Hasee Toh Phasee

''Hasee Toh Phasee'' (If she smiles, she is trapped) is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Vinil Mathew and produced by Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap. The film features Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra in lead roles. It released on 7 February 2014 and earned crore worldwide, thus emerging as a commercial success at the box office.

It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its story, music, humor, cinematography and cast performances, with particular praise directed towards Chopra's performance.

At the 60th Filmfare Awards, ''Hasee Toh Phasee'' received 3 nominations, including Best Lyricist (Amitabh Bhattacharya for "Zehnaseeb") and Best Male Playback Singer (Shekhar Ravjiani for "Zehnaseeb).

Plot

Nikhil is a struggling businessman who thinks he loves Karishma, an actress. Nikhil is characterized as a person who believes that once committed to a girl, there should be no straying. Nikhil asks Karishma's father to help him with ₹50 million (US$700,000) before marriage to earn a contract. But Karishma and her father insult him as he often renders money shamelessly. Thus putting him in a position to prove himself without them lending the amount.

Then Nikhil meets Meeta, Karishma's younger sister, whom he had a brief encounter with seven years ago. Meeta, an IITian in Chemical Engineering and PhD., is a super-intelligent geek with unusual habits and tics, who ran away seven years ago to China after stealing money from her father for her project because her father didn't give her the money, as he was brainwashed by his elder brother saying she is a drug addict and was asking money to buy drugs, leading to his heart attack on the day of Karishma's elder sisters wedding. Now, just a week before Nikhil and Karishma's wedding, Meeta has turned up to meet her father, but Karishma is scared that her sister's sudden appearance might ruin their wedding as previously. Hence, Karishma assigns Nikhil to keep Meeta away from her father.

Meeta has returned, intending to steal again, but her involvement with Nikhil during the next seven days diverts her attention. During these seven days, with many personal and social activities, Nikhil and Meeta fall in love, but Nikhil backs off as he doesn't want to betray Karishma. He learns that for her research, Meeta has taken a hefty loan of ₹100 million (US$1.4 million) from a Chinese investor by forging her father's signature. The deadline for payback is over, and an extension of three days was given, during which she has to steal money from her father's account to save him from the investor's goons. Nikhil helps Meeta to hack her father's account but advises her to apologize to her family. Meeta reunites with her family, and Nikhil realizes he is marrying the wrong girl.

Meeta cannot gather the courage to steal her father's money and tells her father the truth. Her father forgives her and provides her with the money and also tells her father that she thinks Karishma and Nikhil doesn't loves each other instead Nikhil loves her. Nikhil later tells Meeta on the phone that he should have gone with her to Goa when she asked him to come with her seven years ago. Meeta tells him that it is not too late for them to run away.When Nikhil comes to Meeta's and sees Karishma happy and joyful with her sibling, he returns home, realizing the complications and thus he cannot hurt Karishma. Nikhil scolds Meeta for being selfish and only thinking of her benefit and tells her to go away from here. Mr. Adlani calls Nikhil showing his interest in Nikhil's idea.

On the wedding day, Meeta leaves her house without informing anyone, leaving her mobile phone in Karishma's room. Nikhil tries to call her and sends many texts, which go unanswered. On reaching the mandap, Meeta's father informs him that she has left for China. Karishma finds Meeta's phone in her room, reads the messages, and realizes she has lost Nikhil. During the wedding, she asks Nikhil to leave, and her father supports her decision. Meeta cries at the airport and tries to end her life but gives up and goes back to the wedding. She and Nikhil reunite and express their love for each other, sealing it with a kiss.

The movie ends with Nikhil and Meeta at the airport, scheduled to travel to Germany. Meeta tells him that there is another problem waiting for them.

Cast

* Parineeti Chopra as Dr. Meeta Solanki
*Sidharth Malhotra as Nikhil Bharadwaj
* Adah Sharma as Karishma Solanki
* Manoj Joshi as Devesh Solanki, Meeta and Karishma's father
* Sharat Saxena as S.B Bharadwaj, Nikhil's father
* Neena Kulkarni as Nikhil's mother
* Sameer Sharma as Nikhil's brother
* Anil Mange as Abhinandan
* Sameer Khakhar as Alpesh Bhai Solanki
* Sunil Upadhyay as Salim
* Garvita Sharma as Amrita
* Gulzar Dastur as Nikhil's aunt
* Lily Patel as Baa, Meeta's grandmother
* Akash Dabas as Nikhil's friend
* Karan Johar in a special appearance
* Tinnu Anand as Mukesh Adnani (special appearance)
* Jaymeet Sinha as Ruhaan
* Bobby Darling in the song "Drama Queen"
*Namit Shah as young Nikhil

Production

Development

Karan Johar's production house Dharma Productions financed this film along with Phantom Productions, which is run by four filmmakers - Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena.

