Raees (2017)

Raees (English: Wealthy) is a 2017 Indian crime drama film directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Gauri Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under their banners Red Chillies Entertainment and Excel Entertainment. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The film was a critical and commercial success.

Raees was said to be based on criminal Abdul Latif's life but, the filmmakers denied this, saying "The story of the film is a pure work of fiction, not based on any person; living or dead." The film was released on 25 January 2017.

Contents

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 Production
  • 3.1 Filming and development
• 4 Release
• 5 Box office
• 6 Critical reception
  • 6.1 India
  • 6.2 Overseas
• 7 Controversy
• 8 Soundtrack
• 9 Marketing
• 10 External links

 

Plot

Raees (Shah Rukh Khan) lives in Gujarat, a state where Prohibition is in force and gets involved in illegal liquor trade at a very young age. Along with Sadiq (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), Raees works for a gangster Jairaj (Atul Kulkarni), who smuggles alcohol illegally by bribing the police. Raees lives by the philosophy of his mother that every occupation is good, and no religion is greater than any occupation as long as it does not cause any harm to anyone. He decides to part ways with Jairaj and start operating on his own. He meets Musabhai (Narendra Jha) in Mumbai, and with his help he starts his bootlegging business. Meanwhile, an honest police officer of the IPS cadre, J. A. Majmudar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) gets transferred to Fatehpur, and starts a major crackdown on alcohol dealers.

Gujarat's Chief Minister and Pashabhai, a shrewd politician supports Raees for liquor and money. With his money, intelligence and tact, Raees consistently find ways to avert Majmudar and continues on with his trade. He also assists his community by offering employment to women to sew cloth bags, which he uses to smuggle alcohol and get them delivered to homes. In the meantime, Raees marries Aasiya (Mahira Khan). Due to his differences with Raees, Jairaj tries to get him killed but survives and kills Jairaj.

Raees and Aasiya have a baby son named Faizan. Raees invites CM, Pashabhai and many others to celebrate with him. Raees is then offered a project by the CM to eliminate the illegal occupants at a land and construct a housing project. Raees manages to get Majmudar transferred to control room department. However, tables turn as Majmudar starts tapping Raees' telephonic conversations. Raees assaults Pashabhai during his election campaign. The CM advises Raees to go to jail for a while for his act. While still locked up, the CM and Pasha form an alliance. To counter them, Raees decides to fight the election from jail and wins.

Meanwhile, Majmudar gets transferred back to Fatehpura. Communal riots break out in the state. Considering Raees a threat, the CM puts the housing project in green zone. Raees suddenly finds himself broke with all his money dwindled on housing project, elections and dispatching food supplies during riots.

Musabhai offers Raees by offering money for an assignment to smuggle gold. Serial bomb blasts rock North India. Police investigations lead to Raees, where the gold he smuggled, contained RDX. Raees kills Musabhai for betraying his trust and killing innocent people to incite communal riots. Majmudar orders his officers to shoot Raees at sight, but Raees brings press with him and surrenders and is well aware Majmudar would kill him. Majmudar takes him to an isolated place and shoots him.

Cast

• Shah Rukh Khan as Raees Alam
• Mahira Khan as Aasiya Alam, Raees' wife
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui as IPS Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar
• Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Sadiq, Raees' friend and confidante
• Sheeba Chaddha as Amina Alam, Raees' mother
• Atul Kulkarni as Jairaj Seth
• Narendra Jha as Musa
• Jaideep Ahlawat as Nawab, Musabhai's assistant
• Uday Tikekar as Pasha Bhai
• Pramod Pathak as Chief Minister of Gujarat
• Utkarsh Mazumdar as Dr. Sanjanwala, Eye Specialist
• Kundan Roy as Kalupor
• Ashutosh Jha as Rasul
• Sunil Upadhyay as Taufiq
• Fareed Arif as Eijaz
• Loveleen Mishra as Ratna madam, School teacher
• Anil Mange as Qasim
• Anurag Arora as Damla
• Sanjay Gurbaxani as Commissioner
• Raj Arjun as Ilyas
• Bhagwan Tiwari as Inspector Devji
• Shubham Chintamani as young Raees
• Shubham Tukaram as young Sadiq
• Sunny Leone as Guest appearance in song "Laila Main Laila"

Production

Filming and development

Shooting of the film began in April 2015. The film has been shot in Mumbai, and sets were re-designed to depict Ahmedabad slums. The last schedule of the film was shot in Gujarat in January 2016. Despite protests, the film was shot in Bhuj without disruptions between January and February 2016.

