Chennai Express is a 2013 Indian actioncomedy film[1][2] directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Gauri Khan under the banner Red Chillies Entertainment. The film features Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. This is the second collaboration between Khan and Padukone after the 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om and the first between Khan and Rohit Shetty. Chennai Express is about a man's journey from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens along the way after he falls in love with the daughter of a local don.[6] Principal photography began on 27 September 2012. Filming began in October 2012 and was wrapped up by May 2013.[7]
The film was released a day earlier in the overseas markets[1][2] on 8 August 2013 and in India on 9 August 2013. Extensive paid previews were held in India on 8 August 2013 as well.[8][9][10] Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics. Despite this, the film broke several records in India and abroad[8] and became the fastest film to collect ₹1 billion (US$13 million).[9]
Rahul Mithaiwala (Shahrukh Khan) is a forty-year old bachelor and lives in Mumbai. Rahul's parents died in a car accident when he was eight years old and it was his grandparents who brought him up. His grandfather has a sweet-selling chain store - Y.Y. Mithaiwala. Before his birth centenary celebration, two of Rahul's friends suggest a vacation in Goa which he accepts. On the day of the birth centenary, his grandfather dies whilst seeing a cricket match. His grandmother tells him that his grandfather desired to have his ashes divided into two parts - to be immersed in the Ganges River (in the north) and Rameswaram (in the south). She requests Rahul to go to Rameswaram and immerse the ashes. Rahul reluctantly accepts her request. On the other hand he was eager to attend the Goa trip, so, he and his friends make plans to dump the ashes at Goa. But, they were forced to change their plan when Rahul's grandmother told him that she would be coming to see him off at the station. This forces Rahul to travel by train and he booked a single ticket on the Chennai Express. He plans to meet his friends after commencing the journey at the Kalyan Junction station from where they would travel to Goa by car.
Rahul forgets to take his grandfather's ashes on reaching the station and when he comes back to get it, when the train was leaving the platform, he sees a girl running to catch the train. He helps her board the moving train. Then he notices four men also running to catch the train. Rahul helps them all to get in and himself misses the platform to get off. He learns that those four men were actually kidnapping the girl whose name is Meenalochni Azhagu Sundaram (Deepika Padukone) aka Meenamma. She was trying to flee from a forced marriage to Tangaballi (Nikitin Dheer). Her father Durgeshwara Azhagu Sundaram (Sathyaraj), is a powerful headman of the Komban Kaum (an anagram of Kumbakonam) in Tamil Nadu. He wants her to marry Thangaballi so that he would assume control of the neighboring village as well. Meena takes Rahul to her father and introduces him as her lover. Thangaballi challenges Rahul for a duel which Rahul accepts in sign language. On the night of the fight, Rahul escapes with the help of a local Sikh policeman but in the turn of events, ends up in Komban Kaum again. Surrounded by sickle-wielding henchmen of Azhagu Sundaram, Rahul then pretends to take Meena as hostage and escapes again in her father's favourite car. When the jeep breaks down, they quarrel and go separate ways. But, Rahul not knowing which way to go, comes back to Meena who takes him to the Vidhamba village where a wedding was taking place. Meena lies to the people that they are a married couple and have eloped and needed protection and rest.
The villagers grow fond of the couple and take care of them as long as they stay while Meena realizes that she has fallen in love with Rahul. When Rahul has plans of leaving secretly, Meena does not want to earn the distrust of the affectionate villagers. As he tries to leave, he is caught by Thangaballi but the villagers help him escape again. Meena who persuades him to immerse his grandpa's ashes travels with Rahul to Rameswaram. There they complete the rites and on their way back, Rahul, realizing that he has also fallen in love with Meena, does not tell Meena where they go. He takes Meena back to her father again and tries to make him understand and honour his daughter's wish. He also confesses for the first time that he loves her too. Rahul tells Thangaballi and his goons that he has come ready for the fight this time. In the fight that follows, Rahul though severely injured emerges the winner. Meena's father and Thangaballi finally turn over a new leaf and accept that the heart of a common man like Rahul is much bigger than their physical ability and political clout. Azhagu Sundaram, allows Rahul to marry his daughter, the twist that changed Rahul's life forever. When they finally unite, the film leaves a message that love knows no barriers of region or language and that with a strong heart, there is no limit to what a common man can achieve.
