Batla House | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Nikkhil Advani |
Written by | Ritesh Shah |
Based on | 2008 Batla House encounter case |
Produced by |
|
Starring | John Abraham Mrunal Thakur Ravi Kishan |
Cinematography | Soumik Mukherjee |
Edited by | Maahir Zaveri |
Music by | Score: John Stewart Eduri Songs: Rochak Kohli Tanishk Bagchi Ankit Tiwari Taz |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 146 minutes [2] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | ₹ 56 crore [3] |
Box office | ₹ 113.38 crore [4] |
Batla House is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film [5] [6] written by Ritesh Shah, and directed by Nikkhil Advani. Inspired by the Batla House encounter case that took place on 19 September 2008, the film stars John Abraham portraying the titular protagonist, based on the life of Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, the police officer who played an important role in the encounter, leading to the demise of his colleague Mohan Chand Sharma. The film showcases the encounter, and in its aftermath, Sanjeev's struggle to catch the fugitives and prove the authenticity of the encounter, while dealing with nationwide hatred and post-traumatic stress disorder. [7]
The film was theatrically released in India on 15 August 2019, coinciding with Independence Day. [8] [9] Made on a budget of ₹56 crore (US$6.7 million), it was a critical and commercial success, grossing ₹113.38 crore (US$14 million) worldwide.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Kumar Yadav is informed that his team has cornered 5 university students in L-18, Batla House, who might have been involved in the 13 September 2008 Delhi bombings, the responsibility for which was claimed by the terrorist organization "Indian Mujahideen" (IM). Sanjeev orders not to engage until he arrives, but a relentless Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma alias M.C., proceeds with some officers. Sanjeev arrives and, upon hearing the gunshots, decides to engage. The building is cleared, and M.C. is found shot down. Sanjeev enters the room, and there's more shooting, as a result of which two students, Adil Ameen & Sadiq Khan, end up dead, and Tufail Khan is arrested alive. Dilshad Ahmed and Javed Ali escape and Sanjeev now starts facing the heat from media and politicians, who start billing the encounter as a fake one. They're joined by the whole nation in condemning the Delhi Police, and everyone starts demanding justice for the students who were supposedly killed to account for the bombings. Sanjeev's wife, Shobhna Yadav, a news anchor, is however unwilling to accept this and decides to stay with Sanjeev, who soon becomes diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, frequently hallucinating about getting shot by the terrorists. Shobhna somehow stops him whenever he becomes suicidal.
Sanjeev now starts looking for the missing Dilshad and Javed and finds one of them to be hiding in Nizampur, Uttar Pradesh. He is informed by the police commissioner that he would be awarded for the encounter and that he must celebrate. Realizing he's not been told where to celebrate, he heads to Nizampur, where he manages to find Dilshad. Everyone tries to stop Sanjeev, who chases, beats up, and almost arrests Dilshad, only for him to be cornered by the politicians and the public who let him escape but without Dilshad.
After being awarded the President Medal, Sanjeev begins his hunt again and this time, through Dilshad's girlfriend Victoria alias "Huma", tricks him into coming to Nepal. He teams up with his officers once again and sends a van to pick up Dilshad, as a part of his plan. The latter, however, sends someone else to check for anything suspicious. Sanjeev runs to stop his officers from engaging upon realizing Dilshad's not in the van and lets it flee. Learning of nothing suspicious, Dilshad informs the van driver he'd depart the next day, and upon landing in Nepal, is stopped, thrashed, and arrested by Sanjeev and his team.
The court proceedings begin, where the opposing lawyer, Shailesh Arya, brings up arguments to counter Sanjeev's truth and a parallel story of fake encounters, as per which M.C. and his men brought the students in L-18 tortured, and decided to kill them when they were ordered not to do so, following which M.C. was shot by one of his officers. Sanjeev, however, brings out the truth that actually, his officers had been closely watching the students and realized they belonged to the IM. The real shootout then plays out, showcasing M.C.. and his team engaging during the students' fire, and the very fact that M.C. died while giving Sanjeev's argument strong support when he tells everyone that no officer has ever died in a fake encounter. His arguments convince the court to sentence the 2 terrorists to life imprisonment, while the last one somehow escapes the country.
While sections of the media still oppose the ruling and believe the police to be culprits, a video clip that surfaced in 2016 featured a confession from the terrorist Javed who had escaped the encounter, about how he managed to do so and later join the ISIS, further confirming the credibility of the encounter.
