Half Girlfriend | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mohit Suri |
Written by | Screenplay: Tushar Hiranandani Dialogues: Ishita Moitra |
Story by | Chetan Bhagat |
Based on | Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat |
Produced by | Shobha Kapoor Ekta Kapoor Mohit Suri Chetan Bhagat |
Starring | Arjun Kapoor Shraddha Kapoor |
Cinematography | Vishnu Rao |
Edited by | Devendra Murdeshwar |
Music by | Score: Raju Singh Songs: Mithoon Tanishk Bagchi Rishi Rich Farhan Saeed Ami Mishra Rahul Mishra |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | NH Studioz Coconut Movies (India) Zee Studios (Overseas) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 130 minutes [1] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | ₹35 crores [2] |
Box office | ₹97.7 crores [3] |
Half Girlfriend is an Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name written by Chetan Bhagat. [4] The film is directed by Mohit Suri and stars Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles. [5] The film also places Vikrant Massey and Rhea Chakraborty in pivotal roles. It performed moderately well at the box office despite receiving mixed to negative feedback from critics. [6] [7]
Principal photography commenced in June 2016 and filming locations include Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Dumraon, Varanasi, New York City and Cape Town. [8] The film was released worldwide on 19 May 2017. [9]
Madhav is a good basketball player who cannot speak English well. He gets accepted into St Stephen's College Delhi based on a sports quota where he meets Riya Somani, an upper-class young girl who is allowed temporary admission based on a sports quota. They become good friends and play basketball every evening. When Madhav tells his roommate Shailesh and friends about Riya, they push him to ask Riya out for a date, but she refuses and asks him just to be a friend. Madhav's friends still encourage him to pursue Riya in the hopes that she will eventually date him.
One night Madhav and Riya hang out together. Madhav picks her up from her house, and after spending the evening together, when she returns home, she kisses Madhav before entering her house.
When Madhav attends Riya's birthday, he questions her about the nature of their relationship. Uncomfortable, Riya says that she is not his girlfriend, but they can maybe reach a compromise since they have reached halfway, and she offers to be his "Half Girlfriend." One afternoon after a game Madhav asks Riya if she would like to rest in his room in a boys only dorm, where (goaded by his peers and feeling humiliated by Riya's uncertainty) Madhav tries to force himself upon Riya. Upset and hurt, a few days later, Riya tells Madhav that she is leaving college and getting married. Madhav tries to stop her but she leaves.
After completing college, Madhav goes back to his village where Madhav's mother runs a school where only boys study because there are no girls' toilets. Madhav learns that Bill Gates is coming to Patna and will be funding grants to schools. Madhav decides to apply for a grant, for which he goes to Chanakya hotel in Patna.
After the meeting, Madhav meets Riya, who is living in the hotel and works for CloseUp. They hang out for some time, and Madhav learns that Riya has divorced because her husband and his mother tried to beat her. As Madhav needs to give a speech in English for Bill Gates, Riya helps him prepare for it. At the time of preparing Madhav for the speech in English, Riya falls in love with Madhav which she does not tell him till the end. One day, he takes her to his house, where Madhav's mother asks her about her marriage. She acts rudely after discovering that she is a divorcee. A few days before the speech, when Riya has to go back to Patna, Madhav's mother asks her to stay away from Madhav. She, however, attends Madhav's speech, where he is successful in getting a grant from the Bill Gates Foundation. After the speech ends, a young girl from the school hands a letter from Riya to Madhav. The letter says that Riya has been diagnosed with blood cancer and will die in three months. She requests him not to search for her as she herself does not know where she will go. Madhav is seen going to Riya's house to deliver her belongings to her mother, who starts crying on learning about Riya's disease. Madhav recalls that she wanted to become a singer at a bar in New York. Unprepared, Madhav goes to New York to visit his friend Shailesh.
Shailesh and his wife Rutvi learn about the incident and try to deviate Madhav's attention from Riya. Rutvi tries to set him up with Anshika, her friend. They spend some time together. Madhav tries to find Riya for three months continuously, until his time runs out.
