Heroine

<p>A journalist reports on the life of Mahi Arora, a , describing her as unstable and problematic, but damaged and lonely due to , and . Through a flashback, we are shown Mahi’s relationship with leading film actor, Aryan Khanna. Aryan is going through a whilst dating Mahi. The couple make a of themselves. When Mahi learns of an intimate scene Aryan is shooting for a film, she causes a scene on the set, which upsets Aryan. The couple reconciles but Mahi is repeatedly insulted by Aryan’s wife. While driving back from a party with Aryan, she raises the topic of his wife, which results in her being thrown out of the car. Realising her place in Aryan’s life, Mahi goes into , putting her career in decline. A friend convinces Mahi to leave the past behind her and re-enter the industry so Mahi decides to rejuvenate her career. She employs a manager, Pallavi, who uses sensationalist tactics to reinvent Mahi’s image. Mahi starts a relationship with the of the , Angad Paul. Soon, her personal and professional life are stable once again. On the advice of Pallavi, she uses Angad’s connections to get a role in a . The lead actor of the film, Abbas Khan, a married playboy, attempts to initiate an with her. She rejects him, which causes him to seek revenge. He demands that the director re-edit the movie so that the story becomes about him and an . Mahi is dissatisfied despite the film being a success, and in a desperate attempt to prove her acting skills, works in a low-budget for months. Angad proposes to her but she feels that they should concentrate on their careers. This causes their relationship to end. The art film never completes, and Mahi goes into depression again. She is also denied the opportunity to , due to her history of alcoholism and psychiatric problems. Since she cannot get a role in big budget productions, she decides to work on a low-budget film with newcomers. Mahi meets Aryan at a , and he apologises. The two rekindle their relationship. Aryan says that he wants her to do a big budget film with him but the director is reluctant to cast her as she has lost her appeal. Mahi becomes obsessed with the thought of losing the role to another heroine. At a poorly-attended for an upcoming film, Mahi is mocked by journalists who inform her that the director has cast another actress opposite Aryan. Distraught, Mahi and Pallavi decide to by leaking the sex tape of her and Aryan. The video becomes a viral sensation and as a result, the becomes an instant hit. Mahi’s success is short-lived. She starts questioning her career and life choices. She finally decides to leave the industry after her agent Rashid , a father figure to her, quits, and Shagufta Rizvi, a veteran actress she respected and admired, dies. At the end, Mahi is shown walking alone in a foreign country, and on being asked if she is Mahi Arora, she replies she is not. Following the completion of (2009), Bhandarkar began toying with the idea of making a project based on the . Along with screenwriter , Bhandarkar began developing the story about the life of an actress and later approached with whom he had worked on several occasions. Bhandarkar, who was keen on using the title for his film, donated (US$1,200) to ‘s charity. He later explained that he had been subconsciously preparing for the film ever since he joined the industry. The of was released as part of the . A promotional poster was released during a press conference in which of , , who was initially chosen as the film’s lead, officially announced the film. The director said, “The film is a glamorous yet bold story of the internal journey of a superstar. I am certain it will appeal to audiences across the globe and Rai was a perfect choice for the role. In fact, no one could’ve played it better.” Screwvala stated “With , we plan to take things to the next level. When you watch the film, you will feel that the role was written with someone as talented and stunning as Aishwarya in mind.” The actress too admitted that she was “looking forward to this new journey in the film.” It was also announced that Rai will have a wardrobe of more than 40 outfits designed by in the film. Explaining why he was launching the project in , Screwvala alluded to Rai’s star power saying, “She is the for India, and for Indian cinema, when it comes to the .” The actress was quick to deny any reference to her personal life being portrayed in the movie and said that the entire idea was a result of Bhandarkar’s conceptualisation. The official distributed as a part of the announcement stated that “The film is based on the life and times of a , Mahi from the dream factory we call ‘ ‘. The film is a daring, shocking, glamorous, scandalous account of the reality behind the world of glitz and glamour that our film stars inhabit. For a country obsessed with films and film stars, will take audiences on a voyeuristic journey to see what really goes on in the lives of India’s sweethearts.” was expected to commence during the summer of 2010 but was put on hold due to , who had replaced Rai, having other commitments. During this period, Bhandarkar announced that he would be making while putting on hold. Though speculated to be based on the lives of yesteryear divas like and , Bhandarkar denied the reports saying that the film is a “contemporary take which reveals the underbelly of the movie industry and its well-kept secrets”. In an attempt to prepare his protagonist for the film, the director prepared a three-hour documentary on Hollywood actresses , , and . was signed as the costume