Rajkumar Hirani

Indian film director (born 1962)

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|

Rajkumar Hirani

Hirani in 2014

Born|  (1962-11-20) 20 November 1962 (age 62)[1]

Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

Other names| Raju
Alma mater| Film and Television Institute of India
Occupations|

* Film director
* film producer
* screenwriter
* film editor
* film distributor

Years active| 1991–present
Spouse| Manjeet Hirani
Children| Vir Hirani[2]
Awards| Full list

Rajkumar "Raju" Hirani (born 20 November 1962) is an Indian filmmaker known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards. Hirani is referred as one of the most successful filmmakers of Indian cinema.[3] His movies are often lighthearted but revolve around significant societal issues with humour and emotional intelligence.

Starting his career as a film editor after graduating from FTII in editing, a bad experience forced him to shift to ad films, where he made several successful ads. His first film as a professional editor was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's action drama Mission Kashmir (2000). Although Hirani wanted to make films, he took a one-year break and came back with the script of the comedy-drama Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. to Chopra to help him finance it, who agreed. Upon release, the film emerged as a widespread critical and commercial success. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Film (Critics) and earned Hirani the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay and his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Rajkumar Hirani and his longtime collaborator Abhijat Joshi have jointly won the IIFA Award for Best Dialogue three times[4], making them the most awarded duo in this category.

After the success of MBBS, he helmed its sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), which emerged as the second-highest grosser of the year and the coming-of-age comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009) emerged as the highest grossing Indian film of its time. Both of them won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and were nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, with 3 Idiots, winning all three categories. His next film, the science fiction religious satire PK (2014), again emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of its time and the biographical comedy-drama Sanju (2018) based on the life of actor Sanjay Dutt released to critical and commercial success. Both films were nominated for Best Film and Best Director at the Filmfare Awards, with PK winning him the Best Screenplay. Domestically, both films are currently the fifth and seventh highest grossing Bollywood films.[5] He is the founder of the production house Rajkumar Hirani Films. In 2019, Hirani directed a two‑minute commemorative short film on Mahatma Gandhi to mark the 150th anniversary of Gandhi's birth.[6] Commissioned as part of a government initiative, the star‑studded video featured leading actors such as Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and others, and focused on Gandhi’s key principles like non‑violence and truth.

His latest film Dunki, starring Shah Rukh Khan was released theatrically on 21 December 2023 with mixed reviews.

## Early life and education

[edit]

Hirani was born on 20 November 1962 in Nagpur to a Sindhi Hindu family. His ancestors originally belonged to Mehrabpur, a city now in the Naushahro Firoz District, Sindh, of Pakistan.[7] His father Suresh Hirani ran a typing institute in Nagpur. Hirani studied at St. Francis De'Sales High School, Nagpur, Maharashtra. He did his graduation in commerce. His parents wanted him to be an engineer, but he was more keen on theatre and film.[8]

In his college days, he was involved with Hindi theatre. He had many friends in Nagpur's medical college and hence, spent much time in theatre at the college. Suresh had his son's photographs taken and sent him to an acting school in Mumbai. However, Hirani could not fit in and returned to Nagpur after three days. His father then asked him to apply to the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, but the acting course had shut down and his chances of admission to the directorial course looked slim as there were far too many applicants.[9] Hirani opted for the film editing course, and earned a scholarship.[10]

## Career

[edit]

### Early work (1994–2000)

[edit]

Hirani tried his luck as a film editor for many years. Bad experiences forced him to shift to television advertising,[11] and he gradually established himself as a director and producer of advertising films. He was also seen in a Fevicol ad where some men and elephants were trying to pull and break a Fevicol plank, saying "Jor laga ke Haisha".[12] He was also seen in the Kinetic Luna ad campaign created by Ogilvy & Mather.