On the last day, when he was attending his farewell party, he sees a video where Anshika, who had fallen in love with him, thanks him for being a part of her life. In this video, Madhav sees a blurred picture of Riya singing in a cafe. He runs to the café and finds Riya and understands that she had lied to Madhav about being sick as his mother didn't want Riya, a divorcee to be with her son. They reconcile and consummate their relationship.
A few years later, Madhav is seen talking to his mother about opening a new school, and Riya helps their daughter Tvisha Jha learn to play basketball, but she is unable to do it. Riya tells her daughter to never give up.
Additionally, a digitally superimposed likeness of Bill Gates appears in the movie in scenes where he comes to visit Madhav's village in Bihar.
The film went into production in March 2016. Prominent shooting locations included St. Stephen's College in New Delhi and Times Square and the UN Headquarters in New York City. It is the first Bollywood movie to be shot at the UN headquarters. The basketball action in the film is by Rob Miller, NBA and the ReelSports team. [10] Around 200 students from different colleges were roped in to play extras as some of the scenes demand Delhi University students in the film. [11] The trailer was released on 10 April.
The film was released on 20 May 2017 worldwide alongside Hindi Medium . The film collected ₹120 million on its opening day and ₹104 million on second day. On its first weekend, the total collection was noted as ₹320 million. On its second weekend, the total collection of the film stood at ₹540 million. Its lifetime worldwide gross is estimated to be ₹86–90 crore, with ₹72–77 crore earned domestically and ₹13–14 crore outside India. [2] [12]
Arjun Rampal is an Indian actor, model, film producer and television personality who works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance film Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat (2001) and has since gone on to act in more than 40 films. He has received several awards including the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Rock On!!.
Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who primarily works in Hindi and Marathi films. Kolhapure went onto established herself as one of the leading actress of the 80s. In a career spanning over four decades, she was worked in over 75 films and has received several accolades including three Filmfare Awards.
Raajneeti (transl. Politics) is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film co-written, directed and produced by Prakash Jha, with a screenplay by Anjum Rajabali and Prakash Jha. Depicting an archetypal conflict between rival political families and parties, based on Mahabharata, the film starred an ensemble cast of Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Sarah Thompson and Naseeruddin Shah. It was originally produced by Prakash Jha Productions and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures and Walkwater Media.
Shraddha Kapoor is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. One of India's highest-paid actresses, Kapoor has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was featured by Forbes Asia in their 30 Under 30 list of 2016.
My Friend Pinto is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language musical comedy film written and directed by Raaghav Dar, in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Prateik Babbar as Michael Pinto, a well intentioned simpleton and follows his misadventures over the course of a New Year's Eve in Mumbai. Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ronnie Screwvala, and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, it has elements of picaresque, slapstick comedy and multiple musical sequences. The film features Kalki Koechlin, Arjun Mathur, Shruti Seth, Makarand Deshpande, Rajendranath Zutshi and Divya Dutta in supporting roles.
Arjun Kapoor is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. Born to the Surinder Kapoor family, he is the son of film producers Boney Kapoor and Mona Shourie. Kapoor made his acting debut in 2012 with the drama Ishaqzaade which was commercially successful and earned him the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut.
2 States is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Abhishek Varman and produced by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala. Based on Chetan Bhagat's 2009 novel of the same name with story written by Varman and Bhagat, the film stars Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt with Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Revathi and Shiv Kumar Subramaniam in supporting roles.
Ankur Arora Murder Case is a 2013 Indian Hindi medical thriller film directed by Suhail Tatari and written and produced by Vikram Bhatt. The film stars Arjun Mathur, Tisca Chopra, Kay Kay Menon, Paoli Dam. The film takes up an urgent and disturbing issue of death during surgery and is based on a real-life incident where a boy dies on the operation table due to medical negligence. The shooting of the film started after nearly one year of research and similarities to real life are in this case, not coincidental. The movie released on 14 June 2013 and made a profit of 2.5 Crores approximately. It was declared semi hit.
Ek Villain: There's One in Every Love Story is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Motion Pictures. Based on a script written by Tushar Hiranandani and Milap Milan Zaveri, it stars Riteish Deshmukh, Sidharth Malhotra and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles.
