Bol Bachchan

''Bol Bachchan'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Ajay Devgn & Dhillin Mehta under Ajay Devgn FFilms and Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Limited respectively, with Fox Star Studios serving as distributor and presenter. Based on a script by writers Yunus Sajwal and Farhad-Sajid and a story by Shetty, it stars Abhishek Bachchan as the titular character, with Ajay Devgn, Asin, Prachi Desai, Krushna Abhishek, Neeraj Vora and Archana Puran Singh, and is loosely based on the 1979 Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic ''Gol Maal''.

Himesh Reshammiya composed the film's soundtrack with Ajay–Atul as guest composers on a dance number, with Amar Mohile composing the score.
The trailer was launched on 24 May 2012. ''Bol Bachchan'' made a new record through advance ticket booking, and was released in cinemas on 6 July 2012, with a runtime of 155 minutes and an investment of . The film marks the last collaboration between Shetty and Vora, as the latter died 5 years after the film's release.

Earning over net from domestic markets and more than worldwide, ''Bol Bachchan'' became a critical and commercial success and was remade in Telugu as ''Masala'' in 2013.

Plot

Abbas Ali lives in Delhi with his sister Sania. When their ancestral property is taken from them by deception, Abbas loses his job. Their father's family friend, Shastri, convinces them to move to his village, Ranakpur, where he assures Abbas that he will get him a job at his boss Prithviraj Raghuvanshi's place. Prithviraj is a powerful and kindhearted man who hates liars and punishes them harshly. Abbas and Sania arrive at Ranakpur and meet Abbas's friend and Shastri's son Ravi who runs a drama company with his friends. Abbas learns that there is a temple at the border of Ranakpur and Kherwada, the village where Prithviraj's cousin Vikrant Raghuvanshi hold sway. The two cousins are archenemies. The temple, being at the border of the two villages, is a disputed property and has been locked up for years.

The plot begins when a child falls into the well of the temple and Abbas breaks the temple's lock to save the child. When Prithviraj arrives at the scene, Ravi tells him that Abbas's name as Abhishek Bachchan to avoid any religious tensions that might result from the fact that a Muslim broke into a Hindu temple. Prithviraj hires Abhishek Bachchan (Abbas) and becomes very happy with his work. Soon, Ravi and his friends have to come up with a new plan when Prithviraj spots Abbas celebrating Eid and wearing the traditional garb of a Muslim. Abbas and the others convince Prithviraj that the one celebrating Eid was actually Abhishek's twin brother, from another mother, 'Abbas', an effeminate man and classical Kathak dancer. Things get worse for Abbas and Ravi when Prithviraj kindly hires Abbas for teaching Kathak to his sister Radhika. Abbas tells Radhika the truth. And she keeps it as a secret. Prithviraj's sidekick Maakhan suspects Abbas watching Gol Maal because the movie has many similarities with the drama Abbas is playing. But due to his teams sudden actions, they are saved. Prithviraj notices that Abbas (the dancer) is in love with Radhika. Prithviraj teams with Abhishek (unknowing that he is also Abbas) to find Abbas when Radhika is missing. But she was kidnapped by Vikrant and the duo saves her. Impressed by Abhishek, Prithviraj fixes his marriage with Radhika and Prithviraj's marriage with Sania. But at last when Abbas decides to reveal the truth, Prithviraj knows the truth. In a madly chase, Prithviraj gets in the edge of a mountain and Abbas saves his life. At last, Abbas explains his situation and promises never to lie again.

Cast

* Ajay Devgn as Prithviraj Raghuvanshi
* Abhishek Bachchan as Abbas Ali / Abhishek Bachchan
* Asin as Sania Ali / Sania Bachchan and Apeksha Malhotra (dual role)
* Prachi Desai as Radhika Raghuvanshi, Prithvi's sister
* Archana Puran Singh as Zohra / Madhumati
* Krushna Abhishek as Ravi Shastri
* Asrani as Shastri
* Paresh Ganatra as Builder (cameo)
* Neeraj Vora as Maakhan
* Vijay Ishwarlal Pawar as Kailash
* Prasad Barve as Ravi's friend
* Jeetu Verma as Vikrant Raghuvanshi, Prithvi's Cousin (brother)
* Robin Bhatt as Judge
* Krishna Shetty as Radhika Raghuvanshi's college friend.
* Amitabh Bachchan as himself in the title song "Bol Bachchan"
* Noushaad Abbas as Prithviraj's Henchmen

Comparisons with ''Gol Maal''

The plot and the characters of the film are based on the 1979 comedy film ''Gol Maal''.