Priyamani in an item song "1 2 3 4 Get on the Dance Floor"
Production
Development
Sandeep Mishra and Rohit Shetty had originally planned to team up for a remake of the 1982 film Angoor. After the 2011 blockbuster Singham, Rohit Shetty had begun writing the script of the film but left it mid-way. Incidentally, he had the script of Chennai Express ready to be narrated to Khan as a back-up due to the difficulty of obtaining the actor's filming dates.[18] Upon being narrated the script, Khan was impressed with the idea of Chennai Express and agreed to star in it before the Angoor remake. With this development, the remake of Angoor was pushed back.
When Rohit was asked about the story of the film, he said, "It's a hard-core commercial film with a romantic angle. The story is about this man's travel from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens during the journey."[19]
Shah Rukh Khan was the first actor to be approached with the script, and hence the first lead actor to be signed for the film. Incidentally, Rohit stated that despite the title, Shah Rukh would not play the role of a South Indian in the film. The casting of the lead heroine was speculated for a good deal of time. Names such as Kareena Kapoor, Asin Thottumkal and Deepika Padukone were rumoured by the media.[21] In an interview, a visibly angry Shetty denied all rumours surrounding the leading heroine, stating that the cast would be finalised in April 2012 and that he was going to cast an established actress as the leading lady.[22] However, in October 2012, it was confirmed that Deepika Padukone had been signed to play the lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan, when stills were released from the set showing Padukone and Khan shooting. This would be her second film opposite Shah Rukh Khan, with whom she made her Bollywood debut with in the 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om.[23][24]
Rohit Shetty wanted Manorama to play Deepika Padukone's aunt[25] but dropped the idea later. Sathyaraj was cast to play the role of Deepika's father and the main antagonist of Chennai Express, making his debut in Bollywood.[26] Actress Priyamani was signed late January 2013 for an item number in the film.[27] Other personalities from Tamil cinema cast in minor roles include Delhi Ganesh and Mohan Ram.
Filming
The Pamban Rail Bridge in Rameswaram, one of the film's locations.
The filming began at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai on 5 October 2012 . The lead actor was dressed in black casuals and the actress in a South Indian attire, wearing Kanchipuram sari.[23] Filming was done at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station with minimal crew members. These working stills of the lead actor were unofficially released in mid-October 2012.[28] In November 2012, the cast and crew was off to Goa for the first filming schedule.[29] The railway station of Vasco da Gama was used as a double up, portraying Kalyan. A romantic scene on board a train passing next to Dudhsagar Falls was also shot.[30] In December 2012, the team was off to Jakarta for some scenes.[31] By early January 2013, the next schedule was supposed to happen in Ooty but Khan opined that the opted place would be too far from commercial venue, Mumbai. Hence, recreation of the lanes of Ooty along with some of its tourist spots, was constructed as a set on the outskirts of Panchgani in Wai by art director Narendra Ruharikar. It took over 40 days to make the set at an estimated cost of ₹15 million (US$190,000).[32][33] The Wai schedule of filming ran for entire month of March 2013.[34] A 10-day shooting schedule began in Munnar, Kerala from mid of April 2013, scenes were canned at Devikulam Lake, Meesapulimala, Wagavara and Kannimala.[35] The shoot had to be stopped for a few days due to the heavy rainfall and the schedule was slightly extended until end of the same month.[36] A press conference was also held in the town Munnar.[37] In May 2013, certain scenes were canned in North Goa[38][39] The lead actress wrapped up all her portions of shoot on 25 May 2013.[40] Khan flew to Hyderabad by end of May 2013 for remaining filming.[41] The film has several Tamil dialogues, but sans subtitles, to retain context.[42]
Release
"Shah Rukh Khan has a strong fanbase and the demand for the movie is enormous overseas. We are releasing the movie in over seven non-traditional markets and the movie will also witness a day and date release for the first time in Peru for any Hindi film."[43]
—Amrita Pandey, Executive Director, (Syndication, International Distribution and Disney Media Distribution), Studious, Disney UTV, said in a statement.