In May 2018, Nikkhil Advani announced the film with John Abraham, to be based on Operation Batla House of 2008. The film was to be shot in Delhi, Lucknow, Mussoorie, Mumbai, Jaipur and Nepal starting in September 2018 in a span of 50 days. [11] [12] Ravi Kishan [13] and Nora Fatehi joined the cast of Batla House in November 2018. [14] The film was wrapped up in the second week of February in 2019. [15]
The film was released on 15 August 2019, coinciding with Independence Day and clashing with Akshay Kumar's Mission Mangal . [16]
Batla House | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by | |
Recorded | 2018–2020 |
Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
Length | 15:55 |
Language | Hindi |
Label | T-Series |
The songs are composed by Rochak Kohli, Tanishk Bagchi, Taz and Ankit Tiwari. Lyrics are written by Tanishk Bagchi, Gautam Sharma, Gurpreet Saini, and Prince Dubey. The first song, "O Saki Saki," is a version of the song "of the same name" from the 2004 film Musafir . [17] [18] The song "O Saki Saki" was launched on 15 July 2019. [19] "O Saki Saki" has become a TikTok trend as of June 2020 with users doing the dance, and had also become the namesake for a character in the Japanese manga and anime series Girlfriend, Girlfriend .
One of the songs, "Gallan Goriyan", was removed from the film's final cut and was instead released as a separate single due to thematic inconsistency at the time of the film's release. The song, a recreated version of an eponymous original from the 2000 album Oh Laila, was released on 11 June 2020 by T-Series. The song tells the prequel of this movie.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "O Saki Saki" | Tanishk Bagchi (Original Lyrics: Dev Kohli) | Tanishk Bagchi (Original Music: Vishal–Shekhar) | Neha Kakkar, Tulsi Kumar, B Praak | 3:11 |
2. | "Rula Diya" | Prince Dubey | Ankit Tiwari | Ankit Tiwari, Dhvani Bhanushali | 4:39 |
3. | "Jaako Rakhe" | Gautam G Sharma, Gurpreet Saini | Rochak Kohli | Rochak Kohli, Navraj Hans | 4:07 |
4. | "Gallan Goriyan" | Kumaar | Taz | Dhvani Bhanushali, Taz | 3:58 |
Total length: | 15:55 |
The film received mixed reviews from critics. [20] Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5 and called it "one of the finest films of the year" while praising the performances of John Abraham and Ravi Kishan, the action sequences and the screenplay. [21] The Times of India gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 and felt that Abraham delivered "the best of his career" performance, while also praising the action sequences but criticizing the pacing of the second half. [22] Prasanna D Zore writing for Rediff.com gave it 2 stars out of 5 and noted that only second half had gripping moments. [23]
Batla House earned a decent ₹14 crore nett in India on its opening day. [24] It dropped 50 percent to earn ₹7.5 crore nett on the second day. [25] On Saturday, the third day, the film's business grew by 30 percent to ₹10 crore nett, for a three-day total of ₹31.5 crore nett. [26]
As of 5 September 2019 [update] , with a gross of ₹102.61 crore in India and ₹10.77 crore overseas, the film has grossed ₹113.38 crore worldwide. [4]
Batla House was made available as VOD on Amazon Prime Video in October 2019. [27]
John Abraham is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Known for his stoic action hero persona, he is a recipient of a National Film Award along with nominations for four Filmfare Awards. Abraham has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2017.
Nikkhil Suresh Advani is an Indian director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He along with his sister, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani, co-founded the entertainment company Emmay Entertainment.
Seeta Aur Geeta is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film written by Salim–Javed and directed by Ramesh Sippy. Released in India on 3 November 1972, the film stars an ensemble cast of Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Roopesh Kumar, Manorama, Satyen Kappu, Honey Irani, and Pratima Devi. The music was composed by R. D. Burman.
Koena Mitra is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who represented India at Miss Intercontinental 2001 and placed Top 12. She also appears in Hindi films along with Tamil films and Bengali films. She is mostly known for her item numbers and for her appearance as Julie in the movie Apna Sapna Money Money.
Mohan Chand Sharma AC was an Indian police officer who was martyred during the 2008 Batla House encounter in New Delhi. He was posthumously awarded the Gallantry medal Ashoka Chakra Award, India's highest peacetime military decoration, on 26 January 2009.
The Batla House encounter case was an armed Delhi Police operation to arrest terrorists of the terrorist outfit called 'Indian Mujahideen' (IM), hiding in a flat in the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla, on 19 September 2008. The operation resulted in the deaths of two terrorists and one police officer, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, with the remaining terrorists arrested. On 15 March 2021, one of the arrested Ariz Khan alias Junaid, was sentenced to death for the murder of Inspector Sharma.
