Lage Raho Munna Bhai is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the Vinod Chopra Films banner. It is the second instalment in the Munna Bhai film series, following Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003). The film stars Sanjay Dutt as the Mumbai goon Murli Prasad Sharma alias Munna Bhai, with Arshad Warsi as his sidekick Circuit, and Vidya Balan as the female lead. It is widely credited with popularising the term "Gandhigiri", a coinage referring to the application of Mahatma Gandhi's principles of non-violence and truth to everyday situations.
| Title | Lage Raho Munna Bhai |
|---|---|
| Director | Rajkumar Hirani |
| Producer | Vidhu Vinod Chopra |
| Writers | Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi |
| Banner | Vinod Chopra Films |
| Language | Hindi |
| Release year | 2006 |
| Series | Munna Bhai (second film) |
| Music | Shantanu Moitra |
| Lead cast | Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Dilip Prabhavalkar |
Munna Bhai, a Mumbai-based don, falls in love with a radio jockey named Jhanvi (Vidya Balan) who hosts a morning show. To impress her, he poses as a professor of history specialising in Mahatma Gandhi. While preparing to discuss Gandhi on air, Munna begins to "see" and converse with Gandhi (played by Marathi actor Dilip Prabhavalkar), who guides him to solve the problems of ordinary citizens through non-violent methods. Munna applies these ideas — which he calls "Gandhigiri" — to confront a property dealer, Lucky Singh (Boman Irani), and to help several troubled callers on the radio show.
The film was developed by Rajkumar Hirani and co-writer Abhijat Joshi as a sequel that retained the central characters of Munna and Circuit but moved away from the hospital setting of the first film. The screenplay drew on the writings and biography of Mahatma Gandhi, and consultants on Gandhian thought were involved during scripting. Music was composed by Shantanu Moitra with lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. The songs "Bande Mein Tha Dum", "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" and "Pal Pal Hai Bhaari" featured prominently.
The central theme of the film is the relevance of Gandhian philosophy in contemporary urban India. Through the device of Munna's imagined conversations with Gandhi, the film presents satyagraha and ahimsa as practical responses to corruption, dishonesty and personal conflict. The neologism Gandhigiri — formed by combining "Gandhi" with the colloquial Hindi suffix "-giri" (as in dadagiri) — entered popular usage after the film's release and was adopted in news media, civic campaigns and political discourse.
The film opened in cinemas in 2006 and received broadly positive reviews from Indian critics, who praised its writing, performances and the integration of social commentary with mainstream comedy. It was a major commercial success at the box office. Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani and Dilip Prabhavalkar all received critical appreciation for their roles.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. It also received multiple Filmfare Awards, including for Best Film (Critics) and Best Story, and several other honours at major Indian film award ceremonies. It was the first Hindi film to be screened at the United Nations in New York, at a special event focused on its Gandhian themes.
Following the film's release, "Gandhigiri" was used as a slogan by activists, lawyers and student groups in various non-violent protests across India. References to scenes from the film, including the practice of sending flowers to wrongdoers, appeared in real-life campaigns. The film is frequently cited in discussions on the modern reception of Gandhian thought in popular culture.
A third instalment in the Munna Bhai series has been announced and discussed publicly by the makers on several occasions, but had not been completed at the time of the previous films' release cycle. Lage Raho Munna Bhai remains the most recent released film in the series.