Release

The film was scheduled to be released on Eid, 6 July 2016, but was postponed to avoid box office competition with Salman Khan starrer Sultan. The film was then rescheduled to be released on 26 January 2017, India's Republic Day, which conflicted with Hrithik Roshan starrer Kaabil, but then both films were moved to 25 January 2017. Raees opened to 3500 screens worldwide.

Box office

Raees grossed ₹ 129 crore worldwide in its opening weekend. Raees grossed ₹ 271 crore worldwide at the end of its theatrical run. With a total nett collection of 128.77 crore, the film was declared as a "Semi - Hit" by the Box Office India

Critical reception

India

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and said director Dholakia "depicts the power play and the cat and mouse chase between Raees and the honest cop Jaideep with flourish and that, in my opinion, is the mainstay of the enterprise."

Nihit Bhave of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The movie can feel a bit long, but if you're going for a great SRK performance and some good ol' popcorn-entertainment, it might just 'raees' to the occasion."

Devarshi Ghosh of India Today rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The filmmaking is pure masala and this is one well cooked masala movie. The story is not suprprising, but Rahul Dholakia's treatment seems fresh."

Writing for The Hindu, Namrata Joshi gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "In Raees, he (SRK) and Dholakia would rather dare than play it safe. The character, a complicated portrayal, is in line with grounding SRK in his faith, and making him rise above it."

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and commented, "Raees might be markedly unfamiliar territory, but [Dholakia] doesn't let that fact undermine the content and its context. The balance that he achieves lends the film sustained solidity."

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "SRK breaks through in some moments but is stymied by florid, seen-too-many-times flourishes in Raees. It is Nawazuddin Siddiqui who really shines through."

Rohit Bhatnagar of Deccan Chronicle rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and said, "The film could have been much more thrilling and gut-wrenching."

Raghav Jaitly from Zee News rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and applauded its "powerhouse performances". He described the film "From dialogue delivery to slow motion sequences, the movie will give you goosebumps at times. If you want to witness high-octane actions, intense emotions and sincere filmmaking, then go for 'Raees'. It amalgamates Shah Rukh's charm and Rahul's intelligence."

Writing for Hindustan Times, Sarit Ray gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying "Raees also deserves credit for going with a principal set of Muslim protagonists, a rarity for present-day Bollywood. Nawazuddin Siddiqui has the best lines. Raees perhaps works only as an SRK showcase.", and Anupama Chopra gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying "The best way to enjoy Raees then is to manage expectations first. This is an uneven film. In places, you will applaud and whistle. But you might also find yourself utterly exhausted."

Overseas

Sneha May Francis and Mahwash Ajaz of Dawn respectively commented, "This isn't a fine film. It's vintage Bollywood fluff, which SRK will manage to turn into box-office gold." and, "Raees is the story of neither a hero nor a villain – it is the story of a man who lived in a corrupted system with corrupted morals."

Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "While the film is engaging, what lets it down are some of the contrived and ridiculous twists in the second half. But the climax packs a punch and that misgiving — 'where is this film going?' — is erased."

Rachel Saltz of The New York Times stated that "Avoiding flabby subplots, Mr. Dholakia keeps "Raees" taut and suspenseful, even at two and a half hours, though it probably has a song too many."

Controversy

There was a clearance issue by Archaeological Survey of India for shooting at Ahmedabad at the ancient mosque and tomb complex, Sarkhej Roza. In March 2016, a legal notice was sent by an alleged gangster, Abdul Latif's son, Mustak, asking how or why a film on his father's life is being made.

A few days after the 2016 Uri terror attack, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) asked for ban on films featuring Pakistani actors on the basis that the actors were not openly condemning terrorism. Raees was on their list, because cast member Mahira Khan is Pakistani. MNS put forward a condition to lift up the ban, that producers shall never cast Pakistani artistes in future and they have to give ₹5 crore as penance to the Indian Army welfare fund, but Indian Army refused to accept it by saying sacrifices should not be politicised. Later, ban was lifted without the conditions on Raees as demanded by MNS.

