| Hindi Hard | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Saket Chaudhary |
| Written by | Saket Chaudhary Zeenat Lakhani Amitosh Nagpal (Dialogues) |
| Produced by | Dinesh Vijan Bhushan Kumar |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Laxman Utekar |
| Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Music by |
|
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | AA Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 132 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹14crore[2] |
| Box office | est.₹322.4 crore[3] |
Hindi Medium is a 2017 IndianHindi-languagecomedy-drama film written and directed bySaket Chaudhary, and produced byDinesh Vijan andBhushan Kumar under their respective bannersMaddock Films andT-Series. It starsIrrfan Khan,Saba Qamar, Dishita Sehgal,Deepak Dobriyal andAmrita Singh. Set inDelhi, the plot centres on a couple's struggle to get their daughter admitted to a prestigiousEnglish-medium school in order to rise in society.
The idea for the film was created by Chaudhary and his co-writer Zeenat Lakhani during the development of his previous filmShaadi Ke Side Effects (2014). It was shot inChandni Chowk,Anand Lok,Karol Bagh, and Sangam Vihar. The film'ssoundtrack album was composed by the duoSachin–Jigar, with lyrics byPriya Saraiya andKumaar. Thescore was composed byAmar Mohile.Cinematography was handled byLaxman Utekar, andA. Sreekar Prasad edited the film.
Made on aproduction budget of₹14crore,Hindi Medium was released on 19 May 2017, and received a generally positive reception from the critics, with particular praise for the cast performances. The film grossed₹3.22 billion (US$47.08 million) at the worldwide box office (mostly from China). At the63rd Filmfare Awards, it wonBest Film, andBest Actor for Khan. Aspiritual successor,Angrezi Medium was released theatrically on 13 March 2020.
Raj Batra is a successful boutique owner who lives in theOld Delhi neighbourhood ofChandni Chowk with his wife Meeta and his 5-year-old daughter, Pia. The couple wants Pia to be admitted to a prestigious English-medium school in Delhi as they feel that this will enable her to become a part of elite society. They decide on Delhi Grammar School, which is ranked the best in the city, but requires that students must stay within a 3-km radius of the school. They move to a posh villa inNew Delhi's upscaleVasant Vihar neighbourhood and try to become more refined in their manner. A consultant, Saumya, despite her misgivings about them, tutors them in the answers to be given in the admission interview, but their limited knowledge of English means Pia's application is rejected.
Raj and Meeta learn from an employee that his daughter has been admitted through theRTE quota, a scheme that helps children from poor families to be admitted to prestigious schools. After a scam reveals that rich parents have been misusing the quota to admit their children, they move to Bharat Nagar, a slum area, for a month and pretend to be poor. They strike a friendship with Shyam Prakash and Tulsi Prakash, who are hopeful that their son Mohan gets to study at Delhi Grammar School through the RTE quota. Shyam and Tulsi teach them to live like truly poor people, and Raj joins Shyam at work. However, while Pia eventually gets admission, Mohan's application is rejected.
Raj, Meeta & Pia return to Vasant Vihar. Raj and Meeta make a donation to the Bharat Nagar Government School, where Mohan studies, to renovate it and get new books. After watching their son become fluent in English, Shyam and Tulsi search for the identity of the anonymous donor to thank them. However, when he visits the donor's address in Vasant Vihar, Shyam finds out the truth about Raj pretending to be poor to enable Pia's admission and leaves to tell Delhi Grammar School's principal Lodha Singhania of Raj's deceit.
Raj and Meeta rush to Delhi Grammar School to get there before Shyam but fail. Shyam, reaching there first, tries to find the principal's office but meets Pia instead, where Shyam endures an emotional moment with her and decides not to tell the principal, but Raj reacts with guilt for what he has done. Finally, Raj goes to the principal and asks for Pia's admission to be revoked, while telling the truth, but the principal rejects him. Raj gatecrashes the Annual Day function, gives a speech about English in India and education rights, and leaves, with no one clapping for him, except Meeta. On their way out, Raj and Meeta tell the principal of the Bharat Nagar Government School that they plan to admit Pia to his school to study with Mohan.
