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Director guide · November 2026

Rajkumar Hirani's movies in order: all six films from Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. to Dunki

Most popular directors make a film every year or two. Rajkumar Hirani has made six in two decades, and every one of them has been a hit with audiences. His films are comedies on the surface, but each one is built around a serious question about hospitals, schools, faith, fame or borders. Here is every Hirani film in the order it came out, what makes each worth watching, and what he is working on next.

The short version

Hirani was born in Nagpur in 1962. His family's roots are in Mehrabpur, in Sindh. He studied commerce, spent his college years in Hindi theatre and then trained as a film editor at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. Before directing, he cut promos and trailers, made advertising films and edited Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir (2000). Chopra went on to produce his films up to Sanju. Since Lage Raho Munna Bhai he has written with Abhijat Joshi, and he still edits his own films. His work has won four National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards. For his full profile, see our Rajkumar Hirani page.

  1. 1. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)

    Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Gracy Singh and Sunil Dutt

    A big-hearted Mumbai gangster fakes his way into medical college to please his father, with his loyal sidekick Circuit at his side. Under the jokes sits a sharp point about hospitals that forget patients are people. Hirani's debut was a critical and commercial hit. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film, and Hirani won the Filmfare award for Best Screenplay.

  2. 2. Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)

    Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani and Dilip Prabhavalkar

    Munna starts seeing visions of Mahatma Gandhi and begins solving ordinary people's problems with patience, honesty and non-violence, which he calls "Gandhigiri". The word caught on far beyond the cinema. The sequel was a major hit and won four National Film Awards, including Best Popular Film again, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Dilip Prabhavalkar as Gandhi.

  3. 3. 3 Idiots (2009)

    Starring: Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor and Boman Irani

    Two friends search for their old college roommate Rancho, the engineering student who refused to learn by rote, and remember their years under a strict director nicknamed Virus. Loosely based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone, it became a record-breaking hit and the most successful Indian film of its time. At the Filmfare Awards it won six prizes, including Best Film, Best Director for Hirani and Best Supporting Actor for Boman Irani.

  4. 4. PK (2014)

    Starring: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani and Sanjay Dutt

    An alien lands in the Rajasthan desert, loses the remote he needs to get home, and is told that only God can help. His innocent questions about how people sell faith made PK Hirani's boldest satire. Some groups criticised it for hurting religious sentiments, but it also became the highest-grossing Indian film of its time. It is still Hirani's biggest film worldwide.

  5. 5. Sanju (2018)

    Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala and Anushka Sharma

    A biopic of actor Sanjay Dutt, Hirani's most frequent lead, covering his drug addiction, his bond with his father Sunil Dutt and his legal troubles. Ranbir Kapoor's transformation drew wide praise, and some critics felt the film went easy on its subject. It was the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2018. At the Filmfare Awards Ranbir Kapoor won Best Actor and Vicky Kaushal won Best Supporting Actor.

  6. 6. Dunki (2023)

    Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vikram Kochhar, Anil Grover and Boman Irani, with Vicky Kaushal

    Hirani's first film with Shah Rukh Khan follows friends from a small town in Punjab who dream of reaching England and end up on the dangerous illegal migration route known as the "donkey flight". It opened on 21 December 2023 to mixed reviews and was a commercial success, though not on the scale of his earlier hits. Vicky Kaushal won the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor for his short role.

The box office story

Hirani has never had a flop, which is rare for any director. By Box Office India's worldwide figures, PK is his biggest film at about ₹616 crore, followed by Sanju at about ₹578 crore, Dunki at about ₹422 crore and 3 Idiots at about ₹349 crore. 3 Idiots and PK each became the highest-grossing Indian film of their time when they were released. Trackers count overseas earnings and later releases differently, so other sources give higher totals: Bollywood Hungama, for example, puts Dunki at about ₹470 crore worldwide. Treat these as rounded figures rather than exact counts.

What makes a Hirani film

A few habits run through all six films. Each one takes on a real issue, whether that is cold hospitals, exam pressure, people who profit from faith, the media's hunger for scandal or the dangers of illegal migration, and wraps it in jokes and warmth rather than lectures. His heroes are outsiders who ask simple questions that expose how silly a system has become. He likes working with the same people: Boman Irani appears in every one of his films, Sanjay Dutt starred in three and inspired a fourth, and Aamir Khan led two. The critic Rajeev Masand compared his gentle, humane style to the classic Hindi comedies of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Hirani has named Mukherjee's Anand (1971) as his favourite film.

What comes next

The biggest news for fans is a sequel to 3 Idiots. In April 2026 Aamir Khan said Hirani and Abhijat Joshi were writing a story that catches up with the same three friends ten years later, and that he would play Rancho again. In May 2026 Variety India reported that filming was expected to begin around mid-2027, after Khan's next film. At the same time, Khan said a planned biopic of Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, had been put on hold because Hirani was not yet happy with the script. Fans have also waited years for a third Munna Bhai film. Hirani has said he has several half-finished scripts for it, but no shoot has been announced. Plans like these often change, so we will update this guide when dates are confirmed.

Where to start

If you are new to Hirani, start with 3 Idiots. It is funny, moving and easy to enjoy whether or not you know Hindi cinema. Then watch Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munna Bhai back to back, because the two films work best as a pair. If you like satire, go to PK, and if you enjoy true stories, try Sanju. Streaming availability differs by country, so check the services in your region. For more, see our top 20 Bollywood movies and all-time blockbusters.

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