''Well Done Abba'' () is a 2010 Indian
political satire
Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...
Hindi film
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
directed by
Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...
, starring
Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor, photographer and voice artist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema he has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. He has acted in more than a 100 films in his career.
Ear ...
,
Minissha Lamba
Minissha Lamba (born 18 January 1985) is an Indian actress and poker player who appeared in Hindi films. She made her debut with ''Yahaan'' (2005). Her other notable films include ''Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.'' (2007), ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' (200 ...
and
Sameer Dattani
Sameer Dattani, also known as Dhyan (in the Kannada film industry), is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi and Kannada films.
Career
Born into a Gujarati family in Bombay, Dattani has worked in Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil cinema, He is fluent ...
in pivotal roles. It is the remake of the 2007 Marathi film,
Jau Tithe Khau
''Jau Tithe Khau'' () is a Marathi movie released on 8 February 2007. Produced by Meghraj Shahjirao Rajebhosle and directed by Abhay Kirti. The movie is based on the life of a protagonist who is fed up of corruption everywhere and decides to te ...
.
It was based on three short stories: ''Narsaiyyan Ki Bavdi'' by
Jeelani Bano, ''Phulwa Ka Pul'' by Sanjeev and ''Still Waters'' by
Jayant Kripalani
Jayant Kripalani is an Indian film, television and stage actor, director and trainer. He is most known for his role in the TV series, like '' Khandaan'', ''Mr. Mrs'' and '' Ji Mantriji'' (2003). He also wrote the screenplay for Shyam Benegal's f ...
. The screenplay was written by
Jayant Kripalani
Jayant Kripalani is an Indian film, television and stage actor, director and trainer. He is most known for his role in the TV series, like '' Khandaan'', ''Mr. Mrs'' and '' Ji Mantriji'' (2003). He also wrote the screenplay for Shyam Benegal's f ...
and Ashok Mishra, who also wrote the dialogues. It won the 2009
National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues.
Plot
The film tells the story of Armaan Ali (
Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor, photographer and voice artist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema he has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. He has acted in more than a 100 films in his career.
Ear ...
), a Muslim driver working in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, who takes a one-month leave from his employer to find a groom for his daughter Muskaan (
Minissha Lamba
Minissha Lamba (born 18 January 1985) is an Indian actress and poker player who appeared in Hindi films. She made her debut with ''Yahaan'' (2005). Her other notable films include ''Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.'' (2007), ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' (200 ...
), who lives in a village near
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
, India. Armaan does not turn up for three months, and his employer makes the difficult decision to sack him, but he asks his boss to listen to why he could not come. Getting soft, his employer allows him to drive to Pune where he has a meeting. Armaan starts the story from here.
In Armaan's village, many problems include a rising drought situation and financial difficulties due to the antics of his twin brother, who has a bad reputation for debt addiction and theft. In the opening, a man named Arif demands 500 rupees from Armaan. Eventually, Muskaan pays the debt to Arif and Armaan's brother is arrested, later on released. To solve the drought problem, he goes to a government office to build a well, with a friend. There, he goes through stages such as explaining what he wants and even having his photo taken. Muskaan, on the other hand falls in love with Arif, of which Armaan does not approve at first but later is pleased with.
Armaan does not receive the well he wanted and sits in despair. He and Muskaan try to tell the police inspector about the well that was 'stolen', but the inspector finds the story rather silly and is even stubborn enough to not listen to what they have to say. Disturbed, Armaan and Muskaan launch a protest with several villagers against the police inspector, later on to the justice minister, where the minister punishes the inspector for his slack behaviour. The inspector, realising his mistakes and behaviour, then starts to approach the people in a more orthodox way. The justice minister then allows the government people to build the well for the villagers and punishes them all, for not doing what they are supposed to do.
With the drought problem solved, Armaan decides that Muskaan should marry an Arab
sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
. Muskaan does not accept her father's offer and even has an argument about this. The issue is even more heated when she receives a letter from her friend, Sakina, which involved her getting beat up by her sheikh husband and getting kicked out, shocking Armaan and Sakina's mother. Disturbed, Armaan then decides that Muskaan should marry Arif, much to her delight. With the two of Armaan's problems solved, he ends his story at an awards ceremony, which in his perspective was a 'big drama', as the stage literally collapsed, delighting people. With his employer convinced, he then allows Armaan to work for him again.
Cast
*
Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor, photographer and voice artist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema he has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. He has acted in more than a 100 films in his career.
Ear ...
as Armaan Ali / Rehman Ali (Twin Brothers)
*
Minissha Lamba
Minissha Lamba (born 18 January 1985) is an Indian actress and poker player who appeared in Hindi films. She made her debut with ''Yahaan'' (2005). Her other notable films include ''Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.'' (2007), ''Bachna Ae Haseeno'' (200 ...
as Muskaan Ali
*
Rahul Singh as Rohan Kapoor (Arman Ali's boss)
*
Sammir Dattani
Sameer Dattani, also known as Dhyan (in the Cinema of Karnataka, Kannada film industry), is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi and Kannada films.
Career
Born into a Gujarati people, Gujarati family in Bombay, Dattani has worked in Hindi, Ka ...
as Arif Ali
*
Ravi Kishan
Ravi Kishan Shukla (; born 17 July 1969), popularly known as Ravi Kishan, is an Indian actor, politician, film producer and television personality. He currently serves as Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur. His film works are predo ...
as Sub Engineer Vikas Jha
*
Ila Arun
Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk and folk-pop singer. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood movies such as ''Lamhe'', ''Jodhaa Akbar'', ''Shaadi Ke Side Effects'' and '' Begum Jaan''.
