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Vicky Donor
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Wikipedia article
'Vicky Donor 'is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by actor John Abraham in his maiden production venture with Sunil Lulla under Eros International and Ronnie Lahiri under Rising Sun Films. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam (in their Hindi film debut) with Annu Kapoor and Dolly Ahluwalia in pivotal roles. The concept is set against the background of sperm donation and infertility within a Bengali-Punjabi household. The film was released on April 20, 2012 at around 750 screens in India. The film opened to universal critical acclaim and performed strongly at the box office.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120501114953/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/vicky-donor-earns-rs-22-crore-becomes-a-hit/253446-8-66.html Box Office: 'Vicky Donor' earns Rs 22 crore, becomes a hit] It became a commercial success grossing 66.32 crore worldwide, against a budget of 15 crore.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 60th National Film Awards. The film was remade in Telugu as 'Naruda Donoruda' (2016) and in Tamil as 'Dharala Prabhu' (2020).
Plot
Dr. Baldev Chaddha is a fertility expert who runs a clinic and a sperm bank in Daryaganj, Delhi that guarantees high-quality sperm for couples. Unfortunately, he has more failed cases than successes. He is on the lookout for a healthy and high-performing donor.
Vicky Arora hails from an Arora Punjabi family and is the only son of his widowed mother Dolly, who runs a small beauty parlour in Lajpat Nagar. They live with their grandmother. Vicky is a vagabond who provides no financial support to the household and starts searching for a job that will provide them with a better lifestyle.
Chaddha meets Vicky and likes his happy-go-lucky nature. He believes Vicky is the donor he has been looking for. He stalks him and eventually painstakingly convinces him to become a sperm donor. Though Vicky is hesitant at first, he accepts after receiving a high salary. He hides his career after facing ridicule from his friends, but starts spending wildly, renovating his house and the parlour.
Vicky meets an ambitious accountant Ashima Roy at the bank and they fall in love after going out a number of times. They soon wish to get married, but as a divorced Bengali bank employee wanting to marry a carefree man from a loud Punjabi family, the couple faces backlash from their families eventually managing to get their approval. Vicky continues to hide his occupation, and stops donating sperm after getting married, ignoring Chaddha who continues to chase Vicky as he is his most successful donor.
In an ironic turn, the couple discovers Ashima is infertile. They wish to get both of them tested, but Vicky cannot take the fertility test and is forced to admit to being a sperm donor. Taken aback by her husband's strange career, Ashima leaves for her paternal home. Vicky is heartbroken and cuts all ties with Chaddha.
The parlour is soon raided by income tax officers due to their frivolous renovations. Vicky is arrested on suspicion of handling black money but is bailed out by Dr. Chaddha, who reveals his occupation to his family members. Vicky's mother is disgusted and also apologises to Ashima. Vicky's grandmother and Ashima's father make them understand how Vicky's deed has helped many families bear children and ask them to have a progressive take on this.
Chaddha calls Vicky and Ashima to an event he has hosted where all families that Vicky helped bear children are present, and helps Ashima see how his step helped them find happiness. He then tells them that one child is absent. This little girl has lost her parents in an accident. Her grandparents failed to contact Chaddha's clinic and had to send her to orphanage. Dr. Chaddha suggest the couple adopt little girl. Ashima begins to see reason and understands. The couple reunites, adopts the little girl, and Vicky continues to occasionally donate sperm for Chaddha's clinic.
Cast
Themes and development
'Vicky Donor' deals with sperm donation and infertility. When questioned about the risky subject matter, Abraham responded, "Basically, 'Vicky Donor' is a romantic comedy. But the concept is set against the background of sperm donation." Abraham hoped that the film could shed light on a serious issue still considered "taboo" in Indian society.
Sircar said, "I want to take a light-hearted look at the taboo attached to infertility and artificial insemination." Before filming began, Sircar researched the plot themes for three years. Juhi Chaturvedi, creative director at advertising agency Bates, who wrote the screenplay based on her own idea, had stayed in Lajpat Nagar as a student at College of Arts, Delhi. As the script went through several drafts, she met a couple who run a noted fertility clinic in Mumbai.
Production
Despite the usual trend, Abraham did not take up the leading role in the film: "It was a conscious decision to not act in my first production because I believe producing a film is about creating quality content that I believe in." Director Sircar suggested Khurrana, a video jockey and television host, for the role of Vicky; he was considered because he was popular among the youth. He "can read and write Punjabi too." Khurrana turned down three film projects to play the lead in 'Vicky Donor'. To prepare for the role, he met medical experts and donors to understand sperm donation; a major medical consultant specialising in the field was later inducted as a medical adviser for the film. Additionally, Khurrana studied acting and attended workshops with N.K. Sharma in Delhi. It was later reported that Abraham would perform an "item number." Commenting on his performance, Abraham said "I am glad I cast Ayushmann in the lead. He's a complete natural, has all the trappings of a fine actor and has delivered a super performance. It doesn't seem like 'Vicky Donor' is his first film." It was reported that the production crew would feature "the best technicians from Los Angeles" and acclaimed action choreographer J J Perry. Incidentally, Ayushmann who plays the lead role, successfully performed a task on the reality show 'MTV Roadies: Season 2', which was sperm donation.
