Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShelly Chopra Dhar
Screenplay by
Produced byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Starring
CinematographyHimman Dhamija
Edited byAshish Suryavanshi
Music byRochak Kohli
Production
company
Distributed byFox Star Studios
Release date
  • 1 February 2019 (2019-02-01)
Running time
120 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹300 million[2]
Box officeest. ₹398.6 million[3]

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (transl. How I felt when I saw that girl)[4] is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar. The screenplay was written by Dhar and Gazal Dhaliwal, with the story inspired by the 1919 novel A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse.[5] It stars Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, and Juhi Chawla, and features Abhishek Duhan, Madhumalti Kapoor, Seema Pahwa, Brijendra Kala, Alka Kaushal and Kanwaljit Singh in supporting roles. Akshay Oberoi and Regina Cassandra make special appearances in the film. The film tells the story of Sweety Chaudhary, a closeted lesbian, and her attempts to come out to her conservative and traditional Punjabi family.[lower-alpha 1]

The film is the first collaboration between real-life father and daughter, Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor [6] and marks the Bollywood debut of Regina Cassandra.[7] It was released worldwide on 1 February 2019. The screenplay was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its library's Core Collection.[8]

Plot

A young Punjabi woman, Sweety Chaudhary, is under pressure from her traditional family to marry. She meets a young woman named Kuhu and Kuhu's brother Raza at a wedding. A year passes. In Delhi, Sahil Mirza is a playwright though not very successful, and his father, a famous film producer, thinks he should give up being a playwright. Sweety sees a rehearsal of his latest play and remarks that it is amusing but the romance is superficial. A man comes chasing her, and Sahil helps her flee. She escapes while Sahil fights the man, and Sahil accidentally hits a policeman. At the police station, Sahil learns that the man is Sweety's brother Babloo, and they live in Chaudhary Manor, Moga, Punjab. Sahil wants to see Sweety again and decides to write his next play in Moga. He is joined by Chatro, a caterer and enthusiastic amateur actress.

Sweety and Babloo's single father, Balbir Chaudhary, runs Chaudhary Garments, a clothing company. He actually wanted to become a cook, but his mother Beeji insists men do not belong in the kitchen. Babloo claims that Sweety has been going to Delhi to see a Muslim boy, so she must not be allowed to leave the house. Sahil goes to the manor with a letter for her. He sees Balbir cooking. Incorrectly assuming Balbir is the cook, Sahil pays him to give the letter to Sweety. This convinces Balbir that Sahil is Sweety's Muslim boyfriend. Sahil next pays Balbir's employee Chaubey to pass along a message to Sweety, and Chaubey tells Sahil that Sweety loves him though the family disapproves of her dating him because he is Muslim. A few individuals employed by the family bet on who Sweety will marry, with the cook Billauri betting on someone from a matchmaking app. Chaubey bets on “Mr. X”, any unknown outsider. Sweety learns Sahil is holding acting classes, and goes with Beeji and Billauri to the class. Sahil and Chatro are invited to Beeji's birthday party the following day.

At Beeji's party, Chatro bonds with Balbir over cooking. He notices Sahil enjoying the party and tells the others that Sahil is Sweety's Muslim boyfriend. Chaubey hides Sahil and brings him to Sweety's room. Sahil says he loves her. She tells him Babloo lied and she is actually in love with a girl. Sahil is astonished and too drunk to properly respond. The next day, he cancels the acting class. Billauri saw Chaubey taking Sahil to Sweety's room and blackmails him into exchanging their bets. She helps Sweety see Sahil again. Sweety explains that she did not fit in as a child and now she hides the truth about herself. She is in a relationship with Kuhu. Babloo discovered this and tried to stop it, but she continued to see Kuhu in Delhi. She is glad to have a friend to confide in, and Sahil is glad to be her friend. Sweety wants to join Kuhu in London and study art there, yet she does not want to run away from her family. Chatro tells Balbir she is divorced with kids, and feels her kids should be free to marry or not, and to marry whomever they want to, regardless of religion. This inspires Balbir to invite Sahil to dinner and announce Sweety's engagement to him, which Babloo encourages.

