a young actor was performing at a platform. It was a big monologue. I thought, ‘Who is this guy? This is so wonderful. He is not a big actor. I can take him in my film after I graduate."

'Dunki' will be released in theatres on December 21.