Batti Gul Meter Chalu

Batti Gul Meter Chalu (transl. Lights off, meter on; Hindi pronunciation: [bət̪t̪iː gʊl miːʈəɾ tʃaːluː]) is a 2018 Indian satirical comedy drama film [3] directed by Shree Narayan Singh and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Nitin Chandrachud, Nishant Pitti and Krishan Kumar.[4] The film tells the story of inflated electricity bills in rural India and stars Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma and Yami Gautam.[5]

Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShree Narayan Singh
Produced byBhushan Kumar
Krishan Kumar
Nitin Chandrachud
Shree Narayan Singh
Kusum Arora
Nishant Pitti
Screenplay bySiddharth-Garima
Story byVipul K Rawal
StarringShahid Kapoor
Shraddha Kapoor
Divyendu Sharma
Yami Gautam
Music byScore:
Vijay Verma
Anamik & Lyton
Songs:
Anu Malik
Rochak Kohli
Sachet-Parampara
CinematographyAnshuman Mahaley
Edited byShree Narayan Singh
Production
company
T-Series Films
Krti Pictures LLP
Distributed byAnand Pandit Motion Pictures[1]
Release date
  • 21 September 2018 (2018-09-21)
Running time
161 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box officeest. ₹520 million[2]

Principal photography commenced in February 2018 in Tehri, Uttarakhand and was completed in July 2018.[6][7] The film was released worldwide on 21 September 2018 to a mixed response.[8]

Plot

Sushil Kumar "S.K." Pant, Lalita "Nauti" Nautiyal and Sundar Mohan Tripathi are childhood friends based in Tehri, Uttarakhand. S.K. is an unscrupulous lawyer making money from out-of-court settlements. Nauti is an over the top fashion designer who thinks highly of herself. Wanting to get married, she decides to date both her childhood friends, each for a week. Things turn sour as S.K catches Nauti and Tripathi kissing. Heartbroken, he starts taunting and avoiding them.

Tripathi's small town printing press is charged with an inflated electricity bill of ₹150,000 (US$2,100), which escalates to ₹5.4 million (US$76,000) in the following months. He along with Nauti visit S.K for a solution, but instead, he insults them. With nowhere to go, Tripathi commits suicide. S.K is taken aback by the events and has a change of heart. He decides to fight out against SPTL, the privatised electricity company responsible for the inflated bills. He has an advocate Gulnaar Rizvi representing SPTL as his opponent.

On the last sitting of case with S.K about to win, Tripathi resurfaces and reveals about his suicide attempt and his struggles regarding inflated bills. The Court clears Tripathi's bill and cancels SPTL's License. It also orders them to pay Tripathi ₹1 million (US$14,000), and others ₹50,000 (US$700) with similar complaints as a compensation. Tripathi is sentenced to six months of simple imprisonment for trying to dupe insurance company with his fake death. Gulnaar and S.K. are shown to be dating post the case.

Cast

Production

Principal photography

The principal photography for the film began in February 2018 with Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in Tehri, Uttarakhand.[6] The first and second schedule of the film got wrapped in February 2018[9] and March 2018 respectively.[10] Since, KriArj Entertainment, which was producing the film firstly got into financial troubles, the shoot of the film was kept on a halt, which finally got resumed in May 2018 and was wrapped up in June 2018.[11] After the final schedule in July 2018, the film was finally wrapped up in the same month.[7]

Casting

Director Shree Narayan Singh had already signed Shahid Kapoor to play a lawyer fighting against Faulty Electricity Meters and Inflated Bills in a local town of Uttarakhand.[12] Later, Yami Gautam was signed as an opposition lawyer against Shahid Kapoor in the film.[13] For the role of Lalita Nautiyal a.k.a. Nauti, actresses like Katrina Kaif,[14] Ileana D'Cruz[15] and Sonakshi Sinha[16] were approached but later, it was confirmed that Shraddha Kapoor would be playing this role in the film.[17]

Marketing and release

The film was originally slated to release on 31 August 2018[18] but was pushed to 14 September 2018 to avoid the clash with Shraddha Kapoor's other film, Stree starring Rajkummar Rao.[19] The financial troubles faced by KriArj Entertainment[20] lead to delays in the shooting of the film.

Later, it was announced that the film would have a worldwide release on 21 September 2018.[21] The teaser of the film was released by T-Series on 18 October 2017.[22] The trailer of the movie was released on 10 August 2018.[23] Following a special screening on 20 September attended by the cast[24] the film finally was released on 20 September 2018 in UAE and 21 September worldwide.[25] The film had its TV world premiere on Zee Cinema on 16 February 2019.