He was doing fairly well in the advertising industry, but he wanted to make movies, so he took a break from advertisement and started working with Vidhu Vinod Chopra. He worked on promos and trailers for Chopra's patriotic romance 1942: A Love Story (1994).[13] He edited promotions for Chopra's romance Kareeb (1998).[14] He got his first opportunity as a film editor with Chopra's action drama Mission Kashmir (2000).[15]

### Directorial debut and breakthrough (2003–09)

[edit]

Hirani winning the Bharat Asmita National Award in 2007

Hirani made his directorial debut with the comedy-drama Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Gracy Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill and Sunil Dutt in lead roles. The first film of the Munna Bhai film series, it revolved around the titular protagonist (played by Dutt), a goon going to a medical school who is helped by his sidekick, Circuit (played by Warsi). The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hirani's direction and screenplay. It emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, with a worldwide total of ₹330 million (US$3.9 million), ranking as the eighth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Film (Critics), and earned Hirani his first Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay and his first nomination for Best Director.

In 2006, Hirani directed the second installment of the Munna Bhai franchise, titled Lage Raho Munna Bhai, which retained some of the original cast, including Sanjay Dutt, Warsi, and Boman Irani, and added Vidya Balan as the female lead replacing Gracy Singh. The film proved to be Hirani's highest-grossing release to that point, grossing ₹1.2 billion (US$14 million) worldwide, ranking as the third highest-grossing film of the year. Just like the previous instalment, it won Hirani his second National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, his second Filmfare Award for Best Film (Critics), his first Filmfare Award for Best Story and Best Dialogue, and his second nomination for Best Director.

### Widespread success (2009–present)

[edit]

Hirani at the 41st International Film Festival in 2010

Hirani's next directorial venture was the coming-of-age comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009), loosely adapted from the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. Starring an ensemble cast of Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, and Boman Irani, it follows the friendship of three engineering students, and was a satire about social pressures under an Indian education system. 3 Idiots received widespread critical acclaim upon release, and emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film up until then, earning ₹4.60 billion (US$54 million) in global ticket sales. Hirani won his third National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, his first Filmfare Award for Best Film and Best Director, and his second Filmfare Award for Best Story and Best Screenplay. 3 Idiots established Hirani as one of Hindi cinema's most prominent filmmakers.

After a 5-year hiatus, Hirani returned to direction with the science fiction satirical comedy drama PK (2014). Upon release, the film received positive reviews, with praise directed towards Aamir Khan's performance and the film's humour, though certain criticism was received for "hurting religious sentiments". It received 8 nominations at the 60th Filmfare Awards, winning two. Additionally, it won five Producers Guild Film Awards, and two Screen Awards. PK garnered the Telstra People's Choice Award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Produced on a budget of ₹850 million (approx. $12 million), PK was the first Indian film to gross more than ₹7 billion and US$100 million worldwide. Both Amir and Rajkumar Hirani was not sure about the film success at the box office.[16] At the time, it emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of all time and ranks as the 70th highest-grossing film of 2014 worldwide. The film's final worldwide gross was ₹854 crore (US$140 million). It currently stands as the 5th highest-grossing Indian film worldwide and 7th highest-grossing film in India.

He also directed the biographical drama Sanju (2018). The film follows the life of actor Sanjay Dutt (one of Hirani's closest collaborators), his addiction to drugs, arrest for alleged association with the 1993 Bombay bombings, relationship with his father, comeback in the industry, the eventual drop of charges from Bombay blasts, and release after completing his jail term. Upon release, it received generally positive reviews from critics and was praised for Ranbir Kapoor's performance; some criticised its image-cleansing of its protagonist. With a worldwide gross of ₹586.85 crore (US$69 million), Sanju ranks as the highest grossing Hindi film of 2018, the fifth highest-earning Hindi film in India of all time, and one of the highest-grossing Indian films. Sanju earned seven nominations at the 64th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Hirani. It won two; Best Actor for Kapoor (who played Dutt) and Best Supporting Actor for Kaushal.

Hirani directed Dunki (2023), a comedy-drama film on immigration produced by himself and Red Chillies Entertainment (with whom he is working with for the first time) and written by him and Joshi.[17] There was quite funny incident behind this movie name "Dunki", eventually Hirani got the rights and gave a successful box office hit film.[18]

Hirani, along with his longtime collaborator Abhijat Joshi, holds the record for winning the IIFA Award for Best Dialogue three times[19]—the most by any writing duo—underscoring the enduring impact of their writing on mainstream Hindi cinema.