Casting

Anurag Kashyap, who is very excited about this project, said, "The story works with fresh faces, but requires a high level of chemistry and maturity in the performances. After spending months shortlisting various actors, we finalised Sidharth and Parineeti." Reportedly, Adah Sharma is playing the second female lead in the movie and the sister of the film's female protagonist. To capture the seven-year period covered in the film, Vinil Matthew wanted Parineeti Chopra to have different hairstyles.

Filming

Filming began on 18 April 2013. On talking about the director Vinil Mathew, Sidharth Malhotra, who would be cast as a middle class working man in the film, said, "It didn't feel like the first day of shoot because he is so sorted and knows exactly what he wants. He made us rehearse a lot during a two-month workshop before shooting began". In an Interview Sidharth says, he plays a character who is stressed out, lost and sentimental. He meets a girl who is a bit cracked. Actress Parineeti Chopra reported that her character was a quite difficult one. It is the first collaboration for both the protagonists with each other, but however, none complained and instead, both were praising each other to be energetic and tireless. The fact that actress Adah Sharma was also involved in the cast as one of the lead characters was supposed to be kept a secret as the producers wanted to make an official announcement about it. But it was later revealed as Adah was seen shooting for the film at the Bandra Bandstand Promenade.

Soundtrack

Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy were initially signed on as composers for the film. But eventually they opted out, and songs featured in the film were composed by Vishal–Shekhar, while the lyrics are written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Kumaar. The first single "Drama Queen", sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Dadlani, was launched on 23 December 2013. The song "Zehnaseeb", sung by Chinmayi along with Shekhar Ravjiani, was launched on 3 January 2014. There are six original tracks and a remix track in the album. The complete soundtrack album was released on 6 January 2014. The remix version of "Drama Queen" was later uploaded as a single on the official YouTube channel of Dharma Productions. A Gujarati rap song was entirely written and composed by Khamosh Shah, which is there in the film but not on the soundtrack. The "Punjabi Wedding Song" was choreographed by Karishma Chavan.

Track listing

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews, with particular praise directed towards the lead cast performances. Meena Iyer of ''The Times of India'' gave it 3.5/5 stars, stating, "''Hasee Toh Phasee'' is for the romantics who like their martinis stirred not shaken. This romantic comedy mirrors the quirks in human nature subtly and provides humour in everyday situations; in the family and amongst friends. If you're looking to rediscover the magic of goofy love around Valentines, give ''HTP'' a shot."
Taran Adarsh of ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave it 3.5/5 stars and said, "''Hasee Toh Phasee'' dares to be distinctive. This one's *not* merely about opposites falling in love. This one's a quirky love tale involving two individuals, shades different from the mundane stuff on matters of heart".
Sukanya Verma of ''Rediff'' gave the movie with same ratings and wrote, "''Hasee Toh Phasee'' is that rare film that allows you to know the two people you're investing in. And the closer you get, the more they win you over. Parineeti sinks her teeth into this misunderstood kook without a trace of self-consciousness or exaggeration. If that's not magical enough, what ''Hasee Toh Phasee ''celebrates certainly is. That the only high you need is life, love and smiles."

Mohar Basu of ''Koimoi'' gave it 3/5 stars and wrote, "The film is both pleasantly surprising and utterly baffling in equal amounts. ''Hasee Toh Phasee'' will definitely win your heart for the symbiotically arranged, pitch perfect chemistry of Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra. It was passionate and compelling, almost to make me wish that they were a real life couple and that alone becomes the winning shot."
A review from ''India Today'' rated it with 3/5 stars, stating, "''Hasee Toh Phasee'' is a refreshing, much-needed entry in the contemporary romcom genre, which has lately seen a series of uninspiring films. It's largely to do with the presence of an unseen pairing with great chemistry - Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra - and Mathew and writer Harshvardhan Kulkarni's perky take on love."

Tushar Joshi of ''Daily News and Analysis'' gave the movie with 3/5 stars, writing, "The lead pair of Chopra and Malhotra make ''Hasee Toh Phasee'' enjoyable and believable. This odd pairing works only because these two actors take an effort to play their characters with utmost sincerity. Watch it if you want to see a different take on modern day romance. ''Hasee Toh Phasee'' is worth a watch for a solid act put together by its lead pair.".

Box office

India

According to ''Box Office India'', ''Hasee Toh Phasee'' had a reasonable start in major metros in most parts of the country. Hasee Toh Phasee grossed around on its first day. The movie showed a 35% growth on Saturday, earning about . The weekend collections (according to Box Office India) were approximately , while trade analyst Taran Adarsh claimed it to be . The movie grossed a decent in the first week. In the second week, the movie's screen count fell due to the release of Yash Raj Films' ''Gunday''. However, it still grossed a figure of , taking the 10-day total to .

Overseas

The opening weekend gross of film was approx $1.027 million ( 64.1 million).

Awards and nominations

See also

* List of Hindi films of 2014

References

External links

*

{{Anurag Kashyap

Indian romantic comedy-drama films
2010s Hindi-language films
2014 romantic comedy-drama films
2014 films
Films scored by Vishal–Shekhar
Reliance Entertainment films
Films about Indian weddings
2014 comedy films
2014 drama films