Vidhu Vinod Chopra Says No One In South India Wanted Munna Bhai MBBS: 'Got One Show In Chennai'
Speaking on the latest episode of Creator x Creator on SCREEN, Chopra recalled, 'Munna Bhai MBBS opened to empty theatres. Munna Bhai MBBS is the movie that made me rich, but that's because nobody bought that film outside of Mumbai."
He said a distributor from South India who had agreed to take the film for Rs 11 lakh backed out at the last minute after watching it. 'Those days, they used to take delivery. So he came to take delivery four days before the film's release. When he saw the film, he said, 'Sir, this film won't work even for a day. Nobody outside of Mumbai would get the language of Munna Bhai.'"
The film, known for its use of Bambaiya slang, followed a gangster from Mumbai who decides to become a doctor. Despite the local flavour, Chopra said he was surprised at the lack of confidence from distributors. He even offered to return the advance amount already paid. 'The bottom line is I had no distributor for South India. I had friends — Shyam Shroff and Bala Shroff — who had a company. There was a cinema there, and I got just one morning show at 11 am in Chennai. I sold my print there for Rs 5 lakh. My final business from that one centre was in Rs 1 crore plus."
He added that it took a few days for audiences to warm up to the film. 'Nobody went to see the film the first day or the second day. But when you do good work, (it'll pay). Which is where I'm anti-marketing. Not anti-marketing, but I don't really care about marketing because people will discover."
Chopra drew a parallel with the response to his recent directorial 12th Fail, which also had a slow start but went on to become a long-running success. 'Even 12th Fail started with Rs 10–30 lakh. It ran for seven months in cinemas in today's time! Two months after it released, it was already on an OTT platform like Hotstar, yet people went into cinemas."
Chopra, who has also produced hits like Parineeta, 3 Idiots, PK, and Sanju, said it all comes down to following his gut and trusting the story over the sales pitch.
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