In 2025, Rajkumar Hirani began work on his first long-form digital series, marking his debut as a showrunner in the OTT space. The project, tentatively titled Trojan, is being produced for Disney+ Hotstar and stars Vikrant Massey and Arshad Warsi in lead roles[20]. The series blends elements of crime drama and comedy, focusing on two police officers with contrasting personalities—one traditional (Warsi) and one tech-savvy (Massey)—who must work together to solve cases. The storyline is set against the backdrop of cybercrime and explores themes of friendship, in line with Hirani’s signature style. Hirani is also scripting his next feature film with Vicky Kaushal, which is expected to begin production in 2026 after the actor completes his current commitments[21].

Hirani is also developing a biopic on Indian cricket legend Lala Amarnath, with Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor[22] reportedly considered for the lead. The film will depict Amarnath’s journey as India’s first post-independence Test captain. As of 2025, Hirani has also expressed serious intent to revive the Munna Bhai franchise,[23] with several unfinished scripts in hand and Sanjay Dutt keen to return. Although no formal timeline has been announced, he is actively working on developing a story that lives up to the popularity of its predecessors

In addition to his directorial ventures, Hirani is also committed to nurturing emerging talent in Indian cinema. As part of the Newcomers initiative—launched in collaboration with Jio Studios and producer Mahaveer Jain—Rajkumar Hirani Films[24] is actively involved in creating opportunities for aspiring actors, writers, directors from across the country. The initiative is positioned as a talent discovery platform aimed at democratizing access to the film industry and supporting fresh voices in storytelling.

Hirani is also in talks with Aamir Khan for a new film, reuniting after PK and 3 Idiots. As per 2025 reports,[25] Hirani shortlisted three ideas and is now moving ahead with one of them, with Khan expected to play the lead. Sources have now confirmed that Hirani and Khan are collaborating on a biopic on the father of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke,[26] which is slated for a Christmas 2026 release. The biopic employs advanced artificial intelligence-generated visuals, developed by VFX studios in Los Angeles, to recreate the early 20th-century setting of India's independence era[27]. This technology meticulously designs period-accurate environments, costumes, and cultural details, enhancing historical authenticity while minimizing practical production constraints. The AI-driven approach represents a significant technical advancement in Indian historical filmmaking, aiming to deliver an immersive cinematic experience that authentically captures Phalke's world.

Speculation have surfaced regarding a potential collaboration between Rajkumar Hirani and Telugu actor Ram Charan[28] for an upcoming project. While the film has not been officially announced, the possibility has garnered attention in the media, indicating Hirani’s continued appeal across regional film industries. Additionally, rumors are rife that Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Hirani, and writer Abhijat Joshi have conceived an exciting plot for PK 2.[29] While nothing has been confirmed yet, the speculation alone has sparked interest, given the massive legacy of the original film.

## Style, themes and influence

[edit]

Hirani in 2012

> When someone says to me, ‘Our minds are preconditioned to believe things, and you gave us a different viewpoint to think,’ I feel like I’ve done something worthy.

— Hirani on his films.[citation needed]

Hirani's films are often based on themes that explore particularly different critical social issues like middle-class aspirations, reforms, self-conviction and relationships, albeit with healthy humour and an immense emotional quotient. Hirani is the editor of all of his films; he has himself admitted that he enjoys editing films more than anything else.[30] Rajeev Masand wrote, in a review, "[L]ike those good old-fashioned Hrishikesh Mukherjee films, [Rajkumar] Hirani's film reinforced importance of human goodness and basic niceties".[31] Hirani cites Mukherjee's Anand (1971) as his favourite film.

Munna Bhai MBBS (2003) deals with the corruption of hospitals and the cruelty of doctors, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) deals with Gandhi's thinking and reforming people with soft-hearted behaviour, 3 Idiots (2009) with the education system, pressure on students for marks and passion of individuals, PK (2014) with religion and superstition and Sanju (2018) with relationships and media outrage.[32] Film critic Komal Nahta called Hirani "a magician more than a director" while reviewing Sanju, adding that he "narrates the complex story of a misdirected, ignorant, and foolish young man with such sensitivity that the human drama becomes quite a masterpiece of a film."[33]

> I believe in God and I believe in religion. But I am against any religion that instills fear. God is misused by many who wish to mint money by scaring people. I believe in the great Hindu principle: 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' - the whole world is a family. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and indeed all religions, teach us brotherhood and love.