The film had paid previews in India on 8 August 2013 with 10–12 shows at multiplexes.[44]
"The jump in weekday ticket prices is largely due to the fact that currently they are sold at a lower price. Eid has been traditionally good for business and during the Eid week, we expect to sell more tickets than we do in a full month otherwise. A Shah Rukh Khan film is coming after nine months and history shows that Rohit Shetty's films have not gone wrong at the box office."[45]
—Anand Vishal, Head of Operations, Fun Cinemas told Mirror.
Chennai Express, besides domestic and usual international markets, was scheduled to be released in non-traditional international markets. In Peru, it was the first Hindi film to be released on the same day as in India. Earlier, Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name Is Khan and Hrithik Roshan-starrer Guzaarish opened as delayed releases in Peru. The film was also released in Morocco, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Israel.[43]
The price of tickets for Chennai Express will cost up to 40 per cent more than usual tariff. The raise, which includes 40 per cent increase in ticket prices during the weekday shows and up to a 20 per cent hike over the weekend, will not be uniform across all multiplexes. Increasing ticket prices around festivals is not unusual but this much raise is uncommon.[45]
Statistics
The film was released in 2550 cinemas in 3,550 screens (includes 1000 single screens) in India,[46] and 700 screens internationally (including 195 screens in the United States, 175 in the United Kingdom,[47] 55 in the Middle East and 30 in Australia), making it the widest Bollywood release of all time.[5][48][49]
Marketing
The first look of Chennai Express was revealed on 1 January 2013.[50] A thirty-one seconds title track teaser sung by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was released on 23 May 2013.[51]
The official trailer of the film was released at an event in Mumbai on 13 June 2013 and crossed the 4 million views mark on YouTube just two days after its launch.[6] A platform running game based on the film, developed by Disney UTV's digital wing, titled Chennai Express: Escape from Rameshwaram was launched on 24 July 2013 for Android systems and featuring Shahrukh Khan & Deepika Padukone. It takes the player on a roller-coaster ride where he has to fight off goons and dodge obstacles like trucks, buses, cars, coconut carts, etc. to collect more than 10,000 coins so as to unlock Deepika Padukone's game avatar.[52] The outfits donned by Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the film was auctioned, and proceedings from the sale was gone for a charity. The auction took place around the day of its release.[53] A Karaoke app was launched on 2 August 2013 for Android and iOS based smartphones developed by Singbox, a Sweden based gaming studio.[54] The film's satellite rights were sold to Zee Network for ₹48 crore. The deal was also linked to the film's box office collection, first of its kind in Indian cinema. If Chennai Express crossed the cut-off amount, which was said to be around ₹130 crore nett, then for every ₹10 crore net after that, the producers get an additional ₹2 crore.[55] Khan also promoted his film on reality television shows such as Comedy Nights with Kapil, Dance India Dance Super Moms, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 and Indian Idol Junior.[56]
Controversies
Chennai Express along with Akshay Kumar starrer Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara were initially abandoned by Pakistani distributors and exhibitors in the interest of four of their films releasing on the same day that was 8 August, but both films later changed their date to 9 and 15 August respectively.[57] During its Wai schedule of filming, the film's unit ran in trouble for over use of water from Dhom Dam in drought-hit Satara district of Maharashtra. The state's Relief and Rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam raised his concern for the same.[58]
The film's poster and trailer, released on Twitter and YouTube, were criticised by some Tamil tabloid for allegedly depicting Tamil ethos in poor light. The heavily accented dialogue delivery by Deepika Padukone resembled Malayalee accent rather than Tamil, according to them.[59][60] Padukone however defended the film, claiming that it does not spoof South Indian culture and adding that nearly the entire crew (including herself) are South Indians, she said, "Why would we spoof our own culture?"[61]
