Munna Bhai is a series of Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 films directed by Rajkumar Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani

Rajkumar Hirani is a National Award and Filmfare Award winning Indian director, screenwriter and film editor of Hindi films, best known for the films Munna Bhai MBBS , Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots , considered the highest-grossing Hindi film by distributor-share.-Early life and...

 and produced by Vinod Chopra Productions. The first film is Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. is a 2003 Indian comedy directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The story involves protagonist Munna Bhai , a goon, going to medical school. He is helped by his sidekick, Circuit . It is the first film in the popular Munna Bhai series...

(2003), the second is Lage Raho Munna Bhai

Lage Raho Munna Bhai

Lage Raho Munna Bhai is a 2006 Indian musical comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the second film in the popular Munna Bhai series of Bollywood. Sanjay Dutt stars in this film as Munna Bhai, a Mumbai underworld don, who begins to see the spirit of...

(2006). A third film, Munnabhai Chale Amerika

Munnabhai Chale Amerika

Munna Bhai Chale Amerika is an Indian comedy film produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Rajkumar Hirani. It is the third film of the Munna Bhai series all of which follow the comic adventures of Munna Bhai or Murli Prasad Sharma and his sidekick, Circuit or Cirkeshwar .Director...

is still under development.

Overview

Murli Prasad Sharma (Munna Bhai) is portrayed by Sanjay Dutt

Sanjay Dutt

Sanjay Dutt is an Indian Hindi film actor and politician. Dutt, son of Hindi film actors Sunil and Nargis Dutt, made his acting debut in 1981.-Personal life:...

. He is a "Bhai" - a leader in the Mumbai underworld. His nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

, Munna Bhai has a double meaning. It could refer to the form of "Bhai" as an honorific

Honorific

An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...

, as the word traditionally translates as "brother"; however, within the context of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

, "Bhai" has also come to refer to a hoodlum. His sidekick

Sidekick

A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...

, or consigliere

Consigliere

Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...

 is Circuit (portrayed by Arshad Warsi

Arshad Warsi

Arshad Warsi is an Indian actor who debuted in 1996 with the film Tere Mere Sapne which was a success but he is best known for his role as "Circuit" in the comedy films Munnabhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munnabhai and his role as Babban in Ishqiya which won him acclaim.-Early life and...

). They both speak in Bambaiya Hindi

Bambaiya Hindi

Mumbai Hindi or simply Mumbaiyya is a Hindi pidgin spoken in and around the city of Mumbai, India. It incorporates words and pronunciations from Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani and English...

, a dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

 specific to Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Munna Bhai was first introduced in the 2003 film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. is a 2003 Indian comedy directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The story involves protagonist Munna Bhai , a goon, going to medical school. He is helped by his sidekick, Circuit . It is the first film in the popular Munna Bhai series...

which involves his adventures as a faux

Fake

Fake means not real.Fake may also refer to:In music:* Fake , a Swedish synthpop band active in the 1980s*Fake?, a Japanese rock band* Fake , 2010 song by Ai featuring Namie Amuro...

-medical student, who finally tells the truth about himself and learns to help people along the way.

In the second movie, Lage Raho Munna Bhai

Lage Raho Munna Bhai

Lage Raho Munna Bhai is a 2006 Indian musical comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the second film in the popular Munna Bhai series of Bollywood. Sanjay Dutt stars in this film as Munna Bhai, a Mumbai underworld don, who begins to see the spirit of...

, Munna Bhai becomes a faux

Fake

Fake means not real.Fake may also refer to:In music:* Fake , a Swedish synthpop band active in the 1980s*Fake?, a Japanese rock band* Fake , 2010 song by Ai featuring Namie Amuro...

-professor. He begins, thereafter to see the image of Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

 who persuades him to stop pretending he is a professor and who teaches him to help other people solve their problems through Gandhism

Gandhism

Gandhism is the collection of inspirations, principles, beliefs and philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , who was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement....

, which Munna Bhai terms Gandhigiri

Gandhigiri

Gandhigiri is a relatively new term in India which is used to express the tenets of Gandhism in contemporary terms. The term became popular due to its usage in the 2006 Hindi film, Lage Raho Munna Bhai...

.

External links

• Murliprasad 'Munna Bhai' Sharma at Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...