Half Girlfriend is an Indian English coming of age, young adult romance novel by Indian author Chetan Bhagat. The novel, set in rural Bihar, New Delhi, Patna, and New York, is the story of a Bihari boy on a quest of winning over the girl he loves. This is Bhagat's sixth novel, which was released on 1 October 2014 by Rupa Publications. The novel has also been published in Hindi and Gujarati.
Rock On 2 is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film. It was directed by Shujaat Saudagar and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.
Disha Patani is an Indian actress who primarily work in Hindi films. Patani began her acting career with the Telugu film Loafer (2015), and had her first Hindi film release with the biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), for which she won the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female. After appearing in the Chinese action comedy Kung Fu Yoga (2017), Patani has played the leading lady in the films Baaghi 2 (2018), Malang (2020), and Ek Villain Returns (2022). She has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list of 2019.
OK Jaanu is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Shaad Ali, with screenplay and story based on Mani Ratnam's Tamil film O Kadhal Kanmani, and produced by Ratnam and Karan Johar under their banners Madras Talkies and Dharma Productions respectively. It is a remake of Ratnam's Tamil film O Kadhal Kanmani. The film stars Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor with a supporting cast including Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson, the latter of whom appeared in the original as well marking her Hindi debut with this too- who essay the protagonists' landlords. A. R. Rahman composed the film's score and soundtrack. Gulzar has written the lyrics and the dialogues for the film.
Mubarakan (transl. Congratulations) is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Anees Bazmee. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Athiya Shetty, Neha Sharma, Karan Kundra and Ratna Pathak Shah in the lead roles with Sanjay Kapoor in a special appearance. The storyline revolves around twin brothers, both played by Arjun Kapoor in his second-ever dual role. The film released theatrically worldwide on 28 July 2017 in 2350 screens in India and 475 screens overseas.
Poster Boys is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Shreyas Talpade in his directorial debut. The film features Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Shreyas Talpade along with Sonali Kulkarni, Samikssha Batnagar and Tripti Dimri. The film is an official remake of the Marathi film Poshter Boyz which Talpade himself had produced and acted in. It is inspired by a real-life incident about three porters who found their pictures on a vasectomy poster. Produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions, Sunny Sounds Pvt. Ltd. and Affluence Movie Pvt. Ltd., Poster Boys is released on 8 September 2017.
Stree is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by debutant Amar Kaushik and produced by Dinesh Vijan and Raj & D.K. It stars Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao alongside Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee. The plot is based on the urban legend Nale Ba of Karnataka modified as O Stree Kal Aana in the film.
Kabir Singh is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under T-Series Films and Murad Khetani and Ashwin Varde under Cine1 Studios. A remake of Vanga's own Telugu film Arjun Reddy (2017), it stars Shahid Kapoor in the title role as a wealthy doctor who spirals into self-destruction when his girlfriend, Preeti, played by Kiara Advani, marries someone else. Adil Hussain, Nikita Dutta, Arjan Bajwa, Suresh Oberoi, Dolly Minhas, Suparna Marwah, Anurag Arora, Soham Majumdar, Kunal Thakur, Anusha Sampath, Amit Sharma and Kamini Kaushal feature in supporting roles.
India's Most Wanted is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, and starring Arjun Kapoor. The film is about tracking a terrorist in a secret mission and arresting him without firing bullets. India's Most Wanted is inspired by the arrest of proscribed organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Yasin Bhatkal, also referred to as India's Osama bin Laden, near the India-Nepal border in August 2013.
Jhootha Kahin Ka is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Smeep Kang, and produced by Deepak Mukut and Anuj Sharma and Vinay Gupta under the banners of Soham Rockstar Entertainment and Shantketan Entertainments. The film stars Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Sheirgill, Lillete Dubey, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Manoj Joshi, Pujita Ponnada and Nimisha Mehta, and follows the story of two boys Varun and Karan, who go to Mauritius for higher studies, where they change their lifestyle so much that they do not want to go back home. It was theatrically released in India on 19 July 2019.
Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar abbreviated as TJMM, is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Luv Ranjan, who wrote it with Rahul Mody. Produced by Luv Films and T-Series Films, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor. Dimple Kapadia, Boney Kapoor and Anubhav Singh Bassi play supporting roles. The film marks the return of Shraddha Kapoor to films after a three-year hiatus, and the film debut of Boney Kapoor and Bassi.