Adopting an aggressive stance on Wednesday, 31 July 2013 the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's Film Wing threatened to disrupt and stop its release on 8 August as it reportedly attempted to dislodge ongoing popular Marathi movies from single-screen cinemas in the state. The party was upset with reports that the Rohit Shetty directed movie had demanded prime slots in single screen cinemas and even some multiplexes in the state where the superhit Marathi film Duniyadari has been running to packed houses since 19 July. Later, on 1 August 2013, both the film directors, Rohit Shetty and Sanjay Jadhav were called on Raj Thackeray to hammer out a solution. After listening to both parties, Thackeray ruled that if Duniyadari was not removed from single screen cinemas across the state, then the MNS would not object to the release and run of Chennai Express in Maharashtra.[62]
Music
Untitled
The music score of the film was composed by the duo Vishal-Shekhar. Amitabh Bhattacharya and Yo Yo Honey Singh stamped their lyrics in the album. Recording of the songs began in late October 2012. The track "Ready Steady Po" was attributed as "insane" by the music composers and was recorded by November 2012.[63] Several sources claimed that the director and actor were unsatisfied with the score of the film and hence the former were reported to rework entirely.[64] However, the composers denied all such rumours.[65] In mid-April 2013, singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam recorded the title track for the film, marking his return to Bollywood for playback post fifteen years. He claimed the song celebrates the spirit of togetherness. Initially, the singer was apprehensive but opted to sing considering the content and leads of the film.[51] The song "1 2 3 4 get on the dance floor" was released as a promotional single on World Music Day. On 27 June 2013, the video promo of the song "Titli" was released and on 11 July 2013, the promo video of "Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari" was released. On 19 July 2013, T-Series has uploaded a song on its official channel of YouTube named as "Lungi Dance - The 'Thalaivar(r)' Tribute" in honour of the South Indian film actor Rajinikanth and sung by Honey Singh.[66] On 25 July 2013 a promo video of the song "Tera Rasta Main Chhodoon Na" was released.
The soundtrack album of Chennai Express received positive reviews. Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave the album 4/5, saying, "Go for this robust offering, which is full of new sounds and zany surprises. Vishal-Shekhar have shown that they haven’t let the film's comic nature hinder their creativity. It's their strength and they should never let go of this quality. And should catch some more Titlis too..."[68]
IBN Live gave the album 3.5/5 and said that "Here's another winner from Vishal-Shekar. It is likely to appeal music lovers of all age-groups and sentiments. An entertaining all-rounder, the composers must be applauded for fusing different music and beats to pep up the otherwise usual Bollywood music."[69]
Yashika Mathur of DNA gave the album 3.5/5 and stating, "Rohit Shetty's much-awaited entertainer Chennai Express boasts of a soothing bouquet of typical Bollywood numbers and some peppy tracks with exceptional mixing."[70]
Joginder Tuteja of Rediff.com gave the album 3/5 and wrote, "Rohit Shetty is said to have kept the narrative of Chennai Express quite fast -paced, and the music should complement that overall flavour of the film."[71]
Anand Holla of Mumbai Mirror has said that "It's easy to imagine director Rohit Shetty's crystal clear brief to Vishal-Shekhar, involving words such as catchy, peppy, fun, and of course 'hit songs'. Given how happily formulaic the soundtrack has turned out, V–S have given us a fair idea of what awaits us this Eid."[72]
Critical reception
Chennai Express received mixed reviews from critics in India and abroad.[73]
