Dedh Ishqiya

<p>Khaalujaan ( ) and his nephew Babban ( ), who are partners in crime, pose as a and his attendant, and manage to run away with a prized necklace from a jewellery shop. During the police chase, they get separated; Babban escapes, Khalujaan is injured, and the necklace seemingly lost. Babban goes to meet his boss Mushtaq Bhai ( ), who disbelieves him, accuses him of double-crossing his boss in cahoots with his uncle Khaalujaan, gives him a death sentence, and orders him to dig his own grave. Babban duly begins to dig a grave under supervision, but manages to escape, with the promise that he will bring back both the necklace and Khaalujaan. Months later, Babban comes across Khalujaan, who is posing as a Nawab and attending a poetry contest. It is a (gathering of poets) organised by Begum Para ( ), the widowed Begum of , supposedly in compliance with the wishes of her deceased husband. The winner of the poetry contest will not only win the widowed Begum as his bride, but also become the Nawab of . Babban confronts Khalujaan on the opening night of the contest, and tries to get him to return with him. However, Babban himself delays departure after falling in love at first sight with Muniya ( ), Begum Para’s beautiful maid and constant companion. Meanwhile, Khalujaan has his task cut out for him — he needs to fool the gathering into accepting him as an aristocrat, win the poetry contest if possible, and seduce the Begum. One of the other contestants is a local politician and gangster named Jaan Mohammed ( ), who is holding the poet Nawab Italwi ( ) in captivity, forcing him to write poetry for Jaan to recite at the contest. The contest proceeds; while Khalujaan has his heart set on Begum Para herself, Babban is smitten with Muniya. Khalujaan tries to impress the Begum by gifting her the prized necklace which he had stolen earlier, but on the final day, Begum declares Jaan Mohammed to be the victor. She declares that she will marry Jaan Mohammad and that he will become the new Nawab of Since the necklace has clearly failed to move the Begum, Khaalujaan decides to see if a gun will serve the purpose better. However, even as he approaches the Begum brandishing his chosen instrument of persuasion, he finds the dowager being hustled away at gunpoint by a masked man. Khalujaan chases them and blocks their way only to discover that the masked man is none other than his nephew Babban. It turns out that the Begum had plotted her own kidnapping in order to extort money from the nawab-elect (Jaan Mohammad). More twists are then revealed: the Begum was nothing but a dancing-girl (tawaif) who had seduced a middle-aged nawab and married him, only to find that the nawab was actually a pauper who supported his lavish way of life by selling his inherited properties and jewels. He also neglected his wife, who (it is very strongly suggested) developed a relationship of intimacy with a sympathetic maid-servant, Muniya. By the time the nawab died of good living, he had become completely bankrupt and even his palace had been mortgaged to the money-lenders. After his death, the penniless Begum had been helped financially and courted actively by Jaan Mohammad, who was besotted with her. He also wanted the title and status of being the “Nawab of .” If a mere dancing-girl could marry an aging nawab and swan around being feted and fawned over as Begum of Majidabad, then Jaan Mohammad, of a similar social background, could likewise climb into the same status by marrying the same girl, now a dowager. The Begum was appalled by this idea. Jaan Mohammad is a man of low birth and uncultured mannerisms, a former street-thug turned politician, with an entourage of sycophantic hoodlums. The idea of marrying such a man was repellent to the Begum, who was anyway in love with her maid-servant. Yet, Jaan Mohammad’s debt and his persistence leave the Begum with no choice but to announce a competition for her suitors, as a tactic to delay responding to Jaan’s advances. Thus, the was conceived as an elaborate hoax: the late Nawab had never wanted his widow to marry someone else, much less that the winner should be recognized as “Nawab of Majidabad.” It was the Begum’s own idea, the purpose being to snare a rich man and marry him. The Begum did not want to marry Jaan Mohammad, but she wanted his money, therefore she was staging a kidnapping in order to receive a ransom from Jaan Mohammad. She has employed Babban to act as her kidnapper and extort a hefty ransom from Jaan Mohammad, who was expected to pay up because otherwise he would never fulfill his dream of becoming a Nawab. Babban duly phones Jaan Mohammed (who is by now aware of the Begum’s cunning plan) to bring a ransom of Rs. 100 million (100 million rupees, about $2 million in 2014) in cash to the railway station. All four of them (Begum, maid, and the uncle-nephew duo) reach the railway station to collect the money, but find that they are surrounded by Jaan Mohammad’s goons. To their good fortune, Nawab Italwi arrives with a police force and cross-firing ensues. Begum and Muniya escape