Sweety resolves to marry Sahil to make her family happy, though Sahil is against this. Sahil's supportive mother reminds him about a successful play he wrote that was based on a true story. He offers to write a play for Balbir's upcoming fashion show, with Balbir, Chatro, and the others as the actors. Sahil writes a romance titled Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, which will star Sweety and Kuhu. Balbir at first finds the story absurd, but Sahil defends it as a fresh new story. Babloo is supposed to be away but finds out about the play and reveals Sweety is actually in a relationship with Kuhu, not Sahil. Balbir leaves angrily, though Sweety declares the show will go on. As it becomes apparent the play is about a romance between two women, members of the audience start to leave, though many remain. After Balbir reads Sweety's diary and sees how she has felt lonely and misunderstood, he returns to the stage to defend Sweety and Kuhu. He is now accepting and supportive. The audience applauds. Later, Sahil's father congratulates him on his fresh new play. Sweety suggests Sahil present the play in other places for others like her. Balbir opens a restaurant and starts a relationship with Chatro. Billauri, claiming the gender of “Mr. X” is irrelevant, wins the bet on who Sweety would marry.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began in Patiala on 29 January 2018.[9][10] Initially, Anil Kapoor began filming and Sonam Kapoor joined the production shortly thereafter.[11] It is produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banner of Vinod Chopra Films.[12]

The film's title is derived from a similarly named song from the 1994 film 1942: A Love Story, which also stars Anil Kapoor.[13][14] Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga marks the reunion, after 11 years, of Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla, one of India's popular onscreen couples.

Release

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga was released on 1 February 2019 on 1,500 screens in domestic circuit.[15][16] The film is distributed by Fox Star Studios,[17] and received a 12A certification from the British Board of Film Classification.[1]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 77% approval rating based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10.[18]

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it four stars out of five and wrote, "In the context of a commercial filmmaking tradition that has usually been appallingly uncaring of LGBTQ sensibilities, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha... is a whiff of fresh air, a huge leap forward from 2008's Dostana. It does not seek to derive mirth and frivolity from the theme, offering instead an earnest, unapologetic depiction of the act of coming out in a conservative society." He found the story "simple enough and is told in a manner that could be faulted for being overly chaste — the same-sex lovers embrace a few times but they do not as much as plant a kiss on each other's cheeks, let alone lips — but the film achieves something far bigger than a Bollywood crowd-pleaser can....[It]...goads the audience to think differently without trying to deviate from its primary purpose, which is to deliver entertainment."[19]

Gaurang Chauhan of Times Now rated the film three and a half stars out of five, and although he faulted the comedic conflict of Sweety being mistaken by her family as "in love with a 'musalmaan'", he concluded that "Overall, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is an important, well-intended film that is high on entertainment, boasts of great performances and rightfully deserves all the applause."[20]

Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today gave it four stars out of five, opining, "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga sets out to smash our ideas of right and wrong....It is an important film for the times we live in....Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor, along with writer Gazal Dhaliwal and director Shelly Chopra Dhar, deliver a brilliant lesbian love story that Bollywood should be proud of."[21]

Film critic Taran Adarsh gave the film three stars out of five, and said it was "brave" and "will surely trigger debates about love and life...."[22]

Box office

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga collected ₹2.90 crore on the first day of release.[3] The first week earned ₹17.19 crore in domestic circuit.[3] The film grossed ₹26 crore in the domestic market and ₹13.86 crore in the overseas market, for a combined worldwide gross of ₹39.86 crore.[3] Box Office Mojo reported a total US$3.3 million (est.) worldwide gross as of 24 February 2019.[23] It emerged as a box office failure.