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 4/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, Chennai Express has the trademark Rohit Shetty stamp all over. You seek entertainment, entertainment and entertainment in a film like Chennai Express and the movie lives up to the hype and hoopla surrounding it."[74] Rachit Gupta of Filmfare rated the movie 4/5 stars, stating, "The film's peppered with humorous set pieces and colourful locales and songs. Rohit Shetty makes chettinad-style masala movies. And that's the perfect description of this film. If you don’t plan to engage in a multi-lateral critique of dramatic elements and narrative, this film can be fun."[75] Sarita Tanwar Of DNA gave the movie 3.5/5 stars and said that, "This is a treat for all Hindi film lovers. It has all the ingredients you'd expect from a big commercial masala film – big star cast, drama, action, comedy, songs, the car chases and the big finish, all delivered in Rohit Shetty's unapologetic ishtyle...Overall, this is a bubblegum blockbuster."[76] Meena Iyer of Times of India gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, saying, "Chennai Express is a magnificently mounted film. In an ode to his own cinema—read Golmaal series or Bol Bachchan, Rohit Shetty, the director, who has grossers in Bollywood's 100-crore club, ups the scale for his Eid offering."[77] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the movie 3/5 stars and said that, "The whole-hearted zeal that SRK and Deepika bring to the table and the steady flow of funny one-liners serve Shetty's purpose well, turning Chennai Express into a full-on masala film that is completely unapologetic about its intentions. And that is its USP."[78]Zee News rated the movie 3/5 stars, stating, "If you ignore the few clichés (the repetition of 'DDLJ' scenes and the lines that we have heard SRK speaking in his popular films), the lack of punch in the script and even the high predictability factor, then you are onboard for a fun ride with ‘Chennai Express’!"[79]India Today gave the film 3 stars: "The good news first. "Chennai Express" is a pleasant and likeable film in parts. The bad news is, it does nothing for Shah Rukh Khan's imdomitable star power except to tell us he can still play a 40-year Rahul without faltering."[80] Abhishek Gupta of India TV gave it 2.5 stars and wrote, "The comedy along with the action is rarely served with equal entertainment in today's cinema. We discern Rohit Shetty for his mass leisure which includes cars fluttering from the unknown corners and comedy which isn’t slapstick but works."[81]
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the movie 2.5/5 stars, and wrote, "The film's pair is trying to have some fun, and comes up with some genuinely funny moments. Padukone looks lovely and sticks to a spunky over –the- topness, and doesn't waver, till she's made to go all emotional. That's when her graph dips. That's when Shah Rukh's raffish charm slips. And that is also when `Chennai Express' derails. And wannakum becomes wannago."[82] Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave the film 2.5 stars, saying "Chennai Express evokes a few laughs but otherwise it decides to shift tracks from droll comedy to dreadful drama."[83] Khalid Mohamed of Deccan Chronicle gave the film 2.5 stars and commented "board Chennai Express at your own risk."[84]Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 2/5 rating and commented "[Chennai Express] is a big, fat bore. A bloated vanity project for an actor capable of so much more."[85]Mayank Shekhar of Dainik Bhaskar rated it 1 (out of 5) stars, saying "You’ve paid for the ticket? Yes. Now just sit back and suffer."[86]
Overseas
Rachel Saltz of The New York Times wrote, "Chennai Express” feels like a sumptuous meal with carefully chosen wine and tasty appetizers but a botched main course. Money and visual care have been lavished on this Bollywood action-comedy-romance and glossy stars engaged (Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone). But the movie chugs along for most of its 2 hours and 20 minutes searching for comedy and characters in a frantically overplotted story."[87] Sneha May Francis of Emirates 24/7 wrote "Rohit Shetty's s(h)tyle of romance relies heavily on buffoonery and will be applauded mainly by Shah Rukh Khan loyalists". She added "Rohit's carnival-like comedy coaxes some laughs, but can leave you exhausted." Sneha argued that Deepika's performance "outshines" that of Shahrukh in the movie.[88] Ronnie Scheib of Variety wrote "Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone are ill matched in this overworked comedy/romance/actioner ... Shetty's need to maintain his characters' romantic heroism constantly grates against his depictions of their ridiculousness."[89] Simon Foster of the Special Broadcasting Service gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and described it as "a loud, lame-brained romantic comedy from the (very) broad directorial brush of Rohit Shetty, SRK's over-hyped vehicle sees the charismatic but ageing actor badly miscast and easily overshadowed by his leading lady, Deepika Padukone."[90]