Production

The film was originally expected for a Diwali 2011 release, though was postponed to 2012. On Dussehra 2011, director Rohit Shetty who previously directed the comedy flick, '' Golmaal 3'' (2010), did first give actor Ajay Devgn an offer for ''Golmaal 4'', but Devgn claimed "''Golmaal 4'' will happen next to next year. It's necessary to have two years gap between the two ''Golmaal'' films. It's not good if it comes every year." After the announcement, it was added that ''Bol Bachchan'' will be made before ''Golmaal 4''. In January 2011, it was revealed that actress Asin was roped in for the first female lead after Bipasha Basu rejected the role. Earlier, actress Genelia D'Souza was signed to play the second female lead, but due to her differences with the makers, she opted out of the project and hence the role was offered to Prachi Desai.

In Jubilee Comedy Circus, Krushna Abhishek did a performance of Rohit Shetty never giving him a film role to do but having promised him in earlier seasons of the show, Rohit was so impressed by the performance, he decided to give Krushna a role in ''Bol Bachchan''. Shetty also added co-host Archana Puran Singh from the same show to the film cast. It was revealed in the 300th episode special of Comedy Circus, where Rohit Shetty was a guest judge, that Paresh Ganatra was among the cast. The film has been shot at various locations, including Rohit Shetty's seemingly favourite Panchgani and Chomu Palace, among other locations.

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by Himesh Reshammiya, while the lyrics were penned by Sajid-Farhad, Shabbir Ahmed, Swanand Kirkire and Sameer. The album was released on 7 June 2012 and included four original soundtracks along with four remix versions of the tracks. Three songs were composed by Reshammiya, of which two were featured in the film and one was listed only in the album. One song, "Nach Le Nach Le", composed by Ajay–Atul was also included in the album. Among the songs, "Jab Se Dekhi Hai" and "Nach Le Nach Le" became moderately popular.

Release

''Bol Bachchan'' was released on 6 July 2012 in 2575 screens in India. Upon release, the film received mixed critical response, but strong box office collections by the end of its first weekend. On the review aggregator website ''Top10Bollywood'', the film scored 2.31, based on 34 reviews.

Reception

Critical response

On the positive side, Taran Adarsh of ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "On the whole, ''Bol Bachchan'' is a dhamaal entertainer that has the Rohit Shetty stamp all over it. A film that pays homage to the cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, especially the ones made by Manmohan Desai. Big stars, big visuals, big entertainment, ''Bol Bachchan'' has it all." Devesh Sharma of '' Filmfare'' also awarded the film 4 out of 5 stars and commented, "How we wish director Rohit Shetty had kept aside his passion of blowing up vehicles wholescale just this once. The exaggerated action scenes eat into the narrative and jar the pace. Would this film be a crowd pleaser– well yes. It's a good leave-your-brains-behind product that Shetty is famous for. There are flashes that suggest he could have gone beyond and made a more polished film but the lure of making a blockbuster proved too much, I guess. The masses would be happy but the same can't be said for the soul of Hrishikesh Mukherjee." Srijana Mitra Das of ''Times of India'' gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "Rohit Shetty's latest movie has a constant up-and-down aspect to it, one sequence making you shriek in your seat with laughter, another sending your mind wandering off to the mundane. But at the very heart of things Shetty's madly in love with the movies and ''BB'' is his homage to that all-time classic, Golmaal." Mrigank Dhaniwala of ''Koimoi'' also gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and concluded, "On the whole, ''Bol Bachchan'' delivers entertainment in huge dollops. For that, it will earn the love of the paying public and will have a successful run at the box-office." Gaurav Malani of Times of India gave the film a positive feedback and said, "For a (pleasant) change, Rohit Shetty doesn't do ''Golmaal'' 'his' style. Rather he does ''Golmaal'' in its 'original' form and that's what creates a decent difference, making ''Bol Bachchan'' fairly entertaining!".

Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "''Bol Bachchan'' is dispensable cinema, forgotten almost immediately after it's over. What I kept wondering is how does Asrani who acted in Mukerjee's acclaimed films like ''Chupke Chupke'' (1975), ''Abhimaan'' (1973) and '' Bawarchi'' (1972) feel about working in the remake of a film where the hero wore his kurta. Don't know what I'm talking about? You deserve ''Bol Bachchan''. But if you do, you must have already begun scouting for your copy of ''Gol Maal'' somewhere." Shubhra Gupta of ''The Indian Express'' gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and commented, "If your nosy is not turned up too high, ''Bol Bachchan'', less blaring than your standard Rohit Shetty comedy, can give you sporadic chuckles, and a few helpless laughs. Can't expect more." Vinayak Chakravorthy of ''India Today'' gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and concluded, "Far from being LOL stuff, ''Bol Bachchan'' ends up being Bore Bachchan, with a lame climax."

The film received some negative reviews. Rajeev Masand of ''CNN-IBN'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and said, "Even if you're a fan of Rohit Shetty's cinema, it's unlikely your chest will become a blouse over this one!" Blessy Chettiar of ''DNA India'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and commented, "If you liked the Shetty ''Golmaals'' and ''Singham'', this review will only be ''bol bachchan'' for you. Have fun while it lasts." Ananya Bhattacharya of ''Zee News'' gave the film and said, "They say what can't be cured, must be endured. Once you give in to that adage and ask your white matter to exit the theatre, you will enjoy the film. Watch 'Bol Bachchan' just for laughing." Aniruddha Guha of ''DNA India'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "''Bol Bachchan'', overall, falls short of being a laugh riot in spite of having the ammunition for it. In its current form, it's best enjoyed inebriated." Anupama Chopra of ''Hindustan Times'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and said, "There is no attempt at plotting, storytelling, delineating a character, building coherence or following logic. Shetty’s only agenda is to give you a good time." Saibal Chatterjee of ''NDTV'' gave the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and concluded that "''Bol Bachchan'' is a comedy so absurd that it could reduce you to tears of despair. Conversely, if you have the stomach for such rampant silliness, it might propel you into paroxysms of delight. The call is entirely yours." Kunal Guha of ''Yahoo! India'' rated the movie 1 out of 5 stars and said, "''Bol Bachchan'' (BB) jams chopsticks up the nose of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's comic classic ''Gol Maal'' and digs itself six feet under with it. While the story is the same in theory, being a Rohit Shetty film only adds some cars nailing somersaults, trucks attempting a ballet, baddies playing mid-air Garba after being biffed and Ajay Devgn drawing his eyebrows close enough to show that he means business."

Awards and nominations

Box office

India

''Bol Bachchan'' opened better at single screens as compared to multiplexes. Single screens on average opened to around 70% mark while multiplexes were more closer to the 60% mark. Bol Bachchan collected around nett on its first day. ''Bol Bachchan'' had a good jump on Sunday as it grossed around nett for a nett weekend. The film collected on Monday. ''Bol Bachchan'' has come into its own on Tuesday with strong collections of around nett and a total of nett in five days. ''Bol Bachchan'' has had a good first week and collected nett. The first week collections of ''Bol Bachchan'' are better than '' Singham'' but less than '' Golmaal 3''. ''Bol Bachchan'' collected around nett on its second Friday. It is a 70% drop from its first day as multiplex business was hit by the new release ''Cocktail'' but single screen business remained good. The film has collected around nett in eight days. ''Bol Bachchan'' crossed the nett mark in ten days as it grossed nett approx over the weekend. ''Bol Bachchan'' grossed around nett in its second week taking its two-week total to nett. ''Bol Bachchan'' grossed nett approx in week three,thus taken its total to . ''Bol Bachchan'' had grossed at the end of its run in domestic market. Its final distributor share was around .

Overseas

''Bol Bachchan'' had a decent opening overseas of around $2 million. UAE was good as comedy films do better in that market. ''Bol Bachchan'' has grossed in 17 days. Finally, the film netted US$4 million overseas.

See also

* List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

References

External links

*

{{Authority control

Ajay Devgn
2010s Hindi-language films
2012 films
Films directed by Rohit Shetty
2012 action comedy films
Indian action comedy films
Films scored by Himesh Reshammiya
Films scored by Ajay–Atul
Fox Star Studios films
Hindi films remade in other languages
2012 comedy films
Remakes of Indian films