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Bachna Ae Haseeno
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Wikipedia article
'Bachna Ae Haseeno' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Siddharth Anand, whose previous projects included 'Salaam Namaste' (2005) and 'Ta Ra Rum Pum' (2007). The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba. The title of the film was taken from the popular song "Bachna Ae Haseeno" from 'Hum Kisise Kum Naheen' (1977). It released on 15 August 2008 on the eve of Indian Independence Day and clashed with 'God Tussi Great Ho' which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra. While the latter suffered, 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' proved to be a hit at the box office, thus becoming the first hit of Kapoor's career and became the eighth-highest-grossing film of the year.
Plot
Raj Sharma is a young playboy who meets three young women at different stages in his life and learns important lessons about love along the way. As the story opens in 2008, it leads to a series of flashbacks over how he has grown to see through life.
Mahi, 1996
Raj runs into Mahi Pasricha who's with her friends on the Eurorail during a trip to Switzerland with his friends. Mahi is a sweet, dreamy girl who believes in true love and is hoping to find her 'Raj' (a reference to 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge') i.e. her true love. When she misses her train, Raj helps her reach the airport through a different route. On the way, they share a kiss after Raj reads her a poem he wrote about her. At the airport, when she opens the paper on which Raj had written the poem, she finds it blank. Raj boasts to his friends about what happened between the pair and how he took full advantage of the situation when she was alone. Mahi overhears this and is shocked and heartbroken. Raj realizes that she has overheard and shamefacedly leaves.
Radhika, 2002
Raj has moved to Mumbai six years from the Switzerland episode and found a job with Microsoft as a game designer with his best friend Sachin Kulkarni. Pretty soon, he enters into a live-in relationship with neighbour Radhika Kapoor, an aspiring model. Having received an offer to move to Sydney for a Halo 3 game launch, he expects to be able to leave Radhika and move on, assuming she is capable of handling a break-up. This vision is shattered when Radhika declares that she intends to sacrifice her career to marry Raj and join him in Australia. He makes up reasons to Radhika so that the marriage won't happen, but she remains firm. Raj, unable to express his commitment phobia, boards his flight on the day he is to marry Radhika in the morning. Radhika learns this while waiting for him at the registrar's office dressed as a bride, and is left crestfallen and heartbroken.
Gayatri, 2007
Raj now enjoys a successful career five years down the line along with Sachin in Sydney. He meets Gayatri, a feisty and independent woman who drives a taxi at night and studies at business school during the day. As they date, he gains feelings for her. He also realizes that his feelings for her challenge his misgivings toward commitment. He proposes to her, but Gayatri turns him down, saying that she is happy with her life as she is and she doesn't believe in marriage.
Rejection cuts Raj deep. He recalls when he broke the hearts of Mahi and Radhika, realizing how they must have felt. He decides to seek them out and ask for forgiveness.
Present Day
On his return to India, in Amritsar, in 2008, Raj first seeks out Mahi, who is now married and has two sons. Her husband Joginder "Jogi" Singh Ahluwalia recognizes Raj from the Switzerland episode and knocks him out. He blames Raj for Mahi no longer believing in love or romance because of him, although he explains that she is a perfect housewife and has a perfect home. Firm in his decision not to leave without being forgiven, he befriends Jogi's friend Karan Bahl, who is set to be married. At Karan's 'sangeet' ceremony, Raj apologizes to Mahi and convinces her that Jogi is her true love, while also reconciling with the Pasrichas in the process. She opens up to Jogi and forgives Raj.Raj then searches for Radhika and discovers that she has changed her name to Shreya Rathore and has become a successful supermodel. Raj tries to meet Shreya at an event but she ignores him. He follows her to Capri in Italy where she goes for a vacation. Raj finally meets Shreya but she refuses to accept his apologies and tells him that if he really wants her forgiveness, he will have to work for it. Willing to do this, Raj becomes her personal assistant and she makes him do all sorts of tasks, even serving at parties. She humiliates him on every occasion, but he remains firm, serving without complaint. She finally gives up and tells him how hurt she had felt back then, and asks him to leave. However, before Raj goes home, she arrives and tells him that she realized that the root of her frustration was bottled-up hate against him that she no longer bears. She then forgives him as he leaves.
