After more than two decades of false starts and fond promises, the third Munna Bhai film has just taken its biggest step towards the big screen. Writer-director Farhad Samji has been brought on board to write Munna Bhai 3 for Rajkumar Hirani, and the makers are reportedly targeting a 2027 start for filming — a development that could finally bring Sanjay Dutt’s Munna and Arshad Warsi’s Circuit back to cinemas after twenty years.
The biggest step forward in twenty years
The news first broke through a report by Variety India, which revealed that Samji is currently writing Munna Bhai 3 and is expected to finish the screenplay shortly. According to the report, the film has entered its pre-production stage and is scheduled to go on floors in 2027 — the most concrete production timeline the long-delayed project has ever had.
What makes this development significant is that it addresses the one obstacle Hirani has named again and again: the script. The director has spent two decades refusing to rush the sequel, insisting that he would only make it once he was satisfied with the story. By bringing Samji in, Hirani appears to have found the fresh voice he was looking for to crack a narrative worthy of the first two films. As Sacnilk reported, the writing has always been the real hurdle — not the availability of the leading men.
A 23-year reunion of Samji, Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra
For Farhad Samji, the assignment is a homecoming more than two decades in the making. His association with the franchise began on the original Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), when a late-night phone call from composer Anu Malik pulled him into the film’s music — he penned the opening refrain of the popular song “M Bole Toh”. Now he returns to the same world with a far bigger responsibility: writing the entire Farhad Samji Munna Bhai 3 script.
The reunion also brings back together the original creative core — Hirani, Samji and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra — for the first time in 23 years. In his conversation with Variety India, Hirani indicated that he wanted someone with a fresh perspective on the beloved characters, and Samji, who has long spoken of Hirani as an idol, fit the bill. Indulge Express described the development as a historic creative reunion for the franchise.
Will Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi return?
The question every fan is asking is whether Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi will return as Munna and Circuit. Their participation has not been formally announced yet, but all signs point that way: both actors have repeatedly expressed their desire to make the third film, and reports of the 2027 shoot have them attached to their career-defining roles. Dutt, in particular, has been vocal about wanting to reunite with Hirani’s most lovable characters.
The long road to this moment has seen several near-misses. Over the years the makers explored multiple ideas, including titles like Munna Bhai Chale America and Munna Bhai LLB, and a teaser trailer surfaced more than fifteen years ago — yet the project never locked a script it was proud of. As recently as June 2026, Arshad Warsi revealed that three unfinished scripts were sitting with the makers, calling them better than most scripts he had ever heard. He added that Hirani was still searching for the one story that matched the standard of the first two classics.
Why 2027 could finally be the year
Hirani himself has never hidden his emotional attachment to the characters. In a June 2026 interview, he said the one film he most wanted to make was Munna Bhai 3, adding that Dutt “keeps calling and keeps calling” about it. “It will happen someday,” he promised — and for the first time, that someday has a shape: a writer at work, a pre-production team in place, and a 2027 start of shooting.
For Pakistani and Indian audiences alike, the franchise needs no introduction. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) turned a Mumbai gangster with a heart of gold into a cultural icon, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) carried the characters into a story built around Gandhian principles — winning hearts across borders. If the current timeline holds, the Munna Bhai 3 release date would likely fall in 2028, giving the franchise its first new chapter in more than two decades. No official shooting date or theatrical release window has been announced yet, but with the script now in active development, the wait finally has an end in sight.
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