| English Vinglish | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster in Hindi | |
| Directed by | Gauri Shinde |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Gauri Shinde |
| Story by | Gauri Shinde |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Amit Trivedi |
| Cinematography | Laxman Utekar |
| Edited by | Hemanti Sarkar |
Production company |
Hope Productions |
| Distributed by | Eros International |
Release date |
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Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language |
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| Budget | ?26 crore |
| Box office | ?90.42 crore (see below) |
English Vinglish is a 2012 Indian comedy-drama film, written and directed by Gauri Shinde. The narrative revolves around a woman named Shashi, a small entrepreneur who makes snacks. Shashi enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills and gains self-respect in the process. The protagonist, played by Sridevi, was inspired by Shinde's mother. English Vinglish was originally made in Hindi; later it was re-shot in Tamil and released along with a Telugu dubbed version on 5 October 2012. The film marked Sridevi's return to filmmaking after a 15-year hiatus; it features French actor Mehdi Nebbou, Adil Hussain, and Priya Anand. Amitabh Bachchan and Ajith Kumar had cameo appearances in the Hindi and Tamil versions respectively.
Before its theatrical release, English Vinglish was premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where both the film and Sridevi's performance received positive responses. Before its release, the film was screened for the Indian press and critics. The film grossed ?90.42 crore against a budget of ?26 crore.
English Vinglish won all of the Best Debut Director awards of 2012 for Gauri Shinde. It was shortlisted as India's official entry for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film earned global acclaim at several international festivals and Sridevi was hailed as the "Meryl Streep of India" and the "female Rajinikanth in Japan".
Contents
Plot
Shashi Godbole is a homemaker who makes and sells laddoos as a home-run business. Her husband Satish and daughter Sapna take her for granted, mock her poor English skills, and generally treat her with disrespect, making Shashi feel negative and insecure. However, her young son, Sagar loves her as she is, and her mother-in-law offers her words of sympathy.
Shashi's older sister Manu, who lives in New York, invites Shashi's family to her daughter Meera's wedding to Kevin. It is decided that Shashi will go to New York alone five weeks before the wedding to help Manu organize. Her husband and children will join her as the wedding approaches. During her flight to New York, Shashi is given inspirational advice by a fellow passenger (Amitabh Bachchan in Hindi/Ajith Kumar in Tamil). While Shashi is in New York, she has a traumatic experience at a cafe due to her inability to communicate in English. She is comforted by a French chef Laurent who happened to be queuing up behind her at the cafe.
Using the money she made from selling laddoos, Shashi secretly enrolls in a conversational English class that offers to teach the language in four weeks, showing her resourcefulness at navigating an unfamiliar city alone. The class comprises David Fischer, the instructor; Eva, a Mexican nanny; Salman Khan, a Pakistani cab driver; Yu Son, a Chinese hairstylist; Ramamurthy, a Tamil software engineer; Udumbke, an African-Caribbean man; and Laurent. Shashi quickly becomes a promising and committed student, earns everyone's respect with her charming behavior and her cuisine, and gains self-confidence. Laurent becomes attracted to Shashi. When he tries to kiss her at the rooftop of a building, Shashi rejects him and runs off, but fails to explain that she is married.
Meanwhile, Shashi's niece Radha who is Meera's younger sister finds out about her secret English classes and is supportive of her pursuit. Shashi starts watching English films at night and does her homework assiduously. To complete the English-speaking course and get a certificate, each student must write and deliver a five-minute speech. Shashi's family joins her in New York earlier than planned, to surprise her. Shashi tries to continue attending class but decides to quit because of scheduling conflicts; she asks Radha to inform Fischer. The test date coincides with that of the wedding, forcing Shashi to miss the test.