Farhan Akhtar, co-producer of the film said Raees will never pay, and was threatened by MNS. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra and member of the BJP and the RSS, Devendra Fadnavis said at the meeting with MNS and the producers ₹5 crore as contribution to the Indian Army welfare fund was not quoted compulsory and was never a condition for lifting ban on films featuring Pakistani actors demanded by MNS, and earlier at an event praised Shah Rukh Khan as an "icon" and a "proud Mumbaikar".

Ankita Shorey was the first choice for the female lead of the film, but Mahira Khan got the role, Shorey confirmed that the consideration was not due to the nationality. Shorey later stated that she did not speak about replacement, and did not spell part of the project phrase in her last interview regarding Raees, the actual phrase was "strongly considered for the project", the journalist who took her interview apologised for it. Farhan Akhtar clearly stated that Mahira Khan is in the film like before and nothing has been changed for her part, and the film is ready to release, he further said that if they started the whole film shooting after the terror attack then they would never have signed her depending on the present situation, and concluded by saying showing solidarity to Indian Army is up to them, and only Indian government has the authority to brief them regarding dealing with their conscience, and not by any outsiders.

A day after the release of the trailer of the film, members of the city's Shia community protested the use of religious symbols in the film and lodged a police report. The letter to the police has requested Khan to withdraw all such scenes, and intimated them about a possible peaceful protest in case the request is not met. When contacted, Shilpa Handa from the film's PR agency Spice said that they were still trying to understand the nature of the complaints.

On 11 December 2016, Shah Rukh Khan met MNS supreme Raj Thackeray to assure him that Mahira Khan won't be coming to India to promote the film. On 11 January 2017, it was reported that Shiv Sena again demanded for ban on the movie. They have threatened the cinemas' owners in Chhattisgarh not to screen the film.

Three days before the release of the film, Kailash Vijayvargiya, National General Secretary of BJP, termed Raees as "dishonest" and "anti-national" film, while termed Kaabil as "Patriotic" film, and said earlier in 2015 that Shah Rukh Khan is a defector and he also didn't react to 1993 Bombay bombings and 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The film is banned in Pakistan due to its "objectionable content" by Central Board of Film Censors, the regulatory body and censorship board of Pakistan.

Soundtrack

Main article: Raees (soundtrack)

Marketing

Raees was promoted on various shows which includes The Kapil Sharma Show and Bigg Boss 10, and was also promoted in Dubai. Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Leone even took a special train ride on August Kranti Rajdhani Express from Mumbai to Delhi on 23–24 January 2017 for promotions, but Farid Khan Sherani, fan of Shah Rukh Khan, also a member of Samajwadi Party died in hospital due to stampede on Vadodara railway platform when the train was leaving the station after a long halt for the promotion in front of huge crowd, many were injured too. Shah Rukh Khan later condoled for his fan's death.

External links

Badlapur (2015)

Badlapur is a 2015 Indian crime drama film directed by Sriram Raghavan and produced by Dinesh Vijan and Sunil Lulla. The film stars Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, with Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam, Vinay Pathak, Divya Dutta and Radhika Apte in supporting roles. The film was released on 20 February 2015. Box Office India reported that Badlapur grossed approximately ₹77 crore (US$12 million) worldwide.


On January 11, 2016, The film was nominated for Best Film in the 61st Filmfare Awards, as well as other categories.

Contents

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 Production
• 4 Critical reception
• 5 Box office
• 6 Soundtrack
• 7 Further reading
• 8 References
• 9 External links

 

Plot

Misha (Yami Gautam) and her son Robin become the victims of a bank robbery getaway during a shopping trip. Liak (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and his friend Harman (Vinay Pathak) rob a bank and use Misha's car to flee. Robin falls out of the moving vehicle during the struggle, and Misha is shot by Liak. Harman jumps out of the car to protect the money while Liak is arrested. Both mother and son die from their injuries in the hospital.


Raghu (Varun Dhawan), shattered from the loss of both his wife and son, immerses himself in seeking revenge on both culprits. Liak is sentenced to 20 years in prison, but refuses to reveal the identity of his partner in crime. Raghu learns about Jhimli (Huma Qureshi), a prostitute who is Liak's girlfriend, and visits her to inquire about the missing partner. After Liak's sentence, Raghu exiles himself to a reclusive life at a train station he gets off at – Badlapur.


