Half Girlfriend (film)
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, Shraddha Kapoor and Rhea Chakraborty.
| Half Girlfriend | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mohit Suri |
| Produced by | Shobha Kapoor Ekta Kapoor Mohit Suri Chetan Bhagat |
| Written by | Tushar Hiranandani Ishita Moitra |
| Screenplay by | Tushar Hiranandani Ishita Moitra (Dialogues) |
| Story by | Chetan Bhagat |
| Based on | Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat |
| Starring | Arjun Kapoor Shraddha Kapoor |
| Music by | Score: Raju Singh Songs: Mithoon Tanishk Bagchi Rishi Rich Farhan Saeed Ami Mishra Rahul Mishra |
| Cinematography | Vishnu Rao |
| Edited by | Devendra Murdeshwar |
Production company | ALT Entertainment |
| Distributed by |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 130 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹58 crore[2] |
| Box office | ₹97.73 crore [3] |
Principal photography commenced in June 2016 and filming locations include Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Dumraon, Varanasi, New York City and Cape Town.[5] The film was released worldwide on 19 May 2017.[6]
Plot
Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) arrives at the former apartment of Riya Somani (Shraddha Kapoor), to collect her belongings, since she has moved out and left no forwarding address. Whilst on the train to Riya's home in New Delhi, Madhav finds Riya's cell phone amongst her belongings, which contains a video that shows Riya helping Madhav prepare for an English language speech. As Riya asks Madhav to speak in English, the story is retold in when Madhav was asked by college professors to speak English during interview.
Madhav is a good basketball player who cannot speak English well. He gets acceptance into University based on a sports quota where he meets Riya Somani, an upper class young girl who is allowed temporary admission also based on a sports quota. They become good friends and play basketball every evening in the college court. When Madhav tells his roommate Shailesh (Vikrant Massey) and friends about Riya, they push him to ask Riya out for a date but she stops him and asks him to just be a friend. Madhav's friends still encourage him to pursue Riya in the hopes that she will eventually date him.
One day Madhav and Riya hang out at night. Madhav picks her up from her house and after spending the night, when she comes back 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".
Shailesh is angry upon Madhav for reaching the compromise, since he deserves it all. Shailesh and his two other friends advice Madhav to come to his room, to know whether she really likes him. Madhav decides to asks Riya to visit him in his room. He tries to get intimate with her and they end up having a heated argument in which Madhav accidentally pushes Riya. Riya keeps her distance and the pair do not meet for a long time.
One day, Riya texts Madhav to meet her and on meeting Madhav receives an invitation to the wedding of Riya with her childhood friend from Riya. Broken hearted, Madhav graduates and returns to his hometown without sitting in for placements.
Madhav's mother runs a school in their village where only boys study because of absence of toilets for girls. 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 was residing in the hotel and works for Closeup. They meet and hangout for some time, where Madhav comes to know 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. One day, he takes her to his house, where Madhav's mother asks her about her past- her marriage. She acts rudely with her upon knowing that she is a divorcee. A few days before the speech, when Riya had to go back to Patna, Madhav's mother requests 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 had ended, a small girl of the school hand her a letter by Riya for Madhav. He learns from the letter that Riya has been diagnosed with a type of 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. Back in the present day, Madhav is seen going to Riya's house to deliver her belongings to her mother, who on learning about Riya's disease starts crying. 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 whole 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, and his time runs out. At 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 his life. While she thanked him over a song while sitting at a bar, Madhav sees a blur picture of the singer who somewhat looked similar to Riya, and the song was the same as the one which Riya sang. Desperate, he runs for the cafe, amidst faling snow and without any transport. Upon reaching the cafe, he requests the guard to allow him to enter. He enters the bar and finds out the singer is indeed Riya. Riya and Madhav reconcile and consummate their relationship.
A few years, Madhav is seen talking to his mother about opening a new school and Riya is helping their daughter to learn to play Basketball, who is unable to do it. Riya tells her daughter, never to give up.
Cast
- Arjun Kapoor as Madhav Jha, a boy from Bihar who hardly knows to speak English and ends up attracted towards Riya Somani.
- Shraddha Kapoor as Riya Somani, a rich girl from Delhi who comes from an entrepreneur background. A singer, she loves to enjoy her own company and sings at a bar in New York.
- Vikrant Massey as Shailesh, Madhav's college mate who is protective of him.
- Rhea Chakraborty as Anshika, who loves Madhav but lets him go for Riya.
- Seema Biswas as Madhav's Mother, who runs a school in Bihar.
- Shree Dhar Dubey as Hemant the estate agent.
- Anisa Butt as Rutvi, Sailesh's Wife
- Jiten Lalwani as Basketball Coach
- Adam Davenport as Bar Owner in New York City, USA
- Dalip Sondhi as Mr. Somani/ Riya's Father
- Sujata Sehgal as Mrs. Somani/ Riya's Mother
- Tvisha Shah as Tvisha Jha/ Daughter of Riya and Madhav
- Kashvi Kothari as Shabnam/ a village girl
- Vikas B Mandaliya as Rohan Chandak/ Riya’s Husband
Additionally, a digitally superimposed likeness of Bill Gates appears in the movie in scenes where he comes to visit Madhav's village in Bihar.
Production
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.[7] Around 200 students from different colleges were roped in to play extras as some of the scenes demand Delhi University students in the film.[8] The trailer was released on 10 April.
Box office
The film was released on 20 May 2017 worldwide. The film collected 12 crore on its opening day and 10.4 crore on second day. On its first weekend, the total collection was noted as 32 crore. On its second weekend, the total collection of the film stood at 54 crores. Its lifetime worldwide gross is estimated to be ₹86–90 crore, with ₹72–77 crore earned domestically and ₹13–14 crores outside India.[2][9]
Soundtrack
Awards and nominations
References
- "Half Girlfriend". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- "Half Girlfriend – Movie – Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/half-girlfriend/box-office/
- "'Half Girlfriend' not a frivolous rom-com, says Arjun Kapoor". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- "Meet Madhav Jha: Arjun Kapoor begins shooting for 'Half Girlfriend'". Daily News and Analysis. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
- "Half Girlfriend to release on May 19, 2017". The Indian Express. 6 August 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- "Shraddha Kapoor learns to play basketball for her next". The Times of India. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017.
- "200 DU students join Arjun and Shraddha in Delhi for Half Girlfriend's shoot". Deccan Chronicle. 18 June 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017.
- Hungama, Bollywood (29 May 2017). "Box Office: Half Girlfriend nearing the 100 crore mark at the worldwide box office – Bollywood Hungama". Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- "Zee Cine Awards 2018 complete winners list: Secret Superstar, Golmaal Again and Toilet Ek Prem Katha win big". 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- "Zee Cine Awards 2018: Check out the nominations list – Free Press Journal". 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- "Screen Awards 2017 nominations announced". Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- "63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018: Official list of nominations – Times of India". Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- "10th Royal Stag Mirchi Music Awards: Complete list of winners – Times of India". Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- "MMA Mirchi Music Awards". MMAMirchiMusicAwards. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- Final Vote Count. powerbrands360.com
- Shah, Saurabh (3 May 2018) Zee Music wins big at Sony Mix Audience Music Awards. Esselnewsletter. Retrieved on 2018-11-01.