Half Girlfriend (film)

2017 film by Mohit Suri

Half Girlfriend

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Mohit Suri
Written by| Screenplay:
Tushar Hiranandani
Dialogues:
Ishita Moitra
Story by| Chetan Bhagat
Based on| Half Girlfriend
by Chetan Bhagat
Produced by| Shobha Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor
Mohit Suri
Chetan Bhagat
Starring| Shraddha Kapoor
Arjun Kapoor
Seema Biswas
Vikrant Massey
Cinematography| Vishnu Rao
Edited by| Devendra Murdeshwar
Music by| Score:
Raju Singh
Songs:
Mithoon
Tanishk Bagchi
Rishi Rich
Farhan Saeed
Ami Mishra
Rahul Mishra

Production
companies

Balaji Motion Pictures
Chetan Bhagat Entertainment
ALT Entertainment

Distributed by| NH Studioz
Coconut Movies (India)
Zee Studios (Overseas)

Release date

* 19 May 2017 (2017-05-19)

Running time

| 130 minutes[1]
Country| India
Language| Hindi
Budget| ₹35 crore[2]
Box office| ₹97.7 crore[3]

Half Girlfriend is an Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name written by Chetan Bhagat.[4] The film is directed by Mohit Suri and stars Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor in lead roles.[5] The film also places Vikrant Massey and Rhea Chakraborty in pivotal roles. It performed moderately well at the box office despite receiving mixed to negative feedback from critics.[6][7]

Principal photography commenced in June 2016 and filming locations include Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Dumraon, Varanasi, New York City and Cape Town.[8] The film was released worldwide on 19 May 2017.[9]

## Plot

[edit]

Madhav Jha is a good basketball player who cannot speak English well. He gets accepted into St Stephen's College Delhi based on a sports quota, where he meets Riya Somani, an upper-class young girl who is allowed temporary admission based on a sports quota. They become good friends and play basketball every evening. When Madhav tells his roommate Shailesh and friends about Riya, they push him to ask Riya out for a date, but she refuses and asks him just to be a friend. Madhav's friends still encourage him to pursue Riya in the hopes that she will eventually date him.

One night, Madhav and Riya hang out together. Madhav picks her up from her house, and after spending the evening together, when she returns home, she kisses Madhav before entering her house.

When Madhav attends Riya's birthday, he questions her about the nature of their relationship. Uncomfortable, Riya says that she is not his girlfriend, but they can maybe reach a compromise since they have reached halfway, and she offers to be his "half girlfriend." One afternoon after a game, Madhav asks Riya if she would like to rest in his room in a boys only dorm, where (goaded by his peers and feeling humiliated by Riya's uncertainty), Madhav tries to force himself upon Riya. Upset and hurt, a few days later, Riya tells Madhav that she is leaving college and getting married. Madhav tries to stop her, but she leaves.

After completing college, Madhav goes back to his village, where Madhav's mother runs a school where only boys study because there are no girls' toilets. Madhav learns that Bill Gates is coming to Patna and will be funding grants to schools. Madhav decides to apply for a grant, for which he goes to the Chanakya hotel in Patna.

After the meeting, Madhav meets Riya, who is living in the hotel and works for CloseUp. They hang out for some time, and Madhav learns that Riya has divorced because her husband and his mother tried to beat her. As Madhav needs to give a speech in English for Bill Gates, Riya helps him prepare for it. At the time of preparing Madhav for the speech in English, Riya falls in love with Madhav, which she does not tell him till the end. One day, he takes her to his house, where Madhav's mother asks her about her marriage. She acts rudely after discovering that she is a divorcee. A few days before the speech, when Riya has to go back to Patna, Madhav's mother asks her to stay away from Madhav. She, however, attends Madhav's speech, where he is successful in getting a grant from the Bill Gates Foundation. After the speech ends, a young girl from the school hands a letter from Riya to Madhav. The letter says that Riya has been diagnosed with blood cancer and will die in three months. She requests him not to search for her, as she herself does not know where she will go. Madhav is seen going to Riya's house to deliver her belongings to her mother, who starts crying on learning about Riya's disease. Madhav recalls that she wanted to become a singer at a bar in New York. Unprepared, Madhav goes to New York to visit his friend Shailesh.