15 years later, a terminally-ill Liak is paroled from prison on compassionate grounds. Unknown to Liak, Raghu has facilitated the release by providing a letter of pardon for Liak to the court, in exchange for being told the partner's name by Liak's mother. Bent on vengeance, Raghu finds Harman, who now runs a well-established restaurant. Liak is kept under watch by police as they believe he will lead them to the unknown partner. Liak contacts Harman, and arranges to take his share of the money. However, Raghu has already interrogated Harman and Harman's wife Kanchan (Radhika Apte). Harman tells Raghu that it was Liak and not him who killed his son and wife. Raghu is not convinced and takes Liak's share of the money, killing both Harman and his wife.


Raghu meets Shobha (Divya Dutta), the worker instrumental in arranging Liak's parole, pretending to be in love with her to create his alibi. He buries Harman and Kanchan's bodies, and police start investigating Harman. Liak learns from his mother that Raghu came to know about Harman and breaks into Raghu's house in search of the money. Raghu beats him senseless, and Liak tells Raghu that it was him, not Harman, who killed Raghu's wife and child, but he did it in a moment of panic, unlike Raghu who, Liak points out, planned his murders with a cool mind and without guilt.


Liak meets Jhimli one last time; she, now a keep of a local businessman, breaks down, knowing Liak is nearing death. The police now has circumstantial evidence that Raghu murdered Harman. Liak walks into the police station and takes Raghu's blame, giving him a second chance to live his life, and also doing one good thing in his own life before dying.


After seven months, Liak succumbs to cancer in jail. Jhimli meets Raghu and tells him that he has a second chance thanks to Liak, and should not waste it. She also asks Raghu that, now that his revenge is complete and all the guilty are dead, what good it did for him. Raghu is silent as Jhimli drives away.

Cast

• Varun Dhawan as Raghav "Raghu" Purohit
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Liak Mohammed Tungrekar
• Huma Qureshi as Jhimli
• Yami Gautam as Misha Purohit
• Divya Dutta as Shobha
• Vinay Pathak as Harman
• Radhika Apte as Kanchan (Koko)
• Ashwini Kalsekar as Mrs. Joshi
• Murali Sharma as Michael Dada
• Pratima Kazmi as Liak's Mother
• Zakir Hussain as Patil
• Kumud Mishra as Inspector Govind Mishra
• Devansh Shah as Raghu's son
• Mateen Shaikh as Raghu's friend

Production

The film began shooting in May 2014.

Critical reception

Raja Sen from Rediff.com rated it 4 out of 5 and said "Badlapur is a dark, unflinching, fantastic film." Sudhish Kamath from The Hindu wrote that the film was "darkly ambitious and very well made." Rachit Gupta from Filmfare stated that it had "exhilarating performances, stellar storytelling."


Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated it 3/5 and noted the pervasive contemptful treatment of women in the film, writing, "If one can ignore the overt misogyny on show all through the film, Badlapur throws up enough surprises to hold the viewer's interest right until the bitter end."


Mohar Basu of The Times of India rated Badlapur 4 out of 5. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the movie 2.5 stars out of 5, describing it as riveting, but also noting that the film "comes off too contrived in many places, and leaves us hanging in others." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN rated it 3.5 out of 5 and wrote: "The pace slackens post-intermission, plot contrivances are many, and you might say the film is misogynistic in its treatment of women ... [However], the film keeps you on your toes, curious to see where its twists and turns will lead."


In December 2015, Badlapur got 15 nominations at the Stardust Awards, having the maximum number of award nominations from one film for the year. Both Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were nominated for Best Actor category. The film was nominated for awards in Story (2), Screenplay (2), Direction, Lyrics (2), Best Playback Singer (Male), Best Choreographer, Music Direction (2), Best Actor (2), Best Supporting Actor (Female) (2).

Box office

According to Koimoi, the film collected ₹32 crore (US$5.0 million) in five days at the domestic box-office, with ₹7 crore (US$1.1 million) on the first day. By the end of the third weekend, Badlapur grossed ₹48.3 crore (US$7.5 million). By the end of its third week run, the movie grossed ₹50 crore (US$7.8 million) nett at India box offices, leading Koimoi to estimate the film has taken in double its expenses. Box Office India reported that Badlapur grossed approximately ₹77 crore (US$12 million) worldwide.