Credits adapted fromBollywood Hungama:[4]
Made on a production budget of₹14 crore,Hindi Medium was produced by Vijan of Maddock Films and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series. The film was directed by Chaudhary, his third afterromantic comedy filmsPyaar Ke Side Effects (2006) andShaadi Ke Side Effects (2014). He came up with the idea of making a film aboutIndia's education system with his co-writer Zeenat Lakhani during the development of the latter film. They found the idea too extensive to include inShaadi Ke Side Effects, so after its release, they decided to incorporate the idea into a separate film. Stating the reason to makeHindi Medium, Chaudhary said, "The subject is so relevant. We realised that today irrespective of the background of the parent, they still want to have the best education for the children."[5]
Pre-production work began after the release ofShaadi Ke Side Effects. Chaudhary began working on the story at that time, and he chose Delhi as the film's key location.[6] The production crew consisted primarily of people Chaudhary had worked with onPyaar Ke Side Effects andShaadi Ke Side Effects, with the exception ofproduction designer Mustafa Stationwala—they are editor A. Sreekar Prasad; dialogue writerAmitosh Nagpal; and cinematographer Laxman Utekar. The score was composed by Amar Mohile.[4]
On 29 May 2016,News18 reported the casting ofSaba Qamar in the film, which marked her Bollywood debut.[7] Khan had recommended the casting of Qamar to the makers of the film. He said, "When I saw her YouTube videos, I recommended her to the director and producer and they really liked her".[8] Speaking about her role, Qamar said, "I play a person who didn't get an opportunity to fulfil her dreams so she comes up with a scheme about giving the daughter a life that she didn't have".Khan commented that he had accepted the role as it tackled the realistic subject of the challenges of obtaining a good education in India.[9]
Qamar arrived inMumbai from Pakistan in July 2016, and the film's principal photography began in the same month.[10][11] The film was shot inChandni Chowk, Anand Lok, Karol Bagh, and Sangam Vihar.[6] The shooting was completed in October 2016.[12] A song sequence was also filmed inGeorgia.[13] Qamar commented that she enjoyed working with Khan, and felt safe while shooting in Delhi. In the same interview with Pakistani newspaperDawn, she commented that her experience wasn't affected by the nationalist far-right political partyMaharashtra Navnirman Sena's hostility towardsPakistan at the time.[14]
| Hindi Medium | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | March 2017 | ||||
| Recorded | 2016–2017 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 15:43 | ||||
| Label | T-Series | ||||
| Sachin–Jigar chronology | |||||
| |||||
| |||||
Hindi Medium's soundtrack consists of two original compositions: "Hoor" and "Ek Jindari", which were produced bySachin–Jigar. The songs were written byPriya Saraiya andKumaar, whereasAtif Aslam and Taniskaa Sanghvi, rendered the vocals. In addition to the original tracks, the makers recreated two songs: "Suit Suit", written and sung byGuru Randhawa andArjun and composed by Randhawa andRajat Nagpal, and "Oh Ho Ho Ho", composed bySukhbir andAbhijit Vaghani, sung by Sukhbir, rapped byIkka Singh and written by Kumaar. The album rights of the film were acquired byT-Series, and it was released on 21 April 2017.[15][16]
Joginder Tuteja ofBollywood Hungama, rated the album a 3 out of 5 stars. He said that "the music ofHindi Medium turns out to be better than expected", and praised the inclusion of recreations of "Suit Suit" and "Oh Ho Ho Ho" as they were previously popular Punjabi songs.[16] V. Lakshmi ofThe Times of India in a positive review of the album said that, "by the time the album ends, the listeners are left humming the tunes!".[17] Suanshu Khurana ofThe Indian Express highlighted the song "Hoor" as the best song on the album.[18] The track "Ek Jindari" was remade as "Ek Zindagi" for the spiritual successorAngrezi Medium (2020), thereby retaining the original composition and vocals from the track.[19]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tenu Suit Suit Karda" | Guru Randhawa,Arjun | Guru Randhawa,Rajat Nagpal | Guru Randhawa, Arjun | 3:10 |
| 2. | "Hoor" | Priya Saraiya | Sachin–Jigar | Atif Aslam | 3:57 |
| 3. | "Oh Ho Ho Ho Remix" (Remix) | Kumaar | Sukhbir,Abhijit Vaghani | Sukhbir,Ikka Singh | 4:04 |