— Hirani on religion during PK controversies.[34][35]

All of Hirani's films were co-produced by Vinod Chopra Films till Sanju, after which they broke their ties owing to creative differences.[36] He had edited one of Chopra's films Mission Kashmir (2000) professionally. Hirani has worked consistently with writer Abhijat Joshi since Lage Raho Munna Bhai, and has often cast the same actors in his projects, particularly Sanjay Dutt, who has collaborated with Hirani on three feature films and one film which itself is based on Dutt. Aamir Khan has collaborated on two films with Hirani, one also starring Dutt. Boman Irani has featured in all of Hirani's films in pivotal supporting roles.

Hirani is considered a pioneer of his own cinematic style. He has garnered appraisal from several industry's successful makers and his contemporaries like Karan Johar who said,

> I've been pitted against everyone and I feel envious, not jealous. I am envious of Rajkumar Hirani. I've never managed to do what he does. His movies have genius ideas. I don't have the ability perhaps. I would love to make those kinds of movies. He has strong screenplays. I hope I get such screenplays. [37]

Director Anurag Kashyap called him the bravest filmmaker, he added: Generally, we filmmakers get into our subject to prove its poignancy so much that we end up making it less effective for the audience. But Raju didn't do that.[38]

SS Rajamouli said during the promotion of Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) that he is a huge fan of Hirani's films and that he "cannot make one scene the way [Rajkumar] Hirani does".[39]

Screenwriter Javed Akhtar praised Hirani's work saying,

> "I am a 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 a really good director or writer, you have to be really a good human being as well.[40]

## Personal life

[edit]

Hirani married Manjeet Hirani, a pilot in Air India, in 1994.[41] They have a son, Vir Hirani, who is also pursuing filmmaking.[42]

Vir Hirani will make his acting debut with play 'Letters from Suresh[43]'

Hirani is widely regarded in the industry for his approachable and accommodating nature. Colleagues often describe him as someone who finds it difficult to refuse requests, a trait seen as a reflection of his humility and people-oriented approach[44].

## Filmography

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Editor  | Producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

1991  | Jab Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya | No  | No  | Yes  | No  |
1994  | Jazbaat | No  | No  | Yes  | No  |
2000  | Mission Kashmir | No  | No  | Yes  | No  |
2001  | Tere Liye | No  | No  | Yes  | No  |
2003  | Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  |
2005  | Parineeta | No  | No  | No  | Creative  |
2006  | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  |
2007  | Eklavya: The Royal Guard | No  | No  | No  | Creative  |
2009  | 3 Idiots | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  |
2012  | Ferrari Ki Sawaari | No  | Dialogues  | Yes  | Creative  |
2014  | PK | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2016  | Saala Khadoos | No  | No  | No  | Yes  |
2018  | Sanju | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2023  | Dunki | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Rajkumar Hirani

## Box office

[edit]

The budgets and box-office figures are all estimates collated from various sources with reputed film portals. All values in Indian Rupees (₹) are converted to US Dollars ($) based on the average yearly exchange rate data from World Bank.

List of budget and box office receipts  Year  | Title  | Budget (est.)  | Box-office (est.)  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

Worldwide Gross
2003  | Munna Bhai MBBS | ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million)  | ₹56.28 crore (US$6.7 million)  | [45][46][47]
2006  | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | ₹19 crore (US$2.2 million)  | ₹126 crore (US$15 million)  | [48][49]
2009  | 3 Idiots | ₹55 crore (US$6.5 million)  | ₹400 crore (US$47 million)  | [50][51]
2014  | PK | ₹85 crore (US$10 million)  | ₹770 crore (US$91 million)  | [52][53]
2018  | Sanju | ₹96 crore (US$11 million)  | ₹586 crore (US$69 million)  | [54][55]
2023  | Dunki | ₹120 crore (US$14 million)  | ₹458.93 crore (US$54 million)–₹470.6 crore (US$56 million)  | [56]

## References

[edit]

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## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rajkumar Hirani.