Soundtrack

 The soundtrack is composed entirely by Sachin-Jigar, while the lyrics were written by Dinesh Vijan and Priya Saraiya. The first song, "Jee Karda", was released as a single on 9 December 2014. The song "Jeena Jeena" was released on 14 February 2015. Jeena Jeena reached number one on the Indian iTunes charts, Radio Mirchi charts, and Bollywood Planet charts for several weeks.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Jee Karda"	Divya Kumar	4:01
2.	"Jeena Jeena"	Atif Aslam	3:49
3.	"Jee Karda" (Rock Version)	Divya Kumar	4:00
4.	"Judaai"	Rekha Bhardwaj, Arijit Singh	4:32
5.	"Jeena Jeena" (Remix)	Atif Aslam	3:39
6.	"Badla Badla"	Vishal Dadlani, Jasleen Royal, Suraj Jagan	3:13
7.	"Sone Ka Pani"	Priya Saraiya	1:52

External links

Udta Punjab (2016)

Udta Punjab (English: "Flying Punjab") is a 2016 Indian crime-drama film co-written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey. It is based on drug abuse in the Indian state of Punjab. Produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor under their banner Balaji Motion Pictures, in association with Anurag Kashyap's production house Phantom Films, it features Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and, Diljit Dosanjh in lead roles.

On 4 June 2016, the Central Board of Film Certification sought a stay on the film's release citing that the themes dealt with in the film were too vulgar for the general audience. As a result, the producers were directed to make a total of 89 cuts in the film. However, on 13 June 2016, the Bombay High Court struck down the stay and gave permission for the film's national release, albeit with a single cut in the screenplay. The film was released worldwide on 17 June 2016. Made on a budget of ₹400 million (US$5.9 million), Udta Punjab has earned over ₹996 million (US$15 million) worldwide.

Contents

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 Planning and filming
• 4 Music
  • 4.1 Track listing
  • 4.2 Production
• 5 Release
  • 5.1 Controversies
  • 5.2 Online piracy issue
• 6 Reception
• 7 Box office
• 8 External links

Plot

Tejinder "Tommy" Singh (Shahid Kapoor), also known as "Gabru" among his fans, is a 22-year old London-born Punjabi musician who lives a luxurious lifestyle assisted by his successful music career. Together with ostentatious crew that is led by Tayaji (Satish Kaushik) and cousin Jassi (Suhail Nayyar), he indulges in uncontrolled consumption of cocaine. Tommy, is popular for his adrenaline-pumping songs that both were written with the help of and are about intoxication. However, Tommy has no qualms about his songs glorifying violence and drug-addiction. However, his frequent bouts of drug-snorting cost him his contract and land him in jail. In prison, he meets two of his die-hard fans who remark how Tommy's lifestyle had 'inspired' theirs. Realizing that his songs have adversely and negatively affected teenagers, Tommy decides to change his ways upon release. Few days later, Tommy engages in an altercation with Tayaji and accidentally shoots him, injuring his ear. This causes Tayaji to send Tommy and his crew to a farmhouse so that he can prepare for an upcoming concert.

Working on a farm is an unnamed Bihari migrant (Alia Bhatt), frequently called Bauria by a co-worker in the fields, whose dreams of playing national level hockey for the country were shattered so she came to Punjab to work as a labourer. Bauria works as a farmworker for a local landlord who use agriculture as a front for drug peddling. One night, while roaming around in the farm, she finds a packet. Upon tearing open its contents and tasting it, she realizes that it is some kind of drug, and hence, resolves to sell it. Her search for a potential buyer lands her in great trouble as she is chased and captured by a gang of drug peddlers. They forcibly keep Bauria at their place where she is sexually and physically abused, given drugs and prostituted to several men including police officers from the local police force. Some weeks later, Bauria manages to escape from the house.

In this neighboring town also lives Preet Sahni (Kareena Kapoor), a doctor-cum-activist who runs a rehabilitation center. Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) is a class-two policeman attached to the town's station who knows about the smuggling of drugs his seniors are allowing on a large scale. But when it affects his family, his brother, Balli (Prabhjyot Singh), overdoses on Chaand (a locally-made drug) and is brought to Preet's clinic, he realizes the grave situation. She educates Sartaj about the drug problem and partly accuses him for his brother's state. Together, they decide to find the root cause of the problem.