| 4. | "Ek Jindari" | Kumaar | Sachin–Jigar | Taniskaa Sanghvi | 4:31 |
| Total length: | 15:43 | ||||
The film was initially scheduled to release on 12 May 2017,[20] but was pushed by a week back, thereby clashing withHalf Girlfriend,[21] scheduled for release on the same date.[22]Hindi Medium was declared 'tax-free' inGujarat,Maharashtra,[23]Madhya Pradesh[24] andDelhi.[25]
In February 2018, following the success ofDangal (2016) andSecret Superstar (2017) in China, it was announced thatHindi Medium was to be released in China.[26]Hindi Medium released inChina on 4 April 2018 to coincide with theQingming Festival.[27] The film's Chinese title is 起跑线 (Qi Pao Xian), which meansThe Starting Line.[28]
The makers of theBengali filmRamdhanu (2014), directed by the duoNandita Roy andShiboprosad Mukherjee, had launched acopyright case againstHindi Medium, claiming that the storyline was similar to their film.[29] In response to this, Chaudhary said "We have researched our script over a year and it is based on original material. I would request everyone involved to not rush to a judgement without ascertaining the facts. And the facts can easily be confirmed by watching the film."[30] Roy and Mukherjee later withdrew their case.[31]
.jpg)
Hindi Medium received a generally positive reception from critics, with particular praise for Khan's and Qamar's performances.[32]
Rohit Bhatnagar ofDeccan Chronicle called the film a "masterpiece" and praised Khan's and Qamar's acting.[33] Rachit Gupta ofFilmfare rated the film 4.5 out of 5 stars and said that it was a "refreshingly funny and brilliantly insightful film on parenting and education."[34] Madhureeta Mukherjee ofThe Times of India highlighted the script, and the comedic elements of the film as its strengths.[35] Rohit Vats ofHindustan Times giving 3.5 stars out of 5 stars, commented that "Khan asks the viewers to take a stand against faulty Indian education system".[36] Samrudhi Ghosh ofIndia Today gave 3 out of 5 stars, praising Khan's and Qamar's performances, said "Hindi Medium may use over-dramatised events to make its message hit home, but in spite of its hiccups, the film is not bogged down because of the performances and the humour".[37] Smrity Sharma ofIndia.com rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, and wrote: "Decent story, humour, a few heart tugging moments and effortless performances byIrrfan Khan,Saba Qamar andDeepak Dobriyal make the movie watchable."[38] Shubhra Gupta ofThe Indian Express giving 2 out of 5 stars, praised Khan's acting however felt that the writing was "flat", and that some of the supporting characters were "more caricature than real".[39]
Hindi Medium received a generally positive reception from critics outside of India.[40] A reviewer forTime Out gave it 4 out of 5 stars: "With all its merits, though, the film stumbles near the end with its overly sentimental conclusion." The reviewer concluded that "the film is one of the bestBollywood films".[41] James Marsh ofSouth China Morning Post rated it 3.5 stars out of 5 stars, calling it "a classical comedy of manners full of humour and playful performances".[42] Sadaf Siddique ofDawn observed: "Chaudhary gets full marks for novelty, he fails to adequately flesh his ideas out".[43]
Rajeev Masand ofCNN-IBN gave 2.5 stars out of 5, commenting "Despite its shortcomings, the film is never unwatchable and benefits enormously from a winning performance by Irrfan Khan who makes his every moment on screen count. From his hilarious wooing of a mother-daughter pair of potential customers at his shop in the film's first half to his earnest amends on discovering his conscience late into the final act, he has you eating out of his palm. For Irrfan alone, Hindi Medium may be worth a watch."[44]
The film emerged as asleeper hit at the box office.[45] Its worldwide gross was₹1.09 billion (US$16.74 million) by July 2017.[46] Within three days of its April 2018 release in China,Hindi Medium crossed₹1 billion (US$14.62 million) at the Chinese box office, crossing the₹2 billion (US$29.24 million) mark worldwide,[47] becoming Khan's highest-grossing Hindi film, surpassing his 2013 releaseThe Lunchbox.[48] By 16 April 2018,Hindi Medium had crossed the₹3 billion (US$43.87 million) mark worldwide, becoming one of the top 20 highest-grossing Indian films at the time.[49]