Reception
Critical reception
The film received critical acclaim. Blessy Chettiar of 'DNA India' rated the film with 4/5 and said, "Run to the nearest theatre and surrender yourself to charm of Vicky and his team. This "Aryaputra" provides only good quality entertainment." Madhureeta Mukherjee of 'The Times of India' gave 'Vicky Donor' 3.5 out of 5 and said, "It takes a man to make a film like this, literally. Kudos to John Abraham for his brave maiden production. Thankfully, this sperm hits bullseye." Mathures Paul of 'The Statesman' gave the film 3.5/5 and wrote, "'Vicky Donor' is an admirable movie that is at once simple, emotional, daring and in your face."Box office
India
The film had an opening at the box office worldwide and collected on its first day in India. 'Vicky Donor' showed good growth on Saturday as all India collections jumped around 35%40%; it collected around nett taking its two-day business to nett. The film got tough competition from 'Housefull 2' in its first week of theatrical run in India. 'Vicky Donor' is the 3rd small-budget film of 2012 after 'Paan Singh Tomar' and 'Kahaani' to receive such an acceptance by critics, multiplex goers and urban audience. It grossed nett on Sunday. 'Vicky Donor' had a decent three-day weekend as it grossed around nett over its first weekend.
It had a good first week of around nett. 'Vicky Donor' had an excellent second week collecting around nett taking its two-week total to around nett. 'Vicky Donor' continued its strong run into the third week and totally grossed .
Overseas
The film had a wide release with close to 125 prints and grossed a decent $350,000 overseas in four days. It has done well in North America and decently in other markets.
Grosses are as follow:
* UK: 90,329 ($140,600)
* USA: $466,467
* UAE: $286,000
* Australia: $88,682
Total: $1.2 million (65 million)
Accolades
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Date of Ceremony
! Award || Category || Recipient(s) and nominee(s)
!Result
!Ref.
|-
| rowspan="3" |3 May 2013
| rowspan="3" |National Film Awards||Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment||Producer: Sunil Lulla, John Abraham, Ronnie Lahiri and Ram Mirchandani
Director: Shoojit Sircar
|
| rowspan="3" |
|-
|Best Supporting Actor||Annu Kapoor
|
|-
|Best Supporting Actress||Dolly Ahluwalia
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |20 January 2013
| rowspan="7" |Filmfare Awards
|Best Film
|John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
| rowspan="7" |
|-
|Best Director
|Shoojit Sircar
|
|-
|Best Male Debut||Ayushmann Khurana
|
|-
|Best Female Debut
|Yami Gautam
|
|-
|Best Supporting Actor||Annu Kapoor
|
|-
|Best Male Playback Singer||Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Best Story||Juhi Chaturvedi
|
|-
| rowspan="12" |12 January 2013
| rowspan="12" |Star Screen Awards||Best Male Debut||Ayushmann Khurrana
|
| rowspan="12" |
|-
|Best Supporting Actress||Dolly Ahluwalia
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Best Comedian||Annu Kapoor
|
|-
|Kamlesh Gill
|
|-
|Best Film
|John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
|-
|Best Director
|Shoojit Sircar
|
|-
|Best Female Debut
|Yami Gautam
|
|-
|Best Male Playback Singer
|Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Best Lyrics
|Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Best Story
|Juhi Chaturvedi
|
|-
|Best Editing
|Shekhar Prajapati
|
|-
|Best Production Design
|Mansi Dhruv Mehta, Vinod
|
|-
| rowspan="13" |16 February 2013
| rowspan="13" |Producers Guild Film Awards
|Best Film
|John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
| rowspan="13" |
|-
|Best Director
|Shoojit Sircar
|
|-
|Best Actor
| rowspan="2" |Ayushmann Khurrana
|
|-
|Best Male Debut
|
|-
|Best Female Debut
|Yami Gautam
|
|-
|Best Supporting Actor|| rowspan="2" |Annu Kapoor
|
|-
|Best Comedian
|
|-
|Best Supporting Actress||Dolly Ahluwalia
|
|-
|Best Screenplay
| rowspan="3" |Juhi Chaturvedi
|
|-
| Best Story
|
|-
| Best Dialogue
|
|-
|Best Male Playback Singer||Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Best Lyrics
|Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
| rowspan="8" | 6 April 2013
| rowspan="8" |Times of India Film Awards|| Best Male Debut ||Ayushmann Khurrana
|
| rowspan="8" |
|-
| Best Supporting Actor || rowspan="2" |Annu Kapoor
|
|-
|Best Comic Actor
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actress ||Dolly Ahluwalia
|
|-
|Best Film
|John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
|-
|Best Director
|Shoojit Sircar
|
|-
|Best Female Debut
|Yami Gautam
|
|-
|Best Male Playback Singer
|Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |7 January 2013