Radha invites Fischer and the entire class to the wedding, where Satish is taken aback at being introduced to a diverse group of people by his wife. Shashi gives a touching and enlightening toast to the married couple in English, surprising everyone who knew her as a typical, conservative, Indian homemaker. In her speech, Shashi extols the virtues being married and having a family, describing the family as a safe space of love and respect where weaknesses are not mocked. Satish and Sapna regret treating her with disrespect. Fischer declares that she has passed the course with distinction and issues her the certificate. Shashi thanks Laurent for making her feel better about herself. Shashi's family return to India; during their flight home, Shashi asks the flight attendant in fluent English whether she has any Hindi newspapers.
Cast
- Sridevi as Shashi Godbole
- Adil Hussain as Satish Godbole, Shashi's husband
- Mehdi Nebbou as Laurent, Shashi's classmate
- Navika Kotia as Sapna, Shashi's daughter
- Shivansh Kotia as Sagar, Shashi's son
- Priya Anand as Radha, Shashi's niece
- Sujata Kumar as Manu, Shashi's sister
- Cory Hibbs as David Fischer
- Ruth Aguilar as Eva
- Sumeet Vyas as Salman Khan
- Rajeev Ravindranathan as Ramamurthy
- Damian Thompson as Udumbke
- Maria Romano as Yu Son
- Neelu Sodhi as Meera
- Ross Nathan as Kevin
- Maria Pendolino as Jennifer
- Sulabha Deshpande as Mrs. Godbole, Shashi's mother-in-law
- Ashvin Mathew as Father Vincent, Sapna’s teacher at school
- Cameo appearances
- Amitabh Bachchan (Hindi version) and Ajith Kumar (Tamil version) as a passenger on flight
Production
Development
The story was inspired by Shinde's mother, a Marathi-speaking woman who ran a pickle business at her house in Pune. Her mother was not fluent in English, which embarrassed Shinde as a child. In an interview, Shinde said, "I made this film to say sorry to my mother." The film started development in 2011 or earlier, and several plot points and cameo appearances were decided early on. English Vinglish garnered much media coverage because of Sridevi's comeback after nearly 15 years away from film production. The rights were sold to Eros International for ?200 million (US$3.74 million).
English Vinglish also marked the Bollywood debut of South Indian actress Priya Anand, who previously worked in the Tamil and Telugu film industries. It is the directorial debut of Gauri Shinde, who previously worked as an advertisement filmmaker. It was shot mostly in New York. The principal photography concluded in October 2011 and it was released in Hindi and Tamil. It was later dubbed into Telugu.
Ajith Kumar, being a big fan of Sridevi, performed the cameo appearance without receiving payment. He even flew in for the shooting at his own cost.
Promotion
The first preview of English Vinglish was launched on 14 June 2012. The official distributor Eros International posted the preview video and poster on YouTube and Twitter. A two-minute teaser showing Sridevi reading the Censor Certificate of the film in deliberately broken English was also released. The preview received positive response and was lauded for its unique and fresh concept. The full theatrical trailer was unveiled at a special media event on 13 August 2012 coinciding with Sridevi's birthday. It received a positive response and went viral on YouTube, exceeding one million views in a week. Sridevi's performance in the trailer was highly acclaimed by her fans and the media; the Hindustan Times said, "Sridevi casts a spell in English Vinglish."
The Tamil and Telugu theatrical trailers were subsequently released in Chennai and Hyderabad respectively. Sridevi also appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati with Gauri Shinde and on the dance show Jhalak Dikhla Ja.
Soundtrack
The musical and background score were composed by Amit Trivedi and the lyrics were written by Swanand Kirkire. The album was released on 21 September 2012; it comprises six songs including two versions of "English Vinglish", which were performed by different singers.
| English Vinglish | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album to English Vinglish by Amit Trivedi | ||||
| Released | 4 September 2012 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 28:47 | |||
| Language | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu | |||
| Label |
T-Series Eros Music | |||
| Producer | Amit Trivedi | |||
| Amit Trivedi chronology | ||||
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Track list
Hindi
All lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire; all music composed by Amit Trivedi.
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