English Vinglish
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English Vinglish | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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Directed by | Gauri Shinde |
Produced by | Sunil Lulla R. Balki Rakesh Jhunjhunwala R. K. Damani |
Screenplay by | Gauri Shinde |
Story by | Gauri Shinde |
Starring | |
Music by | Amit Trivedi |
Cinematography | Laxman Utekar |
Editing by | Hemanti Sarkar |
Studio | Hope Productions |
Distributed by | Eros International |
Release date(s) |
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Running time | 133 minutes[1] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi Tamil Telugu |
Budget | 15 crore (US$2.73 million) [2] |
Box office | 63.00 crore (US$11.47 million)(lifetime domestic and international gross)[3][4] |
Starring Sridevi in the lead role, the film marks her comeback to Bollywood after 14 years and to Tamil cinema after 26 years.[7][8] The film also features French actor Mehdi Nebbou, Adil Hussain, and Priya Anand. Amitabh Bachchan and Ajith Kumar make guest appearances in the Hindi and Tamil versions respectively.[9][10]
The film revolves around housewife Shashi Godbole, who enrolls in an English language course in order to please her husband and family.[8] Shinde wanted her characters to be rooted and so they decided that the family will be Marathi, which is why the film was shot in Pune. Sridevi's character is inspired by Gauri's mother.
Before its official worldwide release, English Vinglish was premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where the film and Sridevi's performance received a standing ovation.[11][12] Prior to its release, English Vinglish was screened for the Indian press and critics and one of the biggest premieres of 2012 was held for the film fraternity.[13] It received near universal critical acclaim and several critics hailed it as a must watch film.[14] The film was declared a big Hit in India and overseas.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] UTV Stars called it the "Mother India of our times"[22] while Box Office Capsule hailed the film and Sridevi's return as "Golden Comeback of the Queen."[23]
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Plot
Shashi (Sridevi) is a middle-aged Maharashtrian housewife who earns some money by making and selling sweet snacks (laddu). She is a dedicated homemaker who is taken for granted by her family. She is ridiculed for her poor English by her husband Satish (Adil Hussain) and teenage daughter. Shashi is the object of potshots by Satish, who has little respect for her real talent and Sapna, her 7th grade daughter who is ashamed to even introduce her mother to her school folks and teachers because her English is weak. However, her young son Sagar loves her as she is.Shashi's sister, who lives in New York, invites Shashi's family to come to her daughter's wedding. It is decided that Shashi will go to New York alone to help her sister set up everything for the marriage. Her husband and kids will join her later when the wedding closes in. While Shashi is in New York helping at her niece's wedding, she secretly enrolls herself into a conversational English class that promises to teach the language in four weeks. The class comprises a Mexican nanny, a Pakistani cab driver, a Chinese hairstylist, a Tamil software engineer, a quiet angry African kid, and a soft-spoken French chef named Laurent (Mehdi Nebbou). Shashi quickly emerges as amongst the most promising and committed students in her class. In midst of all this, she also finds Laurent getting attracted to her because of her striking beauty.
Meanwhile, Shashi's niece Radha (Priya Anand) finds out about her secret English classes and supports and helps her in her literary pursuit. Shashi starts watching English films at night and doing her homework religiously - all to polish her English reading and writing skills and more importantly to earn respect that she duly deserves from her family. To complete the English speaking course each of the student must take a final test, as announced by her teacher David Fischer. The test is a 5 minute speech that each student should prepare and deliver which will be judged by the tutor who will then issue the certificate. Shashi's family joins her in New York earlier than expected, as a surprise. This makes it difficult for Shashi to attend the classes and prepare for her final test. The test date coincides with the wedding date so she misses the test.
Shashi's niece invites her English teacher and all her friends at the English speaking class to the wedding. At the wedding, Shashi gives the speech (in English), more of a toast to the couple at the wedding and stuns everyone. The English tutor, who is present amongst the guests, declares that she has passed the test with distinction and issues her the certificate. Shashi's husband and daughter finally realize their mistake of mocking her lack of proficiency in English and taking her for granted. Shashi thanks Laurent for "making her feel better about herself". The movie ends with the Shashi's family returning to India. On the flight Shashi requests (in fluent English) if the stewardess has any Hindi newspapers.
Cast
- Lead role
- Sridevi as Shashi Godbole
- Priya Anand as Radha
- Mehdi Nebbou as Laurent, a French cook
- Adil Hussain as Satish Godbole
- Supporting cast
- Navika Kotia as Sapna, the daughter of Shashi and Satish
- Shivansh Kotia as Sagar, the son of Shashi and Satish
- Sujata Kumar as Manu, elder sister of Shashi
- Cory Hibbs as David Fischer, the teacher of the English Classes
- Rajeev Ravindranathan as P Ramamurthy, a Tamilian Software Engineer
- Sumeet Vyas as Salman Khan
- Ruth Aguilar as Eva, a South American Babysitter
- Damian Thomson as Udumbke
- Maria Romano as Yu Son, a Chinese hairdresser
- Neelu Sodhi as Meera
- Ross Nathan as Kevin
- Maria Pendolino as Jennifer, the receptionist of the English Classes
- Sulabha Deshpande as Mrs. Godbole
- Guest appearances
- Ajith Kumar (in Tamil)
- Amitabh Bachchan (in Hindi)
Production
Development
In early 2011, it was reported that Sridevi would make a comeback with a film to be directed by ad filmmaker Gauri Shinde and produced by Gauri's husband R. Balki. It was said that Sridevi will play the protagonist in the role of a lady speaking English and the hilarious sequences that takes place in the process to learn the language forms the rest of the story. It was further reported that Amitabh Bachchan would play a cameo in the film and he shot with them for a day.[10]Owing to Sridevi's comeback after more than a decade, the film garnered much media interest. Amitabh's cameo, music by Amit Trivedi and Balki's track record have further added to the interest in the film. The film rights have been bought by Eros International for Rs. 20 crore.