Appearing before his audience in the concert, instead of singing, Tommy starts preaching. Infuriated by his speech about how one should lead his/her life, his fans try to admonish him, and start throwing bottles at him. Tommy gets angry and urinates on the crowd. Making a run out of the concert to save himself from the crowd's angst, Tommy goes and hides inside a dilapidated structure. There he meets Bauria and together they start sharing their stories. However, the next day, Bauria is recaptured by the same gang who had kept her imprisoned.

Preet has been working in Punjab actively with drug abuse survivors and their families. She runs her own clinic in the area where she operates a residential rehab center. With help from a reformed Sartaj who discovers that his own brother is hooked to a locally-made drug, manages to find that the antagonist behind the drug problem in Punjab is an elderly man called Vikrant who has flourished with the support of MP Maninder Brar. Sartaj and Preeti go to extreme measures to collect evidence against the Parliamentarian and put together a report to be sent to the state's Election Commission to thwart Brar's campaign for another term in power. Sartaj develops feelings for her and asks her out to which she reciprocates willingly. However, one night, after returning from work, she is apprehended and fatally stabbed by Balli, who was being treated against his wish at her rehab center. The policemen who come to investigate her murder also come across her report.

In the presence of the drug mafia, Sartaj is questioned by his senior about the report. At the same time, Tommy, who is on the run from the police and has been searching for Bauria, jumps and enters the enclosure, alerting everyone including Vikrant and the senior policeman. He fatally hits Vikrant with his hockey stick and tries to make a move upstairs. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sartaj grabs his senior's service revolver and shoots everyone but Tommy. He then rushes inside the house to get his brother Balli, who is being held captive by Vikrant's wife. He shoots her and frees Balli, while Tommy goes upstairs and helps Bauria beat her captors. Finally, as Tommy and Bauria run off, Balli kneels down and cries in front of his brother whose face is expressionless. Later when Tommy calls Bauria on his crew member's phone to ask her real name. Sitting by a beach, she catches sight of a foreigner having fun. Inspired, she utters "Mary Jane".

Cast

• Shahid Kapoor as Tejinder "Tommy" Singh/Gabru
• Kareena Kapoor as Dr. Preet Sahni
• Alia Bhatt as "Bauria"
• Diljit Dosanjh as ASI Sartaj Singh
• Satish Kaushik as Tayaji
• Suhail Nayyar as Jassi
• Prabhjyot Singh as Balli
• Harpreet Singh as Samsheer
• Manav Vij as Jhujar Singh, Sartaaj's senior officer

Planning and filming

Principal photography of the film commenced in March 2015, Three of the actors Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhatt halved their fees for the film.

Music

The music for Udta Punjab was composed by Amit Trivedi with lyrics by the late Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Shellee and Varun Grover. The background music was composed by Benedict Taylor & Naren Chandavarkar. The music rights are acquired by Zee Music Company.

The first song "Chitta Ve" was released on 4 May 2016. Two more Singles "Da Da Dasse" and "Ik Kudi" were released before the Release of Final soundtrack. The Complete Soundtrack consisting of 7 songs was released on 18 May 2016.

Track listing

All music composed by Amit Trivedi.