* Rajkumar Hirani at IMDb
* Rajkumar Hirani on Facebook

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Rajkumar Hirani

Directed|

* Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)
* Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)
* 3 Idiots (2009)
* PK (2014)
* Sanju (2018)
* Dunki (2023)

Produced only|

* Saala Khadoos (2016)

Others|

* Munna Bhai franchise
* Munna Bhai

Awards for Rajkumar Hirani

* v
* t
* e

National Film Award for Best Screenplay

1967–1980|

* S. L. Puram Sadanandan (1967)
* Pandit Anand Kumar (1968)
* Puttanna Kanagal (1969)
* Satyajit Ray (1970)
* Tapan Sinha (1971)
* Gulzar (1972)
* Mrinal Sen and Ashish Burman (1973)
* Satyajit Ray (1974)
* No Award (1975)
* Vijay Tendulkar (1976)
* Satyadev Dubey, Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad (1977)
* T. S. Ranga and T. S. Nagabharana (1978)
* Sai Paranjpye (1979)
* Mrinal Sen (1980)

1981–2000|

* K. Balachander (1981)
* Mrinal Sen (1982)
* G. V. Iyer (1983)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1984)
* Bhabendra Nath Saikia (1985)
* Budhdhadeb Dasgupta (1986)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1987)
* Arundhati Roy (1988)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1989)
* K. S. Sethumadhavan (1990)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1991)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1992)
* Satyajit Ray (1993)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1994)
* Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Ashok Mishra (1995)
* Agathiyan (1996)
* Rituparno Ghosh (1997)
* Ashok Mishra (1998)
* Madampu Kunjukuttan (1999)
* Bharathiraja (2000)

2001–2020|

* Neelakanta (2001)
* Aparna Sen (2002)
* Goutam Ghose (2003)
* Manoj Tyagi and Nina Arora (2004)
* Prakash Jha, Manoj Tyagi and Shridhar Raghavan (2005)
* Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra (2006)
* Feroz Abbas Khan (2007)
* Sachin Kundalkar (2008)

Original|

* P. F. Mathews and Harikrishna (2009)
* Vetrimaaran (2010)
* Nitesh Tiwari, Vikas Bahl, and Vijay Maurya (2011)
* Sujoy Ghosh (2012)
* P. Sheshadri (2013)
* Srijit Mukherji (2014)
* Juhi Chaturvedi and Himanshu Sharma (2015)
* Syam Pushkaran (2016)
* Sajeev Pazhoor (2017)
* Rahul Ravindran (2018)
* Kaushik Ganguly (2019)
* Sudha Kongara and Shalini Usha Nair (2020)

Adapted|

* Gopal Krishan Pai and Girish Kasaravalli (2009)
* Anant Mahadevan and Sanjay Pawar (2010)
* Avinash Deshpande Nigdi (2011)
* Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla (2012)
* Panchakshari (2013)
* Joshy Mangalath (2014)
* Vishal Bhardwaj (2015)
* Sanjay Krishnaji Patil (2016)
* Jayaraj (2017)
* Sriram Raghavan , Arijit Biswas, Yogesh Chandekar, Hemanth M. Rao and Pooja Ladha Surti (2018)
* Srijit Mukherji (2019)
* – (2020)

Dialogue|

* Pandiraj (2009)
* Sanjay Pawar (2010)
* Girish Kulkarni (2011)
* Anjali Menon (2012)
* Sumitra Bhave (2013)
* Vishal Bhardwaj (2014)
* Juhi Chaturvedi and Himanshu Sharma (2015)
* Tharun Bhascker (2016)
* Sambit Mohanty (2017)
* Churni Ganguly (2018)
* Srijit Mukherji (2019)
* Madonne Ashwin (2020)

2021–present|

| Original|

* Shahi Kabir (2021)
* Anand Ekarshi (2022)
* Sai Rajesh and Ramkumar Balakrishnan (2023)

|

Adapted|

* Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Utkarshini Vashishtha (2021)
* – (2022)
* – (2023)

