Not Circuit, 'Khujli' Was Arshad Warsi's Original Name For munna Bhai Series, The Actor Renamed It

Vidhu Vinod Chopra shares a story behind Arshad Warsi's character in the munna Bhai series. His character's original name was 'Khujli'.

Among Bollywood's most beloved characters, Arshad Warsi's Circuit is hard to top. However, not many know that Arshad was not the first choice for this character and neither his character's name was Circuit. A video surfaced online where vidhu vinod chopra shares the story behind Arshad Warsi's character in the munna Bhai series. The filmmaker was sitting on a singing reality show where he elaborated, “Sabse badi kahani toh circuit ki hai.”

Arshad Warsi's Original Name In munna Bhai MBBS Was ‘Khujli’

Vidhu Vinod Chopra revealed that initially, the character's name was "Khujli," not "Circuit" in the film—Ek aur actor tha jisme Khujli uss character ka naam tha. Humaari shooting aane wali thi aur Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) bada sharif sa ladka dikhta tha, toh maine usko pehle hi kaha tha ki date ki koi problem ho toh nhi karna. Toh ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’ ke hafta dus din pehle unn bhaisahab ko date ki kuch problem hogyi. Ab hafta bhar shooting thi. 

Toh maine Raju ko kaha ki immediately change karo. (Circuit was not in that film at all. There was another actor who had the name of that character, Khujli. Our shooting was about to start and Raju (Rajkumar Hirani) looked like a very decent boy, so I had told him earlier that if there was any problem with the date, then not to do anything. So, a week or two before 'Munnabhai MBBS', that actor had some trouble with the date. Now there was shooting in a week. So, I told Raju to change him immediately.)”

Vidhu Vinod Chopra explained how he found Arshad Warsi. He said, “Main Vaastav ki party par gaya tha kyuki sanjay dutt ne bohot insist kiya tha. Toh maine kaha waha sanjay dutt ke saath ek chota ladka dance kar raha tha. Usko dhundho kaun hai. Toh wo nikla Arshad Warsi. Aur usko ghar bulaya. (I went to a party because sanjay dutt insisted a lot. Then, I said that a small boy was dancing with Sanjay Dutt. Find out who he is. So he turned out to be Arshad Warsi. And I called him home.)”

Arshad Warsi's Questions About His Role In ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’

Vidhu Vinod Chopra revealed that it was arshad warsi who suggested the character ‘Circuit’. He said, “Mujhe puchta hai role kya hai aur main tang aa jaata hu role se. Toh maine kaha role ye hai ki hero hota hai ek hero ka chamcha hota hai. Toh tu chamcha hai karna hai? kyu ki kon smjhaaye role. Costume kya hai? kale kapde pehen le, kapde lkuch nhi hai uske. Sar gold pehen lu. Naam kehta sir khujli acha nahi hai. Maine kaha tu bol. Kehta circuit Ye circuit naam usi ne socha hai. humne nhi kiya. (He asks me what is the role and I get irritated when someone asks me about the role.

 So, I said the role is that there is a hero and there is a hero's follower. So you are the follower, do you have to play the follower? Because who will explain the role? What is the costume? Wear black clothes, his clothes are nothing. He says the name Khujli, is not good. I said you tell me. He says circuit, he has thought of this name circuit. I did not do it.)”

The blockbuster movie 'Munna Bhai MBBS' was released in 2003.