Meet Raju Hirani, Bollywood's 10 Billion Man

Five movies and almost Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to his name already. That's the blockbuster run Rajkumar Hirani has been enjoying at the box office ever since he made his directorial debut with Munnabhai MBBS 20 years ago.

Now, all eyes are on Dunki, a film which will finally see him work with Shah Rukh Khan.

Everyone knows that SRK was to star in Munnabhai MBBS, but had to opt out, as he was injured at the time.

Joginder Tuteja takes a look at just how much money Raju Hirani's films have made.

Munnabhai MBBS
Box office collection: Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million)

Audiences can't get enough of Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi as the loveable duo Munnabhai and Circuit.

Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra entrusted Raju -- who edited his earlier films -- to deliver the goods and he did just that with a light-hearted film that had a lot of emotion.

• The Rediff Review

Lage Raho Munna Bhai
Box office collection: Rs 74.88 crore (Rs 748.8 million)

With Munnabhai MBBS's success came Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

Raju provided entertainment with a message, in the Mahatma's words.

The film ended up doing almost the triple business of the first and paved the way for Munna Bhai Chale Amerika, for which a teaser was shot. But there has been no progress on the franchise.

• The Rediff Review

3 Idiots
Box office collection: Rs 202 crore (Rs 2.02 billion)

Raju roped in Aamir Khan for this classic on India's education system.

3 Idiots brought out amazing chemistry between Aamir's character and the cjaracters played by R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.

The film also featured Kareena Kapoor and Raju favourite, Boman Irani as daughter and father.

3 Idiots inaugurated the Rs 200 Crore Club for Bollywood.

• The Rediff Review

PK
Box office collection: Rs 340.80 crore (Rs 3.4 billion)

The Raju-Aamir pair moved on to PK, another film fabulously written.

It featured Aamir as a confused alien, who defied norms and challenged societal notions.

The film did spark some controversy, but did not deter audiences from rushing to the nearest theatres to watch it.

An all-time blockbuster, it turned out to be the founding member of the Rs 300 Crore Club.

• The Rediff Review

Sanju
Box office collection: Rs 342.53 crore (Rs 3.43 billion)

Raju paid tribute to Sanjay Dutt by making this biopic with Ranbir Kapoor in the title role.

The director may have been accused of white-washing Dutt's embedded wioth controversy life, but the film was so brilliantly made, audiences loved it and made it a huge blockbuster.

• The Rediff Review