from the situation, leaving Babban and Khalujaan behind to be arrested. Two months later, the uncle-nephew duo get bail and, as they leave the jail, they are given a letter from Begum and Muniya. It is a cheeky letter of thanks and goodbye from the women, informing the men that they have sold the priceless necklace and used the proceeds to buy a house and settle down in a faraway town whose name they withhold. Uncle and nephew are now exactly at the same situation where they were at the start of all these shenanigans—the movie ends with the duo once again surrounded by Mushtaq Bhai and his gang. At a private party held in Mumbai, and , who had previously produced (2010), announced the sequel with the same cast and crew. It was later announced that , the heroine of would not feature in the sequel. In April 2012, signed on to play the role of Begum Para, the grey character at the center of the film; it was Dixit’s first role after moving back to India from the US in November 2011. The two male leads and were retained from the original. The role of supporting actress first was offered to but, she refused to work in a supporting role, and she said in one interview that she thought that the role is not very attractive and therefore she rejected it. then signed and said she was going to start shooting soon. However, in December 2012 she was dropped, supposedly due to persistent date issues. She was replaced by . Arshad Warsi stated that he was paired with Huma and Madhuri was paired opposite Naseeruddin Shah. The shooting was initially scheduled to start in September 2012, but was shifted to November, and was further postponed even at that time, due to issues related to Kangana Ranaut’s desire for an expansion of her role. Shooting finally began on 27 February 2013, after she was replaced with . palace near was spruced up for the shoot. The “First Look” of the film was released on 25 October 2013 and the trailer was released on 8 November 2013. Madhuri Dixit performed a to the song . The dance was choreographed by Pandit . The music of the film was composed by , and the lyrics of all the songs have been written by . The song “Hamari Atariya” was originally sung by in the 1950s, and a new version was recorded with the voice of . It was released first as a single on 3 December 2013. The second single “Dil Ka Mizaaj Ishqiya” sung by was released on 13 December 2013 and the third single track ” ” which sung by , and was released on 24 December 2013. The full audio album was unveiled by on 19 December 2013. Anupama Chopra, the movie critic said, ” is worth watching just for Abhishek Chaubey’s ambition. He is not constrained by the demands of the box office.” Giving it 5 out of 5 stars, India’s movie critic Raja Sen called a genuinely smart film. from also gave positive review, was sharp, spicy and volatile, with impulsive characters and a storyline taking a somersault every few minutes. is no different. It transports you to a diverse world, but like the first part, this one focuses on love and deceit as well. Also, it’s far more complex this time around and the truth hits you like a ton of bricks! Deepanjana Pal from praised director Chaubey the most, saying: “Chaubey is two films old and compared to Ishqiya, Dedh Ishqiya is far more elaborate, complicated and ambitious. Like a skipping stone, the film touches upon a variety of genres – action, comedy, romance, social critique – and Chaubey handles them deftly”. In another review, Mihir Fadnavis said: is smarter, funnier, richer and way more gorgeous than its predecessor. If you’re a fan of clever lines with terrific actors, great writing, masterful direction and Urdu poetry, hits your sweet spot. If you don’t really give a damn about any of this and just want a fun time at the movies, is perhaps the most hilarious thriller Bollywood has produced. There was a few negative reviews as well. Martin D’Souza from Glamsham Editorial gave the film a negative review and a score of 2/5, stating that the film opens on the wrong foot and moves at a very languid pace. Made on a budget of around 370 million including promotions and marketings, Dedh Ishqiya managed to recovered 408 million from the box office. It was considered commercially successful. opened with average occupancy, even though it was released on less than 1200 screens. It collected (US$350,000) (30 million) on its opening day. The film grossed around (US$1.4 million) (115 million) during its first weekend. collected around (US$210,000) nett on first Monday taking its four-day total to (US$1.6 million). Overseas collection of was around $525,000 in first weekend. In the second week, had a dull performance, earning just (US$470,000) in the weekend and (US$770,000) between Monday and Wednesday in the domestic box office. Its performance overseas was even more dismal, bringing in (US$180,000) (15 million) over the week, making for a worldwide grand total of (US$3.7 million) (316 million) in two weeks. This effectively ended the theatrical run of the film, because in the third week, lost almost all its screens to .</p>