Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Munnabhai film franchise owners, plan to wait for Sanjay Dutt's return from prison before rolling production of the third installment of the franchise. In a joint statement Hirani and Chopra said: "Just two days back Sanjay called and said, 'it's tough to be in prison but I'm ready to go there because when I come back, I will experience freedom in its true sense. I will be rid of this monkey who has been sitting on my back for the last 20 years and scaring me'. When I walk out of prison, I want to walk straight onto the sets of Munna Bhai."

Confirming that they will wait, the duo added: "The reel Munna Bhai will wait for the real Munna Bhai. He will indeed walk on the sets of the next Munnabhai as he comes back to us free." The 53-year-old actor played the lead in Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003) and Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). The third installment was announced recently; it was to be directed by Subhash Kapoor (Jolly LLB) with filming starting end of 2013. Dutt is currently wrapping Karan Johar's production Ungly, Rajkumar Hiranmi's P.K., KS Ravikumar's Policegiri, Soham Shah's Sher and the Zanjeer remake.