Soundtrack
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Soundtrack album by
Anu Malik, Rochak Kohli and Sachet-Parampara
Released8 September 2018
Recorded2018
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length20:14
LanguageHindi
LabelT-Series
External audio
Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube
Anu Malik chronology
Paltan
(2018)		 Batti Gul Meter Chalu
(2018)		 Sui Dhaaga
(2018)
Rochak Kohli chronology
Satyameva Jayate
(2018)		 Batti Gul Meter Chalu
(2018)		 Badhaai Ho
(2018)
Sachet-Parampara chronology
Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se
(2018)		 Batti Gul Meter Chalu
(2018)		 Kabir Singh
(2019)
Singles from Batti Gul Meter Chalu
  1. "Gold Tamba"
    Released: 18 August 2018
  2. "Dekhte Dekhte"
    Released: 25 August 2018
  3. "Hard Hard"
    Released: 28 August 2018
  4. "Har Har Gange"
    Released: 2 September 2018

The music of the film is composed by Anu Malik, Rochak Kohli, Sachet-Parampara while the lyrics are penned by Siddharth-Garima and Manoj Muntashir. Music was produced by Dj Phukan, Bharat Goel, Chandan Saxena, O2srk, Abhijit Vaghani. The songs featured in the film are sung Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Arijit Singh, Atif Aslam, Mika Singh, Nakash Aziz, Prakriti Kakar and Sachet Tandon.[26] The album of the film was by released T-Series on 5 September 2018. The music supervision was assisted by Vatsal Chevli.[27]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Gold Tamba"Siddharth – GarimaAnu MalikNakash Aziz5:02
2."Dekhte Dekhte"Nusrat Fateh Ali KhanRochak KohliAtif Aslam4:16
3."Dekhte Dekhte" (Version 2)Nusrat Fateh Ali KhanRochak KohliRahat Fateh Ali Khan4:16
4."Hard Hard"Siddharth – GarimaSachet-ParamparaMika Singh, Sachet Tandon, Prakriti Kakar3:38
5."Har Har Gange"Siddharth – GarimaSachet – ParamparaArijit Singh3:02
Total length:20:14

Critical reception

Batti Gul Meter Chalu generally received mixed reviews from critics. The film was lauded for its message, humor, performances and cinematography. The movie's running time and story execution faced criticism.

DNA in its 3.5 stars review criticized the storyline but praised the performance of Shahid Kapoor. " Shahid is top-notch. The actor, who is in his prime, has matured into a fine talent and shows that he can shoulder a film on his own. Half a star in the film's rating is reserved only for Shahid."[28]

Rachit Gupta from TOI in his 3 stars review questioned the screenplay saying, "BGMC loses power under the load of its heavy-duty screenplay." He, however praised Shahid & Shraddha's performance adding, "Shahid is able to blend a fine balance between the over-confident young man and the guy with a heart of gold. His monologue during the climax is superb. Shraddha Kapoor plays the peppy small town girl with panache."[29]

Rajeev Masand gave positive response praising the performances of the cast, message and humor of the film. He awarded it 3 stars noting "This is one of those mainstreammovies that delivers its message coated with a thick layer of melodrama. And it works." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated it 2.5 stars out of 5 praising the cinematography, message and humor of the film. She noted saying "Batti Gul Meter Chalu is careless not to get too much in lecture-mode. The rest of it made me smile, and made me pause: how do you expect people to live without ‘bijli’ in today's world? It is, as SK says thunderously, a fundamental right."[30]

Another critic Shrishti Negi of News 18 praised performances of the cast, writing and the heart of the film. While criticized the sexist 'jibles', massage and the film's overstretched second half. Devesh Sharma of Filmfare quoted "All-in-all, Batti Gul Meter Chalu is a film which has its heart in the right place. Better editing and a shortening of length by twenty minutes would have made the film more impactful."[31]

While critic Jyoti Sharma Bawa from Hindustan Times criticized the execution of the film quoting "The film takes almost 1.5 hours to establish what the trailer explained in three minutes" giving it two and half from five stars.[32]

The shooting of the film got stalled in April 2018 due to the non-payment of dues by KriArj Entertainment. Later, in June 2018, producer Vashu Bhagnani claimed his rights over the film as the deal with KriArj Entertainment, which was denied by Bhushan Kumar, the current producer of the film.[33]