Hindi Medium collected₹28.1 million (US$431,500.45) on its opening day.[46] It released on the same day as the much bigger budget film,Half Girlfriend (2017), which earned₹103 million (US$1.58 million) on the first day. Gradually, the film turned to be more successful than the former. After one week, the film grossed₹252 million (US$3.87 million) at the box office.[50] The film grossed₹967 million (US$14.85 million) during its lifetime run in Indian theatres.[46] It was one of 2017's top ten most commercially successful Hindi films in India.[51]
The film grossed₹143 million (US$2.2 million) overseas in 2017.[52] Following its April 2018 release in China, the film crossed₹2 billion (US$29.24 million) overseas, becoming the seventh Indian film to cross the$30 million mark at theoverseas box office. It also surpassed the overseas gross of 2018's highest-grossing Indian filmPadmaavat.[49]
On its opening day inChina, on 4 April 2018, the film grossed₹221 million (US$3.23 million).[47]Hindi Medium surpassedDangal (2016) andBajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) to have the second highest opening day for an Indian film in China, behind onlySecret Superstar (2018).[53] The film's opening three-day gross was₹1.02 billion (US$14.91 million).[47]
The film's success is attributed to strongword-of-mouth, helped by a 9.1 rating at the Chinese ticketing websiteMaoyan, as well as Khan's recognition among Chinese audiences from international films such asJurassic World,The Amazing Spider-Man, andLife of Pi.[53] The film grossed₹2.23 billion (US$32.61 million) during its lifetime run at the Chinese box office. This made it the fourth highest-grossing Indian film in China (afterDangal,Secret Superstar andBajrangi Bhaijaan), until it was surpassed by the 2019 release ofAndhadhun (2018) in China.[54]
At the63rd Filmfare Awards, the film garnered six nominations, winning for Best Film and Best Actor for Khan. Chaudhary won Best Director and Khan won for Best Actor at the19th IIFA Awards. It received six nominations at theZee Cine Awards.
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2018 | Best Film | Hindi Medium | Won | [55] |
| Best Actor | Irrfan Khan | Won | |||
| Best Actor (Critics) | Nominated | ||||
| Best Actress | Saba Qamar | Nominated | |||
| Best Director | Saket Chaudhary | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Deepak Dobriyal | Nominated | |||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 22–24 June 2018 | Best Film | Hindi Medium | Nominated | [56] [57] |
| Best Director | Saket Chaudhary | Won | |||
| Best Actor | Irrfan Khan | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Deepak Dobriyal | Nominated | |||
| Mirchi Music Awards | 28 January 2018 | Music Composer of The Year | Sachin–Jigar for "Hoor" | Nominated | [58] |
| Screen Awards | 2 December 2017 | Best Actor | Irrfan Khan | Won | [59] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 30 December 2017 | Best Film (Viewer's Choice) | Hindi Medium | Nominated | [60] |
| Best Film (Jury's Choice) | Nominated | ||||
| Best Director | Saket Chaudhary | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor – Male | Irrfan Khan | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male | Deepak Dobriyal | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Saket Chaudhary, Zeenat Lakhani | Nominated |
After the success ofHindi Medium, a sequel to the film was planned. Regarding the success of the film, producer Vijan toldMid-Day, "The response we have got is phenomenal. The entire unit ofHindi Medium, including Irrfan and Saba, who look cool as a couple on-screen, should be repeated in a film. There is definitely scope for a sequel. We would certainly explore it."[61] On 24 January 2018, Vijan confirmed the sequel toTimes Now. He said, "We have just finished typing the second part", with "Just finishing touches are being put", however, "I think you will have to wait for an official announcement for that."[62]
On 30 March 2019, it was announced thatKareena Kapoor has been added to the cast of the sequel to play the role of a police officer and filming will start from April.[63] On 5 April, the sequel's title was announced asAngrezi Medium and filming began inUdaipur. This was completed in July.[64][65] On 17 February 2020, the film's release date was changed to 13 March 2020 from the earlier release date of 20 March.[66] This film marked Irrfan Khan's final film before his death on 29 April 2020.[67]
.svg)