Chennai Express collected very well in paid previews on Thursday. According to Box Office India, the total collections of the Hindi version were ₹67.50 million (US$850,000), thereby surpassing the previous record held by 3 Idiots.[91] The film collected ₹292.50 million (US$3.7 million) on its opening day, making it the second highest opening day collection behind Ek Tha Tiger.[92][93] The film broke the second day and third day box office records as well collecting ₹264.30 million (US$3.3 million)[94][95] and ₹292.10 million (US$3.7 million) respectively[46] and collected ₹870 million (US$11 million) (₹920 million (US$12 million) including paid previews[96]), breaking the previous weekend record set by Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.[97][98]Chennai Express set another record for worldwide opening, earning ₹1.67 billion (US$21 million) in the three-day weekend.[99] The film fared well on Monday collecting over ₹120 million (US$1.5 million).[9] It grossed ₹115 million (US$1.4 million) nett on its first Tuesday, thus becoming the highest grossing Shahrukh Khan starrer film in India.[100][101] The film remained steady and grossed ₹125.60 million (US$1.6 million) on Wednesday.[102][103]Box Office India reported that the film grossed ₹190 million (US$2.4 million) nett on Thursday, taking its first week total (including paid previews) to ₹1.461.50 billion (US$18 million), beating the previous record of Ek Tha Tiger.[11][104][105] Chennai Express had worldwide gross of ₹250 crore (US$31 million) in the first seven days.[106] The film collected ₹225.50 million (US$2.8 million) on its second weekend, taking the total domestic nett to ₹1.68 billion (US$21 million), and also became the second highest grossing Bollywood film in ten days with a worldwide gross of ₹3.14 billion (US$39 million).[107][108] The film earned ₹1.85 billion (US$23 million) in two weeks and amounted to ₹1.94 billion (US$24 million) after its third weekend in the domestic market.[109] The film grossed ₹160 million (US$2.0 million) in its third week, bringing up its total to ₹2.00.75 billion (US$25 million).[110]Chennai Express broke the domestic nett record set by 3 Idiots in its fourth weekend[111][112] and added around ₹57.40 million (US$720,000) in week four to take the total to ₹2.06 billion (US$26 million).[12][14][113] In its sixth weekend, the film added another ₹3.5 million (US$44,000) for a final total of ₹2.08 billion (US$26 million).[114][115][a]
Overseas
Also at overseas, the film broke records, with paid previews in the UK amounting more than any first day of a Bollywood film in the UK.[116] The film made opening weekend records in foreign territories taking in a total of ₹504.70 million (US$6.3 million), including record collections from key markets USA ($2.22 million), UAE (AED 7.73 million) and UK (£934,118).[8][117][118][119] Chennai express set a record opening weekend overseas gross of US $ 7.1 million.[120] It proved a big hit in Pakistan as the film collected $3,00,000 [Rs. 1.84 crores] in its opening weekend.[121] By 18 August, Chennai Express broke all box office records in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, by grossing over 40 million rupees.[122][123] The film earned ₹72 crore ($11, 667,477) in just nine days in overseas.[124][125][126] By the second weekend, the film grossed around $14 million.[127]Chennai Express grossed about US$16 million by its third weekend overseas.[128] The film took its overseas total to US$16.85 million by the fourth weekend.[129] By the fifth weekend, the film grossed about US$ 17.25 million abroad.[130] The film collected well even in its 6th weekend taking its total to US$17.40 million.[131]
Records
Upon release, the film broke the following records:
^While Box Office India confirms that the film grossed ₹2.08 billion (US$26 million) at the end of its run, other trade analysts like Taran Adarsh and Komal Nahta claimed an 8-percent higher figure of ₹2.26 billion (US$28 million). Nevertheless, Box Office India's figures have been used.
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