The film's original and first writer Vipul K Rawal had filed a case against the Director and other writers for trying to deny him his rightful credit for the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film.[34] Later, the matter was settled and it was decided that the credit for story, screenplay and dialogues will now be equally shared between Rawal along with Sidhartha Singh and Garima Wahal.[35]

References
  1. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  2. "Batti Gul Meter Chalu – Movie – Box Office India". Box Office India. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  3. Batti Gul Meter Chalu Preview: Shahid Kapoor's Fight For Justice Begins
  4. "Kumar takes over Batti Gul Meter Chalu and Fanne Khan from Prenaa Arora". Archived from the original on 22 May 2018.
  5. Times of India – "Shraddha Kapoor and Yami Gautam on board for Shahid Kapoor starrer Batti Gul Meter Chalu"
  6. Hindustan Times "Shahid Kapoor begins shooting for Batti Gul Meter Chalu in Uttarakhand" – 10 February 2018 – Bollywood
  7. NewsX – It's a wrap for Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor starrer Batti Gul Meter Chalu – 12 July 2018
  8. "Batti Gul Meter Chalu to release on 21 September".
  9. – PinkVilla "Shahid Kapoor wraps up the first schedule of Batti Gul Meter Chalu – February 22, 2018
  10. – India.com "Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor wrap up the second schedule of the film – 22 March 2018
  11. DNA India "Shahid Kapoor's 'Batti Gul Meter Chalu' finally resumes shooting" – 17 May 2018
  12. – Hindustan Times – "Shahid Kapoor to star in Toilet director Shree Narayan's film" – 27 September 2017
  13. – Deccan Chronicle – Confirmed! It's Yami Gautam opposite Shahid Kapoor in Batti Gul Meter Chalu – 7 January 2018
  14. India.com – Katrina Kaif out Shraddha Kapoor in for Shahid Kapoor's Batti Gul Meter Chalu
  15. KoiMoi – Bollywood – Not Ileana D'Cruz But this actress to star opposite Shahid Kapoor in Batti Gul Meter Chalu – 2 January 2018
  16. Deccan Chronicle – Entertainment – Bollywood – Batti Gul Meter Chalu – Sonakshi Sinha or Shraddha Kapoor? Who will be Shahid Kapoor's heroine? – 16 November 2017
  17. Archived 20 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine Pandolin – Shraddha Kapoor signs Batti Gul Meter Chalu
  18. NDTV – "Shahid Kapoor's Batti Gul Meter Chalu Gets A Release Date" – 11 November 2017
  19. DNA India – "Clash averted! Shraddha Kapoor Batti Gul Meter Chalu will not lock horns with Stree" – 16 June 2018
  20. Mumbai Mirror – "Director Shree Narayan and producer Prernaa Arora's Batti Gul Meter Chalu runs into trouble over the payment issues" – 10 April 2018
  21. Times Now News – Entertainment – Bollywood News – Article – Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor's Batti Gul Meter Chalu gets a new release date – details inside – 18 July 2018
  22. Times of India – "Title Announcement – Batti Gul Meter Chalu" – 5 December 2017
  23. ""Batti Gul Meter Chalu" Trailer Released". Headlines Today. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  24. "Shahid and Mira Kapoor attend special screening of Batti Gul Meter Chalu". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  25. "BATTI GUL METER CHALU – SHOWTIMES". VOX Cinemas. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  26. Hindustan Times – Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor wrap Batti Gul Meter Chalu with Mika Singh song – 12 June 2018
  27. "Batti Gul Meter Chalu – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Gaana.
  28. "'Batti Gul Meter Chalu' Review: Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor's social drama educates but fails to entertain". dna. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  29. "Batti Gul Meter Chalu Movie Review". The Times of India. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  30. "Batti Gul Meter Chalu movie review: The Shahid Kapoor starrer is a film with good intentions". The Indian Express. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  31. "CRITIC REVIEWS FOR BATTI GUL METER CHALU". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  32. "Batti Gul Meter Chalu review: Shahid Kapoor film is low on voltage". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  33. Indian Express – "T-Series, Vashu Bhagnani at loggerheads over rights of 'Batti Gul Meter Chalu', 'Fanney Khan'" – 26 June 2018
  34. "Case filed against writers, director of Shahid Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor's Batti Gul Meter Chalu". 20 May 2018.
  35. Hungama, Bollywood (2 June 2018). "Batti Gul Meter Chalu makers reach an agreement over writing credit – Bollywood Hungama".
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