| rowspan="2" |Zee Cine Awards||Best Male Debut||Ayushmann Khurrana
|
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|Best Female Debut||Yami Gautam
|
|-
| rowspan="12" |6 July 2013
| rowspan="12" |International Indian Film Academy Awards
|Best Film
|John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
| rowspan="12" |
|-
|Best Director
|Shoojit Sircar
|
|-
|Best Actor
| rowspan="2" |Ayushmann Khurrana
|
|-
|Best Male Debut
|
|-
|Best Female Debut
|Yami Gautam
|
|-
|Best Performance in a Comic Role
| rowspan="2" |Annu Kapoor
|
|-
|Best Supporting Actor
|
|-
|Best Supporting Actress
|Dolly Ahluwalia
|
|-
|Best Dialogue|| rowspan="2" |Juhi Chaturvedi
|
|-
|Best Story
|
|-
|Best Male Playback Singer
|Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Best Lyrics
|Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 31 December 2012
| rowspan="5" |Big Star Entertainment Awards|| Most Entertainment Debut - Male ||Ayushmann Khurrana
|
| rowspan="5" |
|-
| Most Entertaining Debut - Female ||Yami Gautam
|
|-
| Most Entertaining Song ||Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Most Entertaining Film of the Year
| rowspan="2" |John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
|-
|Most Entertaining Film (Comedy)
|
|-
| rowspan="7" |7 February 2013
| rowspan="7" |Mirchi Music Awards
|Song of the Year
| rowspan="2" |Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
| rowspan="7" |
|-
|Upcoming Male Vocalist of the Year
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Upcoming Music Composer of the Year
|Donn & Bann (for the song "Marr Jayian")
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
| Upcoming Lyricists of the Year
|
|-
|Technical Sound Engineering of the Year
|Anish Gohil, Biswadeep Chatterjee
|
|-
|Technical Programmer and Arranger of the Year
|Abhijit Nalani
|
|-
| rowspan="8" | 26 January 2013
| rowspan="8" |Stardust Awards||Best Film||John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
| rowspan="8" |
|-
|Best Director||Shoojit Sircar
|
|-
|Best Actor|| rowspan="2" |Ayushmann Khurrana
|
|-
|Superstar of Tomorrow - Male
|
|-
| New Musical Sensation (Male) ||Ayushmann Khurrana (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
|Best Actress
| rowspan="2" |Yami Gautam
|
|-
|Superstar of Tomorrow - Female
|
|-
|Standout Performance by a New Lyricist
|Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|-
| 28 January 2013
| Bollywood Hungama Surfers Choice Movie Awards || Best Debut (Male) || Ayushmann Khurana
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 6 January 2013
| rowspan="2" | ETC Bollywood Business Awards || Most Successful Small Budget Movie ||John Abraham, Shoojit Sircar, Sunil Lulla
|
| rowspan="2" |
|-
| Most Profitable Debut (Male) ||Ayushmann Khurrana
|
|-
| 1 October 2012
|Global Indian Music Academy Awards|| Star Plus Hottest Song of the Year ||Ayushmann Khurrana, Rochak Kohli (for the song "Pani Da Rang")
|
|
|}
Sequel and remakes
After the major critical and commercial success of the film, producer John Abraham announced that he was encouraged by the response of 'Vicky Donor' and has therefore laid a sequel on the cards.
Dileep has bought the remake rights for the Malayalam version.Times of India. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131015105432/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-26/kochi/32868886_1_dileep-veteran-actor-thilakan Dileep to remake Bollywood hit Vicky Donor in Malayalam], 'The Times of India'. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012. Telugu director Madhura Sreedhar bought the remake rights of the film for the Telugu version named 'Naruda Donoruda' starring Sumanth. It was remade in Tamil as 'Dharala Prabhu' starring Harish Kalyan.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album features eight tracks which were composed by Abhishek-Akshay, Bann, Rochak Kohli and Ayushmann Khurrana. All of them contributed two tracks each. Actor Khurrana also composed and sung the track "Pani Da Rang" which was released as a single on 1 February 2012. The song was well received by music listeners. The song has a female version composed by Khurrana, and it was sung by Sukanya Purkayastha. The entire album released by Eros Music on 29 February 2012.
The soundtrack album received positive reviews from critics. IBNlive.in says "'Vicky Donor' album tracks are worth listening and contain rawness." Ayushmann Khurrana won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer at 58th Filmfare Awards for "Pani Da Rang."
Track listing
References
Buy Vicky Donor now from Amazon
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