Shailesh and his wife Rutvi learn about the incident and try to deviate Madhav's attention from Riya. Rutvi tries to set him up with Anshika, her friend. They spend some time together. Madhav tries to find Riya for three months continuously, until his time runs out.

On the last day, when he was attending his farewell party, he saw a video where Anshika, who had fallen in love with him, thanked him for being a part of her life. In this video, Madhav sees a blurred picture of Riya singing in a cafe. He runs to the café and finds Riya and understands that she had lied to Madhav about being sick as his mother didn't want Riya, a divorcee, to be with her son. They reconcile and consummate their relationship.

A few years later, Madhav is seen talking to his mother about opening a new school, and Riya helps their daughter Tvisha Jha learn to play basketball, but she is unable to do it. Riya tells her daughter to never give up.

## Cast

[edit]

* Arjun Kapoor as Madhav Jha, a Bihari boy who hardly knows to speak English and ends up attracted towards Riya Somani and becoming husband of Riya and Tvisha's father
* Shraddha Kapoor as Riya Somani Jha a rich Delhi girl who comes from an entrepreneur background. A singer, she loves to enjoy her own company and sings at a bar in New York. Later, she becomes Madhav's Wife and Tvisha's mother
* Vikrant Massey as Shailesh Pandey, Madhav's colleague who is protective of him.
* Rhea Chakraborty as Anshika Patel, who loves Madhav but lets him go for Riya.
* Seema Biswas as Rani Sahiba, Madhav's Mother, who runs a school in Bihar.
* Shree Dhar Dubey as Hemant the estate agent.
* Anisa Butt as Rutvi, Sailesh's Wife
* Jiten Lalwani as Basketball Coach
* Adam Davenport as Bar Owner in New York City, USA
* Dalip Sondhi as Mr. Somani/Riya's Father
* Sujata Sehgal as Mrs. Somani/Riya's Mother
* Tvisha Shah as Tvisha Jha/Daughter of Riya and Madhav
* Kashvi Kothari as Shabnam/a village girl
* Vikas B Mandaliya as Rohan Chandak/Riya's childhood friend and Riya's ex-husband

Additionally, a digitally superimposed likeness of Bill Gates appears in the movie in scenes where he comes to visit Madhav's village in Bihar.

## Production

[edit]

The film went into production in March 2016. Prominent shooting locations included St. Stephen's College in New Delhi and Times Square and the UN Headquarters in New York City. It is the first Bollywood movie to be shot at the UN headquarters. The basketball action in the film is by Rob Miller, NBA and the ReelSports team.[10] Around 200 students from different colleges were roped in to play extras as some of the scenes demand Delhi University students in the film.[11] The trailer was released on 10 April.

## Box office

[edit]

The film was released on 20 May 2017 worldwide alongside Hindi Medium. The film collected ₹120 million on its opening day and ₹104 million on second day. On its first weekend, the total collection was noted as ₹320 million. On its second weekend, the total collection of the film stood at ₹540 million. Its lifetime worldwide gross is estimated to be ₹86–90 crore, with ₹72–77 crore earned domestically and ₹13–14 crore outside India.[2][12]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Main article: Half Girlfriend (soundtrack)

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Date of ceremony  | Award  | Category  | Recipient  | Work  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|