Shootout at Wadala is a 2013 Indian action-crime film written and directed by Sanjay Gupta. The film stars Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee, Tusshar Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut and Sonu Sood. It is a prequel to the 2007 film Shootout at Lokhandwala. In the film, Manya, a diligent student, lands in prison for killing a gangster who attacked his brother, Bhargav, who eventually dies. Soon, Manya escapes jail and forms his own gang to seek revenge.
Mrunal Thakur is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi and Telugu films. She began her acting career in television, starring in the soap operas Mujhse Kuchh Kehti...Yeh Khamoshiyaan (2012) and Kumkum Bhagya (2014–2016), which earned her the ITA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Pragya Kapoor is a Swedish model, actress, and producer in Indian cinema. She was born to Indian parents in Borgholm and raised in Karlskrona, Sweden. She has trained in acting at the Institute of Advanced Acting and Behavioral Studies.
Kick 2 is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Surender Reddy from a story written by Vakkantham Vamsi. It is produced by Nandamuri Kalyan Ram under the banner of N.T.R. Arts. A sequel to the 2009 film Kick, the film stars Ravi Teja in dual role as father and son, along with an ensemble cast including Rakul Preet Singh, Shaam, Ravi Kishan, Kabir Duhan Singh, Ashish Vidyarthi, Madhusudhan Rao, Brahmanandam, P. Ravishankar, Raghu Babu, Tanikella Bharani and Rajpal Yadav. with music composed by S. Thaman.
Nora Fatehi is a Canadian dancer and actress based in India. She has appeared in Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. Fatehi made her acting debut with the Hindi film Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans.
Emmay Entertainment and Motion Pictures LLP is an Indian content production company based in Mumbai, India. It was founded by Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani in 2011. After its inception, it began with full-length feature films and gradually expanded to television, short films, telefilms and digital content.
Romeo Akbar Walter is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Robbie Grewal. It stars John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher. The narrative centers on a banker who is recruited as a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing for an undercover operation in Pakistan, where he faces both physical and emotional challenges. The film was inspired by the life of Indian spy Ravindra Kaushik and theatrically released on 5 April 2019.
Satyameva Jayate is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language vigilante action film directed by Milap Zaveri, produced and distributed by T-Series. The film stars John Abraham and Manoj Bajpayee in their second collaboration after Shootout at Wadala, alongside Aisha Sharma, Amruta Khanvilkar and Manish Chaudhari.
Jabariya Jodi is an Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film starring Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra. The story is based upon the tradition of groom kidnapping, prevalent in Bihar. The film is produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Shailesh R Singh, and directed by Prashant Singh. Principal photography began on 10 August 2018 in Lucknow, and the film was theatrically released in India on 9 August 2019.
Marjaavaan is a 2019 Hindi-language romantic action film written and directed by Milap Milan Zaveri. It stars Riteish Deshmukh, Sidharth Malhotra, Tara Sutaria and Rakul Preet Singh.
"Dilbar" is a Hindi language song originally released as part of the soundtrack for the 1999 film Sirf Tum. The songs was originally composed by Nadeem-Shravan and sung by Alka Yagnik, with lyrics by Sameer. The song's original music video features Sushmita Sen and Sanjay Kapoor. The Sirf Tum soundtrack album sold 2.2 million units, and was the ninth best-selling Bollywood music album of 1999.
Bhuj: The Pride of India is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language war film directed by Abhishek Dudhaiya. Set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, it follows Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik — then in-charge of the Bhuj Air Force Base who, with the help of 300 local women of Madhapar Village, reconstructed the damaged landing strip in 72 hours. The film features Ajay Devgn as Karnik, alongside Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Nora Fatehi, Sharad Kelkar, Ammy Virk and Ihana Dhillon.
Satyameva Jayate 2 is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language vigilante action film written and directed by Milap Milan Zaveri with production by T-Series and Emmay Entertainment. It is a spiritual sequel of the 2018 film Satyameva Jayate and stars John Abraham in a triple role as father and twin sons, alongside Divya Khosla Kumar, Rajeev Pillai and Anup Soni. In the film, Satya Balram Azaad proposes Lokpal bill in the parliament but due to lack of votes his plea gets rejected ,years ago his father Dadasaheb Balram Azad had had scarified his life for the same which also left his mother Suhasini in coma.A killer starts to kill corrupt people in the city to stop corruption so the officials decide to appoint a tough cop Jay Balram Azad twin brother of Satya forms rest of the plot.
Sanjeev Kumar Yadav is an officer of IPS cadre. He currently serves as Divisional Commandant, Home Guards, in J&K Police. He received the President's Police Medal eleven times for Gallantry.