Dialogue|

* Utkarshini Vashishtha and Prakash Kapadia (2021)
* Arpita Mukherjee and Rahul V. Chittella (2022)
* Deepak Kingrani (2023)

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Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue

1959–1970|

* Rajinder Singh Bedi (1959)
* Ramanand Sagar (1960)
* Amanullah Khan, Kamal Amrohi, Wajahat Mirza & Ehsan Rizvi (1961)
* Wajahat Mirza (1962)
* Akhtar ul Iman (1963)
* Arjun Dev Rashk (1964)
* Govind Moonis (1965)
* Akhtar ul Iman (1966)
* Vijay Anand (1967)
* Manoj Kumar (1968)
* Ali Raza (1969)
* Pt Anand Kumar (1970)

1971–1990|

* Rajinder Singh Bedi (1971)
* Gulzar (1972)
* Ramesh Pant (1973)
* Gulzar (1974)
* Kaifi Azmi (1975)
* Salim-Javed (1976)
* Sagar Sarhadi (1977)
* Vrajendra Gaur (1978)
* Rahi Masoom Raza (1979)
* Satyadev Dubey (1980)
* Shabd Kumar (1981)
* Kader Khan (1982)
* Dr. Achla Nagar (1983)
* Mahesh Bhatt (1984)
* Sai Paranjpye (1985)
* Rahi Masoom Raza (1986)
* no award (1987)
* no award (1988)
* Kamlesh Pandey (1989)
* Javed Akhtar (1990)

1991–2010|

* Suraj Sanim (1991 )
* Rahi Masoom Raza (1992)
* Kader Khan (1993)
* Prof Jay Dixit (1994)
* K K Singh (1995)
* Aditya Chopra & Javed Siddiqui (1996)
* Gulzar (1997)
* Aditya Chopra (1998)
* Rajkumar Santoshi & K. K. Raina (1999)
* Hriday Lani & Pathik Vats (2000)
* O. P. Dutta (2001)
* Karan Johar (2002)
* Gulzar & Jaideep Sahni (2003)
* Abbas Tyrewala (2004)
* Aditya Chopra (2005)
* Prakash Jha (2006)
* Rajkumar Hirani & Abhijat Joshi (2007)
* Imtiaz Ali (2008)
* Manu Rishi (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi (2010)

2011–present|

* Habib Faisal (2011)
* Farhan Akhtar (2012)
* Anurag Kashyap, Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh Jaiswal & Sachin Ladia (2013)
* Subhash Kapoor (2014)
* Abhijat Joshi & Rajkumar Hirani (2015)
* Himanshu Sharma (2016)
* Ritesh Shah (2017)
* Hitesh Kewaliya (2018)
* Akshat Ghildial (2019)
* Vijay Maurya (2020)
* Juhi Chaturvedi (2021)

* v
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Filmfare Award for Best Story

1955–1970|

* Mukhram Sharma (1955)
* Rajinder Singh Bedi (1956)
* Amiya Chakrabarty (1957)
* Akhtar Mirza (1958)
* Mukhram Sharma (1959)
* Subodh Ghosh (1960)
* Ruby Sen (1961)
* C. V. Sridhar (1962)
* K. P. Kottarakara (1963)
* Jarasandha (1964)
* Ban Bhatt (1965)
* Akhtar Mirza (1966)
* R. K. Narayan (1967)
* Manoj Kumar (1968)
* Sachin Bhowmick (1969)
* Vasant Shankar Kanetkar (1970)

1971–1990|

* Chandrakant Kakodkar (1971)
* Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1972)
* Basu Bhattacharya (1973)
* Salim–Javed (1974)
* Kaifi Azmi, Ismat Chughtai (1975)
* Salim–Javed (1976)
* Balaichand Mukherjee (1977)
* Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (1978)
* Dinesh Thakur (1979)
* Shanker Shesh (1980)
* Vijay Tendulkar (1981)
* Chetan Anand (1982)
* Samaresh Basu (1983)
* S. D. Palwalker (1984)
* Mahesh Bhatt (1985)
* Aleem Masroor (1986)
* no award (1987)
* no award (1988)
* Subodh Ghosh (1989)
* K. Viswanath (1990)

