''Helicopter Eela'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Pradeep Sarkar. It features

Kajol Kajol Devgan (née Mukherjee; born 5 August 1974), known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian actress. Described in the media as one of the most successful actresses of Hindi cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six F ...

in the lead role as an aspiring singer and single mother Helicopter parent and is written by Mitesh Shah and Anand Gandhi. It is based on the Gujarati play ''Beta, Kaagdo'', written by Anand Gandhi. Pre-production of the film began in January 2017, and

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

commenced from 24 January 2018. It was released on 12 October 2018.

Plot

Eela, a single mother rejoins her college to complete her education after 22 years. In the flashback, it is shown that she is an upcoming, partially-famous model/singer, who records songs written by her boyfriend Arun. When she is recording for a career-breaking song for a

Mukesh Bhatt Mukesh Bhatt (born 5 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film producer and actor who has produced several Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of Mahesh Bhatt, and also the co-owner of the production company Vishesh Films, set up in 19 ...

project, the project gets cancelled indefinitely. So she and her boyfriend decide to get married. After few months it is shown that she gives birth to a boy named Vivan. While seeing their family tree, Eela and Arun realise that many male members of Arun's family died in their late 30s, which drives Arun crazy as he is also in his late 30s. So he finally decides to leave Eela and Vivan to pursue his own dreams as it might be his final years. Afterwards, Arun dies. Eela, now a single mom, is very over protective about Vivan. She keeps meddling in Vivan's life continuously and she finally joins the same college as Vivan to complete her studies. One day suddenly Arun comes back, but he goes out as soon he realizes that Eela and Vivan don't need him. Eela's involvement in Vivan's life becomes so much that Vivan decides to leave his house to give some space to Eela and to find her own identity. Eela joins a college theatre club, and starts singing again. During the annual singing competition she is not allowed to sing because of her age and past singing profession. But Vivaan encourages her to sing on the stage and they together give a remarkable performance. In the credits, it is shown that she has resumed her singing finding herself after many years.

Cast

as Eela Raiturkar, Vivan's mother, Arun's wife *

Riddhi Sen Riddhi Sen is an Indian film actor who predominantly works in Bengali films. He is a regular actor of the theatre group Swapnasandhani and is an alumnus of South Point school, Kolkata. In 2010, he received a special talent award from his schoo ...

as Vivan Raiturkar, Arun and Eela's son * Rashi Mal as Nikita * Tota Roy Chowdhury as Arun Raiturkar, Eela's husband, Vivan’s father * Neha Dhupia as Padma *

Shataf Figar Shataf Figar is an Indian actor. He acted in movies like Shershaah, 89, Kolkata Calling, Dark Chocolate and Chorabali, Khoj and Cockpit, ''Made in China'' (2019) and ''Extraction'' (2020). In 2022, he appeared in the film ''Raavan''. ...

as Madhavi Bhogat * Muskaan Bamne as Deepthi *

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

as Principal of college * Atul Kulkarni as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

in cameo appearance as himself * Anu Malik in cameo appearance as himself * Swarnalekha Gupta as Alisha Chinai * Ila Arun in cameo appearance as herself * Baba Sehgal in cameo appearance as himself *

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is ''Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film F ...

in cameo appearance as Himself * Shaan in cameo appearance as himself *

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

in cameo appearance * R J Alok as Chemistry Professor

Marketing and promotion

The first trailer of the movie was released on 5 August 2018 having an initial release date as 7 September 2018. But later, the movie release date was postponed to 12 October 2018.

Soundtrack

The background score and two originals of the film is composed by Daniel B.George and other songs are composed by Amit Trivedi and

Raghav Sachar Raghav Sachar (born 24 July 1981, in India) is an Indian singer, composer and film scorer. Early life and career Sachar was born to father, R. K. Sachar, and mother, Usha Sachar in Calcutta . He is the youngest of three children. He started ...

. The lyrics are written by Swanand Kirkire, Asma Nabeel and Shyam Anuragi (noted). The first song "Mumma Ki Parchai" was released on 13 August 2018. The second song "Yaadon Ki Almari" was released on 20 August 2018. The song of the film, "Ruk Ruk Ruk Arre Baba Ruk" from the 1994 film '' Vijaypath'' originally sung by Alisha Chinai and composed by Anu Malik has been recreated for this film by

in the voice of Palomi Ghosh.

Reception

Helicopter Eela received mixed reviews from the audience and critics. Kajol and Riddhi Sen received praises for their performances.

References

External links

* * {{Ajay Devgn 2018 drama films 2010s Hindi-language films Films shot in Mumbai Ajay Devgn Indian films based on plays Films scored by Raghav Sachar Films scored by Amit Trivedi Films set in Mumbai Films about parenting Indian drama films Films about families Films about women in India Films directed by Pradeep Sarkar Hindi-language drama films