Content, Raj returns to Australia. On his return, he finds a pile of letters from Gayatri, written over the six months he was gone. Raj meets Gayatri in her taxi. She regrets turning him down. The lovers reconcile and confess their love.
Cast
* Ranbir Kapoor as Raj Sharma
* Deepika Padukone as Gayatri Joshi
* Minissha Lamba as Mahi Pasricha / Mahi Ahluwalia
* Bipasha Basu as Radhika Kapoor / Shreya Rathore
* Kunal Kapoor as Joginder "Jogi" Singh Ahluwalia
* Hiten Paintal as Sachin Kulkarni
* Sumeet Arora as Manish Ahuja, Raj's friend
* Puneet Issar as Rohit Pasricha, Mahi's father
* Avantika Hundal as Mona, Mahi's friend
* Sham Mashalkar as Vishal, Raj's friend
* Ntasha Bhardwaj as Preeti, Mahi's friend
* Pratik Dixit as Karan Bahl, Jogi's friend
Production
In April 2007, sources indicated that director Siddharth Anand had signed for the main lead in his next film. However, after saying the news was "mere speculation" and "absolutely untrue," Anand later confirmed that Kapoor was starring in his film.
, Venice
Anand was also in talks with the actresses Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Amrita Rao for the roles in question, but indicated that "it wouldn't be right to reveal their names till we sign them on the dotted line." In June 2007, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone were finalised to play two of leading ladies, but the former's role was later removed due to the film's story becoming too long. Actress Amrita Rao was considered to play one of the leading ladies but opted out.
The heroines share very limited time on screen together and therefore most of their parts were filmed separately. Padukone's portions were filmed in Sydney while the song "Khuda Jaane" was shot at locations in Italy, including Venice, Alberobello, Santa Cesarea Terme, Mattinata, Apulia, Naples, and Capri. Lamba's portions, inspired by Aditya Chopra's 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' (1995), were filmed in the similar locales of Amritsar and Switzerland. Basu's portions were filmed in Mumbai, India and Capri, Italy. Kapoor's look in the film was styled by Aki Narula, which changed with time. In the title track, Kapoor had at least 10 wardrobe changes in a single shot. Though he found styling for 3 lead actresses' characters exciting and challenging, as all play different types who enter into Kapoor's life at different times, so he ensured that the styling was unique without any overlapping.
Since two of the film's characters work for Microsoft Game Studios, plenty of video games released by them are referenced. In addition, nearly all of the films referenced are releases from Yash Raj Films, with the notable exception of 'Hum Kisise Kum Naheen' (1977).
Release
Continuing the tradition of showcasing the first look of their upcoming films with their latest release, Yash Raj Films showcased the first teaser-trailer of the film on 25 April 2008 with the release of Vijay Krishna Acharya's 'Tashan' and the official trailer of the film was released on 27 June 2008 with the release of Kunal Kohli's 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'.
Yash Raj Films usually does not spend much money on promotion. However, it made an exception with 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'. Instead of the usual promotion 23 weeks before a movie release, the production house planned a new strategy with promotion over two months.
Sequel
In April 2022, producer Aditya Chopra thought of making a sequel of 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' starring Ranbir Kapoor. In July Ranbir Kapoor was approached and he immediately agreed to do this film reprising his role Raj.
The director Siddharth Anand & producer Aditya Chopra approached Parineeti Chopra, Janhvi Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor for the three female leading roles, but Janhvi Kapoor rejected the role because of some unknown reasons. After a month Sharvari Wagh was approached for the leading role and she agreed to do the film.
The shooting of this film to start in November, 25. It is scheduled to release in July 2023.
Soundtrack
There are seven tracks in the movie including a remix version. The album entered the Top 3 of the music charts within a couple of days of its arrival on the stands. The lyrics of all the songs are written by Anvita Dutt Guptan. According to the Indian trade website 'Box Office India', with around units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's sixth highest-selling, with the songs "Khuda Jaane" and "Bachna Ae Haseeno" being popular among the masses.
Awards and nominations
References
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