1991–2010|

* Rajkumar Santoshi (1991 )
* Honey Irani (1992)
* no award given (1993)
* Sutanu Gupta (1994)
* K. K. Singh (1995)
* Ram Gopal Varma (1996)
* Gulzar (1997)
* Kamal Haasan (1998)
* Mahesh Bhatt (1999)
* Vinay Shukla (2000)
* Honey Irani (2001)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2002)
* Jaideep Sahni (2003)
* Nagesh Kukunoor (2004)
* Aditya Chopra (2005)
* Sudhir Mishra, Ruchi Narain & Shiv Kumar Subramaniam (2006 )
* Rajkumar Hirani & Vidhu Vinod Chopra (2007)
* Amole Gupte (2008)
* Abhishek Kapoor (2009)
* Abhijat Joshi & Rajkumar Hirani (2010)

2011–present|

* Anurag Kashyap & Vikramaditya Motwane (2011)
* Sanjay Chauhan (2012)
* Juhi Chaturvedi (2013)
* Subhash Kapoor (2014)
* Rajat Kapoor (2015)
* V. Vijayendra Prasad (2016)
* Shakun Batra (2017)
* Amit V. Masurkar (2018)
* Anubhav Sinha (2019)
* Anubhav Sinha & Gaurav Solanki (2020)
* Anubhav Sinha & Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul (2021)

* v
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* e

Filmfare Award for Best Director

1954–1970|

* Bimal Roy (1954)
* Bimal Roy (1955)
* Bimal Roy (1956)
* V. Shantaram (1957)
* Mehboob Khan (1958)
* Bimal Roy (1959)
* Bimal Roy (1960)
* Bimal Roy (1961)
* B. R. Chopra (1962)
* Abrar Alvi (1963)
* Bimal Roy (1964)
* Raj Kapoor (1965)
* Yash Chopra (1966)
* Vijay Anand (1967)
* Manoj Kumar (1968)
* Ramanand Sagar (1969)
* Yash Chopra (1970)

1971–1990|

* Asit Sen (1971)
* Raj Kapoor (1972)
* Sohanlal Kanwar (1973)
* Yash Chopra (1974)
* Manoj Kumar (1975)
* Yash Chopra (1976)
* Gulzar (1977)
* Basu Chatterjee (1978)
* Satyajit Ray (1979)
* Shyam Benegal (1980)
* Govind Nihalani (1981)
* Muzaffar Ali (1982)
* Raj Kapoor (1983)
* Govind Nihalani (1984)
* Sai Paranjpye (1985)
* Raj Kapoor (1986)
* Mansoor Khan (1989)
* Vidhu Vinod Chopra (1990)

1991–2010|

* Rajkumar Santoshi (1991)
* Subhash Ghai (1992)
* Mukul S. Anand (1993)
* Shekhar Kapur (1994)
* Sooraj Barjatya (1995)
* Aditya Chopra (1996)
* Rajkumar Santoshi (1997)
* J. P. Dutta (1998)
* Karan Johar (1999)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2000)
* Rakesh Roshan (2001)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2002)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2003)
* Rakesh Roshan (2004)
* Kunal Kohli (2005)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2006)
* Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (2007)
* Aamir Khan (2008)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani (2010)

2011-present|

* Karan Johar (2011)
* Zoya Akhtar (2012)
* Sujoy Ghosh (2013)
* Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (2014)
* Vikas Bahl (2015)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2016)
* Nitesh Tiwari (2017)
* Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (2018)
* Meghna Gulzar (2019)
* Zoya Akhtar (2020)
* Om Raut (2021)
* Vishnuvardhan (2022)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2023)
* Vidhu Vinod Chopra (2024)

* v
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* e

Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay

1969–1980|

* Nabendu Ghosh (1969)
* Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1970)
* Vijay Anand (1971)
* Basu Chatterjee (1972)
* Arvind Mukherjee (1973)
* Salim-Javed (1974)
* Shama Zaidi & Kaifi Azmi (1975)
* Salim-Javed (1976)
* Basu Chatterjee (1977)
* Lekh Tandon, Vrajendra Kaur & Madhusudan Kalekar (1978)
* Kamleshwar (1979)
* Girish Karnad & B. V. Karanth (1980)

