Vivek Oberoi was the first choice for Munna Bhai MBBS, here's why he rejected the role

Vivek Oberoi is currently busy promoting his upcoming film, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and right from the day the film's teaser was released online, it has been embroiled in a lot of controversies. The actor, who is making a comeback with the film, will be stepping into the shoes of PM Narendra Modi for the biopic and while all his fans are rejoicing the fact that their favourite actor is back on the silver screen, little do they know that Vivek has truned down a lot of offers before. 

During an interview with HuffPost India, Vivek revealed that he was offered Rajkumar Hirani's 2003 film Munna Bhai MBBS but he couldn't take it up due to dates issue and then the role had passed down to Sanjay Dutt. ''I wanted to do Munnabhai, I said yes to it, but destiny had it that it was supposed to be a Sanjay Dutt film. I couldn’t adjust my dates,'' Oberoi said.

Munna Bhai MBBS went on to win the 2004 National Film Award for best popular film and several Filmfare Awards. Apart from Sanjay Dutt, the film starred Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Gracy Singh and Sunil Dutt in prominent roles. Meanwhile, in an interview with India Today, Vivek Oberoi had said that PM Modi biopic is not a propaganda film and its release would not affect the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. ''It is just a coincidence that the film is releasing ahead of the election. It is not a propaganda film. I am an individual who has a credible body of work over the last 18 years, more than 45 films and more than 26-27 awards. So I stand my ground there. I don't need to make him appear as a hero. He is a hero to billions of people across the world,'' he had said.

Apart from Vivek Oberoi, the film also stars Manoj Joshi, Boman Irani,  Barkha Bisht Sengupta, Suresh Oberoi, Darshan Kumaar, Prashant Narayanan and Zarina Wahab in lead roles.