Personal life
Arun ...
as Salma Ali
*
Salim Ghouse
Salim Ahmad Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films.
Early life
Salim Ghouse was born ...
as Janardhan Reddy
*
Sonali Kulkarni
Sonali Kulkarni (born 3 November 1974) is an Indian actress, producer, and writer who primarily appears in Marathi and Hindi films. She has also appeared in Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati and English films. She has worked in over 70 films, both com ...
as Malti Jha (Vikas Jha's wife)
*
Rajit Kapur
Rajit Kapur is an Indian film and theatre actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1996 film, '' The Making of the Mahatma'' for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Other notable roles are as ...
as Inspector Srikant Reddy
*
Akhil Mishra
Akhil Mishra (born 22 July 1965) is an Indian film and television actor who has worked in films such as ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'',
'' Gandhi, My Father'' and television serials such as '' Pradhanmantri''. He was working in the serial '' D ...
as Arun Mishra - Tahsildar
*
Yashpal Sharma as Constable Ramiyya
*
Ravi Jhankal
Ravi Jhankal is an Indian television, stage and film actor, most known for working in Shyam Benegal's films, including ''Welcome to Sajjanpur'' (2008) and ''Well Done Abba'' (2010) and for the role of P. V. Narasimha Rao in ''Pradhanmantri (TV S ...
as Constable Rustam
*
Deepika Amin
Deepika Amin (born Deepika Deshpande) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films. She is known for her roles in the films '' Fan, Raanjhanaa and'' ''Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.'' She has also worked in the TV shows ''Farmaan'' and ''Tash ...
as Lata (Inspector's wife)
*
Rajendra Gupta
Rajendra Gupta (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor and director who is known for his television roles of Adina Beg Khan Sahib e Azam in 2010 series of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Pandit Jagannath in the 1990s Doorda ...
as Irrigation Minister
*
Anaitha Nair as Sakina
*
Preeti Nigam
Preeti Nigam is an Indian actress who is known for her negative roles in Telugu-language television serials.
Career
Her career began when a Telugu short filmmaker noticed her while she was giving a dance performance. The maker insisted that s ...
as Sakina's mother
Production
BIG Pictures and
Reliance BIG Entertainment Ltd collaborated with director Shyam Benegal to bring "a satirical comedy 'Well Done Abba' on the celluloid". The film was shot at
Film City, Mumbai
Film City or Dadasaheb Phalke Chitra Nagari is an integrated film studio complex situated near Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Goregaon East, Mumbai in India. It has several recording rooms, gardens, lakes, theatres and grounds that serve as t ...
, the
Mumbai–Pune Expressway
The Mumbai–Pune Expressway (officially Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway) is India's first 6-lane wide concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of 94.5 km connecting Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state and the ...
,
Ramoji Film City
Ramoji Film City is an integrated film studio facility located in Hyderabad, India. Spread over 1,666 acres (674 ha), it is the largest film studio complex in the world and as such has been certified by the Guinness World Records. It was estab ...
and
Ibrahimpatnam
Ibrahimpatnam (known locally as IBM) is a part of Vijayawada in NTR district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal headquarters of Ibrahimpatnam mandal. Dr Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station, one of the major Thermal p ...
near Hyderabad.
''Vihir Chorila Geli'', a Marathi film, in based on similar story starring
Laxmikant Berde
Laxmikant Berde (26 October 1954 – 16 December 2004) was an Indian Marathi language film actor who appeared in several Marathi and Hindi movies. He was known for his highly energetic slapstick performances. Berde started his career as an emp ...
and Ashok Saraf.
Soundtrack
''Well Done Abbas music is by
Shantanu Moitra
Shantanu Moitra (born 22 January 1968) is an Indian score composer, musician and pianist who has composed songs for the Hindi film industry, and is most known for his scores in the films '' Parineeta'' (2005), ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (200 ...
and the main promotional song "Jab Bhi Muh Kholta" was composed by Vishal Khurana. The lyrics are penned by Ashok Mishra,
Swanand Kirkire
Swanand Kirkire (Marathi: स्वानंद किरकिरे) (born 29 April 1972) is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, writer, assistant director, actor and dialogue writer, both in television with Marathi and Hindi films.
Kirkire wo ...
and
Ila Arun
Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk and folk-pop singer. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood movies such as ''Lamhe'', ''Jodhaa Akbar'', ''Shaadi Ke Side Effects'' and '' Begum Jaan''.
Personal life
Arun ...
.
Critical reception
The film received favourable reviews from top critics in India. It received 6.5/10 at ReviewGang.
Anupama Chopra of NDTV writes "The end result is that Well Done Abba is heart-felt and intermittently funny", while Nikhat Khazmi of the ''Times of India'' writes "The film is a sheer delight, with the events unfolding in a breezy, comic vein which keeps the ribs relentlessly tickling". Vinayak Chakravorty of ''Mail Today'' gave it three stars.
References
External links
*
{{National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues
2009 films
2000s Hindi-language films
Hindi remakes of Marathi films
Films directed by Shyam Benegal
2009 comedy films
Indian satirical films
Indian political satire films
Films set in Hyderabad, India
Films about corruption in India
Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award winners
Reliance Entertainment films
Films based on short fiction