Original Track Listing No. Title Singer(s) Length 1. "Chitta Ve" Babu Haabi, Shahid Mallya & Bhanu Pratap 4:48 2. "Da Da Dasse" Kanika Kapoor & Babu Haabi 4:01 3. "Ikk Kudi" Shahid Mallya 4:35 4. "Ud-Daa Punjab" Vishal Dadlani & Amit Trivedi 4:35 5. "Hass Nach Le" Shahid Mallya (Backing Vocals: Shadab Faridi, Suhas Sawant & Arun Kamath) 4:30 6. "Vadiya" Amit Trivedi 4:29 7. "Ikk Kudi - Reprised Version" Diljit Dosanjh 2:44 Production Amit Trivedi said about the soundtrack, "The film required a really dark soundtrack. So, I had to incorporate psychedelic trance and hip hop into it. It will be edgier and more in-your-face than anything else seen in Bollywood music before. I don't know how the audience will react to it because it is not something that we are used to. But I do know that there are people who have an appetite for psy-trance and hip hop in India. So, I hope it is received well". The movie's music rights were sold for ₹18 crore (US$2.7 million), making it the biggest such deal in Bollywood history. Release The movie has been reported to have had issues with the censor board over profanities and scenes of drug use. On 9 June 2016, the Censor Board came out with a list of 94 cuts and 13 pointers prior to the film's release. One of the pointers even included deleting the names of cities in Punjab. On 13 June 2016, Bombay High Court cleared Udta Punjab with one cut and disclaimers. The scene where Shahid Kapoor's character Tommy Singh is shown urinating in front of a crowd needs to be chopped off, ruled the court. The CBFC has been directed to issue an 'A' certificate to Udta Punjab in two days. Controversies The row over the film being drug-themed slated for release on 17 June escalated with co-producer Anurag Kashyap hitting out at CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani, calling him "oligarch" and "dictator" and that it was like living in North Korea. The makers of the film are said to have been asked by the Revising Committee of the Censor Board to remove all references to Punjab and to make 89 cuts. Kashyap got the support of several filmmakers including Karan Johar, Mahesh Bhatt, Ram Gopal Varma, Aamir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Varun Dhawan and Mukesh Bhatt. "It is a dark day for freedom of expression and creativity in the country," Mukesh Bhatt said, calling Pahlaj Nihalani a "stooge" of the government. It was later cleared by Bombay High Court with the number of cuts reduced from 89 to a single scene, wherein a character is seen urinating. The Court directed the Board to issue an 'A' certificate before the scheduled release of the movie. According to The Economist, Nihalani "was appointed by the BJP, whose coalition partner in Punjab, the SAD, had much to lose from bad publicity" resulting from the movie, due to a subplot in the movie drawing "a parallel with the real-life case of a convicted drug lord who named the SAD deputy chief’s brother-in-law as his accomplice". It has been alleged that Udta Punjab is plagiarised from the book named High Society which also had parallel stories about a rock musician, trafficked woman and a police officer seeking to blow the cover on the illegal drug trade. Online piracy issue On 15 June 2016, some parts of the film were leaked online onto various peer-to-peer sharing websites. While some torrent sites hosted torrent files containing a forty-minute clip, the whole film was also uploaded on other media sharing sites like Mega. Indiatimes.com reported that the leaked clips allegedly contained the text "FOR CENSOR" on the top-left corner, implying that the leaked copies were part of the samples shared with the Censor Board. The Huffington Post reported that the producers of the film had filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime cell in Mumbai. It added that Balaji Motion Pictures and Phantom Films, its producers, had succeeded in pulling down as many as 600 links from the web. Commenting on the leak, the film's spokesperson said, "Two copies of the CD were sent to the CBFC and this version is from the same source. It's literally a no-brainer to conclude where the leak has come from and, sure enough, the cyber crime cell will get to the bottom of this." Reception Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5. Rajeev Masand of CNN-News18 writes "the film is hard-hitting and uncomfortable to watch, and mixes dark humor to a tale about the dirty drug and political nexus in Punjab", giving it 3.5 rating out of 5. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 3 stars out of 5, saying it is "the kind of film which has something to say, and it says it with both flair and conviction". Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave the film 4 stars out of 5, saying "Udta Punjab is a wake-up call, an important film and a mighty impressive one at that, carrying a loud anti-drug message". Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times wrote "Udta Punjab works mostly because of its tone and stand against drugs, though the second half is no match for the first", giving the film 3.5 rating out of 5. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 4 stars out of 5, writing "Udta Punjab is littered with standout scenes, but none matches the sledgehammer impact of the climax". Namrata Joshi of The Hindu described the film as "a gut-wrenching look at the frightening dystopia that is Punjab today owing to rampant drug abuse". Box office The film earned approximately ₹10.05 crore (US$1.5 million) in India, with an additional ₹3.46 crore (US$510,000) coming from overseas revenue on its opening day. The film grossed ₹46.94 crore (US$7.0 million) worldwide during its opening weekend and ₹75.82 crore (US$11 million) worldwide in its first week. As of 9 July 2016, the film has earned ₹99.67 crore (US$15 million) worldwide.

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