It was an existing brand, waiting to be encashed. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when Rajkumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munna Bhai witnessed a flying start last fortnight. After all, the immense popularity of the first film in the series — Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. — would have had some rub-off on the second film in the intended trilogy.

Since the film was very good, the box office managed to maintain the initial collections fabulously throughout the week and even the weekend thereafter. While opinions over whether the first film was better than the second one might vary, the fact remains that the story of Munna Bhai being teamed up with Mahatma Gandhi has outdone the business generated by Munna Bhai and his friend Circuit’s tryst with the medical profession. In other words, Lage Raho Munna Bhai has made more money than Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. in the first week itself.

There could be two reasons for Lage Raho’s superior financial performance. One, there weren’t so many multiplexes three years ago. Today, a chunk of any film’s revenue comes from the multiplexes that charge exorbitant admission rates. Secondly, M.B.B.S. wasn’t a universal hit. It may sound strange now but the truth is that the film had worked wonders mainly in Mumbai and the South while making fair profits in the other circuits. And it was only later that Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. went on to become somewhat of a cult film by hitting it off in the satellite, VCD and DVD circuits.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai couldn’t have cost more than Rs 10 crore to make. But its theatrical business alone is expected to cross Rs 35 to Rs 37 crore. Add to that another Rs 8 to Rs 10 crore for its satellite rights and a couple of crore for other rights and you arrive at a neat profit figure of about Rs 35 crore. This figure does not take into account the huge sums being offered to producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra for the Tamil and Telugu remaking rights of the film. The amounts offered are said to be far, far higher than what he received for selling the language rights of Munnabhai M.B.B.S.

Considering that Krrish and Phir Hera Pheri and now Lage Raho Munna Bhai have all proven to be box-office hits, the year 2006 would go down in Bollywood history as the year of sequels. Although, it must be clarified that, technically, Lage Raho Munna Bhai is not a sequel to the earlier Munna Bhai film but one more in the series. With the Dhoom sequel, Dhoom II, still to be released, one will have to wait and watch if the sequel saga meets with cent per cent success this year.

It’s an uncanny coincidence. Soon after Sanjay Dutt’s Lage Raho Munna Bhai was released, people started talking about how it should be India’s entry at the Oscars this year. Some quarters are also discussing how this film deserves to win the National Award for the best film on national integration this year. That’s where the coincidence comes in. Exactly 25 years ago, in September 1981, to be precise, the government of India had decided to name the National Award for the best feature film on national integration after Sanjay Dutt’s mother, Nargis Dutt. So if Munna Bhai does bag the award this year, it would be a fine happenstance.

What do you expect to see if the disc jockey at Viveik Oberoi’s birthday party slips up and plays the Kajra Re song picturised on the actor’s ex-girlfriend, Aishwarya Rai? The incident actually took place on September 3 right in the midst of a song-dance routine when Viveik Oberoi was celebrating his birthday with family and friends like Akshay Kumar, Tusshar Kapoor and others. Before any fireworks could erupt and Viveik Oberoi could react, an invitee had the presence of mind to ask the DJ to change the number. He promptly obliged.

PS: Thank god, the party wasn’t held five days later because by then Viveik Oberoi’s new film Naksha had bombed at the box office. And so he may not have been in such a forgiving mood at the party. And, no, Salman Khan did not attend Viveik’s party.

Komal Nahta is editor of Film Information