New Youtube Originals, Off The Page, to debut on Gandhi Jayanti

To be performed by the original cast of Bollywood movie ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’. Youtube Originals, Off the Page, will also introduce the popular concept of 'table read' in India.

Original cast of the iconic Bollywood movie, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ (2006) - Sanjay Dutt (Munna Bhai), Arshad Warsi (Circuit), Vidya Balan (Jhanvi), Boman Irani (Lucky Singh) and Dilip Prabhavalkar (Mahatma Gandhi) - is reuniting to launch the new YouTube Originals, Off The Page, as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his150th birth anniversary.

Off The Page is a dramatic interpretation of an iconic Bollywood film in a table read format. The star-cast will narrate the most compelling scenes from the movie, highlighting Gandhian principles such as Satya, Ahimsa and Satyagraha. The episodes will also feature a discussion between the cast and noted film critic Anupama Chopra, about the ideas, events, and stories that went into the making of the film. Viewers will also get to see how the script, performance, and direction translated into the filmed scene.

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Off The Page is curated by renowned film critic Anupama Chopra. It will have 17 episodes of 7 - 10 minutes each and will be released on the Film Companion channel on YouTube, starting October 2.

Talking about her first table read Anupama Chopra said, “Off the Page was a first for me! It was so exciting to work with this new format and recreate scenes from a film I love - Lage Raho Munnabhai.  It was fascinating to revisit the making of the film - the stories were gold! I hope people who watch Off the Page enjoy it as much as I did!” 

Sanjay Dutt aka Munna Bhai added, “Munnabhai is a franchise which is supremely close to my heart. Till date, I meet Raju and get after him to get ready with the third film. This reunion is extremely special as it is done on Gandhiji’s birthday who was the whole crux of the film, it was actually the Gandhigiri concept that made the film what it is today and getting to relive that is just magical.”

Boman Irani said, “Munnabhai is extremely special for me, the way the story was written with a deep message is I guess what always connected with the fans and with ya as actors too. For Lage Raho Munnabhai we all worked extremely hard, there was the pressure of living up to Munnabhai MBBS and nobody wanted to let the level go down and I am glad we worked that hard because it truly has paid off. 

That’s why even today fans are so excited to see us come together. We ourselves were like a bunch of school kids reuniting and the fact that we spoke about Gandhigiri just made it better because post the film this subject became very special for all of us.”

Arshad Warsi aka Circuit said, “Table Read by itself is a very interesting concept. The cast of “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” coming together, reliving the movie, the beautiful moments spent on making the film and to do this as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, well this is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life”.

Dilip Prabhavalkar, who portrayed Bapu in Lage Raho Munnabhai said, “So, I was fortunate enough to essay the character of Gandhiji in the film and it’s a role that has become immensely special to me. Till date, I hear people talk about Lage Raho Munnabhai and the Gandhian PRINCIPLE spoke about...I think that’s what makes our efforts worthy. 

I am so glad the makers decided to have this mini-reunion in the form of a Gandhigiri segment, it’s brought back so many memories, it’s truly very special.”