1981–2000|

* Vijay Tendulkar (1981)
* K. Balachander (1982)
* Salim-Javed (1983)
* Vijay Tendulkar (1984)
* Mrinal Sen (1985)
* Goutam Ghose & Partha Banerjee (1986)
* no award (1987)
* no award (1988)
* Nasir Hussain (1989)
* Shiv Kumar Subramaniam (1990)
* Basu Chatterjee (1991)
* Tapan Sinha (1992)
* Aziz Mirza & Manoj Lalwani (1993)
* Robin Bhatt, Javed Siddiqui & Akash Khurana (1994)
* Sooraj Barjatya (1995)
* Aditya Chopra (1996)
* Rajkumar Santoshi (1997)
* Subhash Ghai (1998)
* Karan Johar (1999)
* John Matthew Matthan (2000)

2001–present|

* Honey Irani & Ravi Kapoor (2001)
* Farhan Akhtar (2002)
* Mani Ratnam (2003)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Lajan Joseph (2004)
* Mani Ratnam (2005)
* Nina Arora & Manoj Tyagi (2006)
* Jaideep Sahni (2007)
* Anurag Basu (2008)
* Yogendra Vinayak Joshi & Upendra Sidhaye (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Abhijat Joshi (2010)
* Anurag Kashyap & Vikramaditya Motwane (2011)
* Akshat Verma (2012)
* Sanjay Chauhan & Tigmanshu Dhulia (2013)
* Chetan Bhagat, Abhishek Kapoor, Supratik Sen & Pubali Chaudhari (2014)
* Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi (2015)
* Juhi Chaturvedi (2016)
* Shakun Batra & Ayesha Devitre (2017)
* Shubhashish Bhutiani (2018)
* Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, Yogesh Chandekar & Hemanth M. Rao (2019)
* Zoya Akhtar & Reema Kagti (2020)
* Rohena Gera (2021)

* v
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* e

IIFA Award for Best Director

* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2000)
* Rakesh Roshan (2001)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2002)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2003)
* Rakesh Roshan (2004)
* Yash Chopra (2005)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2006)
* Rajkumar Hirani (2007)
* Shimit Amin (2008)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani (2010)
* Karan Johar (2011)
* Zoya Akhtar (2012)
* Anurag Basu (2013)
* Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (2014)
* Rajkumar Hirani (2015)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2016)
* Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (2017)
* Saket Chaudhary (2018)
* Sriram Raghavan (2019)
* Aditya Dhar (2020)
* No award (2021)
* Vishnuvardhan (2022)
* R. Madhavan (2023)
* Vidhu Vinod Chopra (2024)
* Kiran Rao (2025)

* v
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* e

Screen Award for Best Director

* Sooraj Barjatya (1995)
* Aditya Chopra (1996)
* Dharmesh Darshan (1997)
* J. P. Dutta (1998)
* Karan Johar (1999)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2000)
* Rakesh Roshan (2001)
* Ashutosh Gowariker (2002)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2003)
* Rakesh Roshan (2004)
* Kunal Kohli (2005)
* Sanjay Leela Bhansali (2006)
* Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (2007)
* Aamir Khan & Shimit Amin (2008)
* Ashutosh Gowariker & Neeraj Pandey (2009)
* Rajkumar Hirani (2010)
* Vikramaditya Motwane (2011)
* Milan Luthria (2012)
* Anurag Basu (2013)
* Shoojit Sircar (2014)
* Vikas Bahl (2015)
* Kabir Khan (2016)
* Ram Madhvani (2017)
* Nitesh Tiwari (2018)
* Sriram Raghavan (2019)
* Zoya Akhtar (2020)

* v
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Rajkumar Hirani's Munna Bhai

Sanjay Dutt

Films|

* Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
* Lage Raho Munna Bhai
* accolades

Characters|

* Munna Bhai

Related articles|

* Gandhigiri

Remakes|

* Vasool Raja MBBS
* Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.
* Uppi Dada M.B.B.S.
* Shankar Dada Zindabad

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Korea
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

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