Arecent spotting of actors Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi in their respective avatars of Munna Bhai and Circuit from the Munna Bhai film series led to speculation that the film’s third instalment might be in the works, 17 years after the second, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), was released. The presence of director Rajkumar Hirani on the set, which looked like a hospital, added to the buzz.

However, we have learnt that the trio had come together for an ad shoot. “There is no film in the making. They shot for a commercial for a hospital and the BTS video was released online, which led to the rumours,” confirms a source.

In fact, industry insiders say that a third instalment to the Munna Bhai franchise “might never happen”. A source adds, “The chances of a third instalment are bleak as Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra (producer) had a fallout. It has been many years since they parted ways following the #MeToo allegations against Hirani.”

The source adds, “There was a film with a working title, Munna Bhai Chale America, but that was shelved without any reason. In fact, the script was finalized and the pre-production had also started, but it didn’t happen.”