30 December 2017  | Zee Cine Awards | Song of the Year | Tanishk Bagchi | Baarish | Won  | [13]
Best Playback Singer (Male) | Ash King | Nominated  | [14]
Arijit Singh | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Nominated
Best Lyricist | Manoj Muntashir | Nominated
Best Playback Singer (Female) | Shreya Ghoshal | Thodi Der | Nominated
Best Music Director | Farhan Saeed | Nominated
Mithoon | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Nominated
3 December 2017  | Star Screen Awards | Best Background Music | The "Love Theme" | Nominated  | [15]
20 January 2018  | Filmfare Awards | Best Music Album | Various  | Music Album | Nominated  | [16]
Best Male Playback Singer | Ash King | Baarish | Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer | Shreya Ghoshal | Thodi Der | Nominated
28 January 2018 | Mirchi Music Awards | Female Vocalist of The Year | Won  | [17]
Listener's Choice Song of the Year | Mithoon | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Won
Male Vocalist of The Year | Arijit Singh | Nominated  | [18]
Ash King | Baarish | Nominated
Song of The Year | Tanishk Bagchi | Nominated
Lyricist of The Year | Nominated
Music Composer of The Year | Nominated
Mithoon | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Nominated
Upcoming Female Vocalist of The Year | Anushka Shahaney  | Stay a Little Longer | Nominated
3 March 2018  | Bollywood Journalist Awards | Best Supporting Actor (Male)  | Vikrant Massey |  | Nominated  | [19]
Best Music Direction  | Mithoon | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Nominated
2 May 2018  | Mix Music Awards | Best Song  | Tanishk Bagchi | Baarish | Won  | [20]
Best Playback Singer (Male)  | Ash King | Nominated
Arijit Singh | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Nominated
Best Lyricist  | Manoj Muntashir | Won
Best Playback Singer (Female)  | Shreya Ghoshal | Thodi Der | Won
5 July 2018  | Gaana Users Choice Awards  | Best Music Composer  | Tanishk Bagchi | Baarish | Nominated  |
Mithoon | Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Won
Best Playback Singer (Male)  | Arijit Singh | Won
Ash King | Baarish | Nominated
Best Album  | Various |  | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Half Girlfriend". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
2. ^ a b "Half Girlfriend – Movie – Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
3. ^ "Half Girlfriend Box Office Collection till Now | Box Collection". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
4. ^ "'Half Girlfriend' not a frivolous rom-com, says Arjun Kapoor". The Indian Express. 24 February 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
5. ^ "Half Girlfriend Box Office Collection | Hit or Flop Analysis". 12 July 2019.
6. ^ "HALF GIRLFRIEND BOX OFFICE". Bollywood Hungama. 19 May 2017.
7. ^ "Half Girlfriend on Tomatometre". Rotton Tomatoes. 19 April 2017.
8. ^ "Meet Madhav Jha: Arjun Kapoor begins shooting for 'Half Girlfriend'". Daily News and Analysis. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
9. ^ "Half Girlfriend to release on May 19, 2017". The Indian Express. 6 August 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
10. ^ "Shraddha Kapoor learns to play basketball for her next". The Times of India. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017.
11. ^ "200 DU students join Arjun and Shraddha in Delhi for Half Girlfriend's shoot". Deccan Chronicle. 18 June 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017.
12. ^ "Box Office: Half Girlfriend nearing the 100 crore mark at the worldwide box office – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 29 May 2017. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
13. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2018 complete winners list: Secret Superstar, Golmaal Again and Toilet Ek Prem Katha win big". The Indian Express. 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
14. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2018: Check out the nominations list". Free Press Journal. 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
15. ^ "Screen Awards 2017 nominations announced". Screen Daily. 3 October 2017. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
16. ^ "63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018: Official list of nominations". Times of India. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
17. ^ "10th Royal Stag Mirchi Music Awards: Complete list of winners". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
18. ^ "MMA Mirchi Music Awards". MMAMirchiMusicAwards. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
19. ^ Final Vote Count. powerbrands360.com
20. ^ Shah, Saurabh (3 May 2018) Zee Music wins big at Sony Mix Audience Music Awards. Esselnewsletter. Retrieved on 1 November 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Half Girlfriend at IMDb
* Half Girlfriend at Bollywood Hungama

* India portal
* Film portal
* Bollywood portal

* v
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Films directed by Mohit Suri

* Zeher (2005)
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* Murder 2 (2011)
* Aashiqui 2 (2013)
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* Half Girlfriend (2017)
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