designer. The choreography was handled by , and Jasmin Oza. , who had initially been cast as the film’s lead, was replaced by . was cast opposite Kapoor as the male lead in November 2011. was cast to play the role of a cricket player. Initially, was chosen to play the role but opted out for unknown reasons. , , and were speculated to have replaced Singh, however, Bhandarkar confirmed that Hooda has been selected. To prepare for his role, Hooda took lessons from cricketer . was cast in November 2011 to play one of Kapoor’s love interests. , , and were cast to play pivotal roles. was cast by Bhandarkar to play a veteran actress. was cast to play the role of Kapoor’s mother. was confirmed to make a cameo appearance. was signed to play one of Kapoor’s rivals, marking her third collaboration with Bhandarkar following (2008), and (2009). The production for the film was marred by the kidnapping and brutal murder of by a co-star, Amit Jaiswal, who like Thapar, only had a minor role in the film. Thapar was strangled in her hotel room in and had her body dumped into a water tank, with her severed head thrown out of the window of a moving bus. The director initially planned to attach the theatrical trailer to the release of on 1 June 2012. However, there were several matured content featuring , which were essential and must be not be edited out in order to retain the motive of the title of the film, as per the director, Bhandarkar. The awarded an ‘A’ certificate to the trailer, but chopped off Kapoor’s smoking scenes and lovemaking scenes from the trailer. The trailer was then scheduled for a 6 July 2012 release, as it would be releasing alongside , although it was then postponed to 20 July 2012. It was once again delayed so it did not clash with the late ‘s . On 22 July 2012, 2 of the first look posters were revealed on the micro blogging site, Twitter, and received an overwhelming response in just 8 hours of their release. The trailer of the film was released on 25 July 2012 online and with on 27 July 2012 in theatres. The trailer crossed over 1 million hits on YouTube within 2 days. After the release of the trailer, a controversy arose. In the film’s promo, a dialogue of Kareena Kapoor: “If a heroine buys a car, it’s gifted to her by a businessman. If she goes to LA ( ), she’s getting plastic surgery done and, god forbid, if she goes to , you people make a rate-card for her,” was not appreciated by the people of . To avoid hurting sentiments, director Bhandarkar has had the offending statement censored in the Dubai version. He clarified, “We have censored it. There are some people who have raised objections. But we did not mean to demean anyone, Dubai is my personal favourite city.” was released as promotional by . It was announced that music director duo , who had earlier worked with Madhur Bhandarkar in (2008), would be composing the soundtrack for . During the shooting of the film, Bhandarkar revealed that there would be 2 big item numbers in the film, both to be picturized on the leading lady. One of them, “Halkat Jawani”, sung by was released as a single track on 17 August 2012. Domestically the film grossed (US$810,000) on its opening day. had an average weekend of (US$2.5 million) nett. The film had collected a fair (US$3.6 million) in its first week. Ultimately the film grossed (US$5.5 million) in India and $2,050,000 for a worldwide gross of (US$6.8 million) on a budget of (US$4.1 million). received mixed-to-positive reviews upon release, with most critics praising the story, music and the cast performances, while the screenplay garnered predominantly negative reviews. On the website reported an approval rating of 30% with an average score of 5.0/10, based on 6 reviews. The website’s critical consensus reads, “A brief snapshot of a much bigger picture, this is an interesting film as far as it goes but, like its subject, not all that unusual.” Taran Adarsh of gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 while saying “Watch for Bhandarkar’s imposing direction, for Kapoor’s superlative performance, watch it also for its fearless, inspiring and enlightening storyline divulging the scandalous realities of the movie industry. Try not to miss it!”. Shomini Sen of gave it a score of 3 out of 5 and said “Does work? Yes, but only because of Kareena Kapoor. From doing the raunchy act in ‘Halkat Jawani’ to the scenes where she is battling depression and popping pills, Kapoor makes Mahi memorable and lovable. is absolutely Kapoor’s film, not Bhandarkar’s. 2 for the film and 1 extra for Bebo! 3 cheers for the film!”. Aniruddha Guha of gave 2 out 5 stars while commenting, “The characters are all caricatured and the screenplay meanders along aimlessly, it being nothing more than an – each disjointed from the other – strung together in a long, sleep-inducing and pointless narrative”. of rated it 2 out of 5 stars, noting “The film that Bhandarkar has made is indeed disappointingly mechanical. Mercifully, Kapoor does demonstrate that she has a feel for the character. But, then, why wouldn’t she? After all she plays herself in “. of rated the film 2 out of 5 and said “Despite an entertaining first-half, thanks to all the unintentional laughs, slips into a slush of post-interval. By this point, it feels interminably long and boring”. of gave it 2 out of 5 stars, remarking “There’s nothing innovative about Bhandarkar’s . I am not sure if this is Bhandarkar’s idea of but the hall roared with laughter. What’s not funny is just how stunning Kapoor looks or gives to her role as Mahi Arora”.</p>