Bachna Ae Haseeno

Bachna Ae Haseeno () is a 2008 Indian romantic comedy film directed by Siddharth Anand, whose previous projects included "Salaam Namaste" (2005) and "Ta Ra Rum Pum" (2007). The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba. The title of the film was taken from the popular song "Bachna Ae Haseeno" from "Hum Kisise Kum Naheen" (1977). It released on 15 August 2008 on the eve of Indian Independence Day and clashed with "God Tussi Great Ho" which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra. "Bachna Ae Haseeno" proved to be a hit at the box office, becoming the first hit of Kapoor's career and became the eighth-highest-grossing film of the year.
Plot.
The story narrates the journey of a young playboy named Raj Sharma (Ranbir Kapoor), who meets three young women at different stages in his life: Mahi (Minissha Lamba), a small-town girl from Punjab; Radhika (Bipasha Basu), an aspiring model in Mumbai; and Gayatri (Deepika Padukone), a non-resident Indian student in Australia.
In 1996, Raj runs into Mahi on the Eurorail during a trip to Switzerland. Mahi is a sweet, dreamy girl who believes in true love. When she misses her train, Raj helps her reach the airport through a different route. On the way, they share a kiss after Raj reads her a poem he wrote about her. At the airport, when she opens the paper on which Raj had written the poem, she finds it blank. She overhears Raj boasting to his friends about the "stuff" the pair did and is shocked and heartbroken. Raj realises she has overheard and shamefacedly leaves.
In 2002, Raj has moved to Mumbai and found a job with Microsoft as a game designer. He is in a live-in relationship with Radhika, an aspiring model. He receives an offer to move to Sydney for a Halo 3 game launch. He expects to be able to leave Radhika and move on, assuming she is capable of handling a break-up. This vision is shattered when Radhika declares that she intends to sacrifice her career to marry Raj and join him in Australia. Raj, unable to express his commitment phobia, boards his flight on the day he is to marry Radhika. Radhika learns this while waiting for him at the registrar's office dressed as a bride, and is left crestfallen.
In 2007, Raj now enjoys a successful career in Sydney. He meets Gayatri, a feisty and independent woman who drives a taxi at night and studies at business school during the day. As they date, he realises that his feelings for her challenge his misgivings toward commitment. He proposes, but Gayatri turns him down, saying that she is happy with her life as is. Rejection cuts Raj deep. He recalls when he broke the hearts of Mahi and Radhika, realising how they must have felt. He decides to seek them out and ask for forgiveness.
On his return to India in 2008, he first seeks out Mahi, who is now married and has two sons. Her husband Joginder (Kunal Kapoor) expresses his anger, explaining that while Mahi appears the perfect housewife and perfect mother, she no longer believes in love because of him. Raj apologises to Mahi and convinces her that her husband is her true love. She opens up to Joginder and forgives Raj.
Raj then searches for Radhika and discovers that she has changed her name to Shreya and has become a successful supermodel. Shreya refuses to accept his apologies and tells him that if he really wants her forgiveness, he will have to work for it. To do this, Raj becomes her personal assistant and she makes him do all sorts of tasks, even serving at parties. She humiliates him on every occasion, but he remains firm, serving without complaint. She finally gives up and tells him how hurt she had felt back then, and asks him to leave. However, before Raj goes home, she arrives and tells him that she realised that the root of her frustration was bottled-up hate against him that she no longer bears. Content, Raj returns to Australia. On his return, he finds a pile of letters from Gayatri, written over the six months he was gone. She regrets turning him down. The lovers reconcile and confess their love.
Production.
In April 2007, sources indicated that director Siddharth Anand had signed for the main lead in his next film. However, after saying the news was "mere speculation" and "absolutely untrue," Anand later confirmed that Kapoor was starring in his film.
The director was also in talks with the actresses Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Amrita Rao for the roles in question, but indicated that "it wouldn't be right to reveal their names till we sign them on the dotted line." In June 2007, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone were finalised to play two of leading ladies, but the former's role was later removed due to the film's story becoming too long. Actress Amrita Rao was considered to play one of the leading ladies but opted out.
The heroines share very limited time on screen together and therefore most of their parts were filmed separately. Deepika Padukone's portions were filmed in Sydney while the song "Khuda Jaane" was shot at locations in Italy, including Venice, Alberobello, Santa Cesarea Terme, Mattinata, Apulia, Naples, and Capri. Minissha Lamba's portions, inspired by Yash Chopra's "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", were filmed in the similar locales of Amritsar and Switzerland. Bipasha Basu's portions were filmed in Mumbai, India and Capri, Italy. Ranbir Kapoor's look in the film was styled by Aki Narula, which changed with time. In the title track, Ranbir had at least 10 wardrobe changes in a single shot. Though he found styling for 3 lead actresses' characters exciting and challenging, as all play different types who enter into Ranbir's life at different times, so he ensured that the styling was unique without any overlapping.
Continuing the tradition of showcasing the first look of their upcoming films with their latest release, Yash Raj Films showcased the first trailer of the film on 25 April 2008 with the release of Vijay Krishna Acharya's "Tashan" and a second trailer was shown on 27 June 2008 with the release of Kunal Kohli's "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic". Yash Raj Films usually does not spend much money on promotion. However, it made an exception with "Bachna Ae Haseeno". Instead of the usual promotion 2–3 weeks before a movie release, the production house planned a new strategy with promotion over two months.
Since two of the film's characters work for Microsoft Game Studios, plenty of video games released by them are referenced. In addition, nearly all of the films referenced are releases from Yash Raj Films, with the notable exception of "Hum Kisise Kum Naheen" (1977).
Reception.
Critical reception.
The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. "Indiafm.com" gave it 2.5 stars out of 5, with Taran Adarsh commenting, "On the whole, [it] has an interesting first half, but a weak second hour spoils the show." "AOL India" gave it 3 stars out of 5, with Noyon Jyoti Parasara saying, "Overall, Siddharth Anand seems to have hit the bull's eye this time after a not-so-great "Ta Ra Rum Pum". At least the first half of the film looked like it would pull out Yash Raj Films out of the rot!"
Soundtrack.
There are a total of 7 tracks in the movie including a remix version. The album entered the Top 3 of the music charts within a couple of days of its arrival on the stands. The lyrics of all the songs are written by Anvita Dutt Guptan. According to the Indian trade website "Box Office India", with around units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's sixth highest-selling, with the songs "Khuda Jaane" and "Bachna Ae Haseeno" being popular among the masses.