The film marks the Bollywood debut of actress Priya Anand,[24] whose previous work was in the Tamil and Telugu cinemas. It is also the directorial debut of Gauri Shinde. It was shot largely in New York.[24] Balki also clarified that, other than Sridevi, all the actors in the film will be new.[10] The principal photography concluded in October and the film was dubbed and released in Tamil and Telugu.[7][10][24]
Promotion
The first look of English Vinglish was launched on 14 June 2012. The official distributor Eros International posted the first look video and poster on YouTube and Twitter.[25][26] The two-minute teaser showed Sridevi reading out the Censor Certificate of the film in deliberate broken English according to her character Sashi in the film, who struggles with the language. The first look was received positively and praised for its unique and fresh concept.[27][28] The full theatrical trailer was unveiled at a special media event on 13 August 2012 to coincide with Sridevi's birthday. The trailer met with a positive response and went viral on YouTube crossing one million views within a week of release.[29] Sridevi's performance in the trailer was also highly acclaimed by her fans and the media with Hindustan Times reporting, "Sridevi casts a spell in English Vinglish."[30] The Tamil and Telugu theatrical trailers were subsequently released at Chennai and Hyderabad respectively. Sridevi also appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati with her director Gauri Shinde and on the dance show Jhalak Dikhla Ja.Soundtrack
English Vinglish | ||||
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Soundtrack album to English Vinglish by Amit Trivedi | ||||
Released | 4 September 2012 | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Length | 28:47 | |||
Language | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu | |||
Label | T-Series | |||
Producer | Amit Trivedi | |||
Amit Trivedi chronology | ||||
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Tracklist
Hindi
All lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire, all music composed by Amit Trivedi.No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length | |
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1. | "English Vinglish I" | Shilpa Rao | 04:34 | |
2. | "Dhak Dhuk" | Amit Trivedi | 05:03 | |
3. | "Manhattan" | Clinton Cerejo, Bianca Gomes | 04:36 | |
4. | "Gustakh Dil" | Shilpa Rao | 05:39 | |
5. | "Navrai Majhi" | Sunidhi Chauhan, Swanand Kirkire, Natalie Di Luccio, Neelambari Kirkire | 04:23 | |
6. | "English Vinglish II" | Amit Trivedi | 04:32 | |
Total length:
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28:47 |
Tamil
All lyrics written by Pa. Vijay, all music composed by Amit Trivedi.No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length | |
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1. | "English Vinglish I" | Shilpa Rao | 04:34 | |
2. | "Dhak Dhuk" | Benny Dayal | 05:03 | |
3. | "Manhattan" | Benny Dayal, Bianca Gomes | 04:36 | |
4. | "Alai Payuthe" | Hamsika Iyer | 05:39 | |
5. | "Ummachchi Ummachchi" | Sneha Suresh, Vijay Prakash, Chandan Bala & Lavanya Padmanabhan | 04:23 | |
6. | "English Vinglish II" | Benny Dayal | 04:32 | |
Total length:
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28:47 |
Telugu
All lyrics written by Krishna Chaitanya, all music composed by Amit Trivedi.No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length | |
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1. | "English Vinglish I" | Shilpa Rao | 04:34 | |
2. | "Uliki Padenule" | Benny Dayal | 05:03 | |
3. | "Manhattan" | Benny Dayal, Bianca Gomes | 04:36 | |
4. | "Idho Vidham" | Shilpa Rao | 05:39 | |
5. | "Garala Patti" | Sneha Suresh, Vijay Prakash, Chandan Bala & Lavanya Padmanabhan | 04:23 | |
6. | "English Vinglish II" | Benny Dayal | 04:32 | |
Total length:
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28:47 |
Toronto International Film Festival
In July 2012, English Vinglish was selected by the prestigious 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and slotted for a World Premiere at the coveted Galas section of the festival.[31][32] The comeback of Sridevi made it a highly anticipated film at the festival and all shows at TIFF were sold out during advance booking. The World Premiere took place at the Roy Thomson Auditorium on 14 September and was attended by Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, R. Balki, Gauri Shinde and other cast and crew. At the end of the premiere, the full-house audience gave a 10 minute long standing ovation to the film.[11][12]After the Toronto Premiere, some international media outlets hailed Sridevi as the "Meryl Streep of India".[33][34][35] Two weeks later America's entertainment weekly Variety wrote in its review of English Vinglish that it found Sridevi "Disarmingly charming in a manner that recalls Audrey Hepburn."[36]
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