Home media

The film became available as VOD on Netflix on 2 April 2019.[24][25]

Soundtrack

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Soundtrack album by
Rochak Kohli
Released8 January 2019[26]
Recorded2018
GenreFeature Film Soundtrack
Length17:49
LanguageHindi
LabelSaregama
External audio
audio icon Audio Jukebox on YouTube
Rochak Kohli chronology
Why Cheat India
(2019)		 Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
(2019)		 De De Pyaar De
(2019)

The music for the film was composed by Rochak Kohli, while the music of the title song was originally written by R.D. Burman for the film 1942: A Love Story, and the lyrics rewritten by Gurpreet Saini.[27] The soundtrack album was released by Saregama on 8 January 2019.[28][26][29]

Track listing
No.TitleMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga"Original Music: R.D. Burman
Recreated By: Rochak Kohli		Rochak Kohli, Darshan Raval2:35
2."Gud Naal Ishq Mitha"Rochak KohliHarshdeep Kaur, Navraj Hans3:39
3."Good Morning"Rochak KohliVishal Dadlani, Shannon Donald3:21
4."Chitthiye" Kanwar Grewal5:22
5."House Party Song" Sukhwinder Singh, Arjun Kanungo, Parry G2:52
Total length:17:49

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Fire (1996) is the first mainstream Bollywood film to feature a lesbian romance.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga gets 12A rating for references to discrimination by British Censors". Zee Media. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  2. ↑ Dogra, Tavishi (2 February 2019). "Bollywood goes big on budget! Here are the top mega budget upcoming movies of 2019". The Financial Express. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga – Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Bollywood's first major LGBTQ film". BBC News. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  5. ↑ McCahill, Mike (2 February 2019). "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga review - lesbian groundbreaker is crowdpleaser". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  6. ↑ Sharma, Priyanka (13 October 2017). "Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor team up for Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Aiyappan, Ashameera (20 February 2018). "Regina Cassandra to make Bollywood debut, bags an important role in Sonam Kapoor's film". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "Screenplay of Sonam Kapoor's Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga To Be Part of Oscars Library". News18. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Shiksha, Shruti (24 January 2018). "Details About Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Starring Sonam Kapoor And Dad Anil Kapoor". NDTV. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga: Shoot of Anil and Sonam Kapoor-starrer kicks off in Patiala". Firstpost. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "Anil Kapoor starts shooting for Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga, Sonam will join soon". Hindustan Times. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Sharma, Priyanka (10 February 2019). "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra: Have never pandered to what viewers want". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga title song: Anil Kapoor's iconic 1942 A Love Story song gets a 2019 version". Hindustan Times. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  14. ↑ Iyengar, Shriram (29 January 2019). "A great artiste should not be insecure, Vidhu Vinod Chopra on the original 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga'". Cinestaan. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga: Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao starrer to release on February 1, 2019". The Indian Express. 27 July 2018.
  16. ↑ Taran Adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (2 February 2019). "#EkLadkiKoDekhaTohAisaLaga had a lacklustre start, but picked up at select urban centres towards evening... Growth on Day 2 and Day 3 essential for a respectable weekend total... Fri ₹ 3.30 cr [1500 screens]. India biz" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ↑ Fox Star Hindi [@foxstarhindi] (30 January 2019). "On February 1, the secret will come out. #SetLoveFree with #EkLadkiKoDekhaTohAisaLaga. Book your tickets now" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 February 2019 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. February 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  19. ↑ Chatterjee, Saibal (1 February 2019). "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga Movie Review: Sonam, Anil Kapoor's Film Is A Whiff Of Fresh Air With Daring Vision And Entertainment". NDTV.
  20. ↑ Chauhan, Gaurang (1 February 2019). "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga Movie Review: An important, well-intended entertainer that deserves applause". Times Now News. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  21. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ananya (1 February 2019). "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga Movie Review: Sonam Kapoor powers excellent lesbian love story". India Today. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  22. ↑ taran adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (1 February 2019). "#EkLadkiKoDekhaTohAisaLaga: BRAVE! Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good to see unconventional themes being given dignity by mainstream actors... Will surely trigger debates about love and life... Anil, Juhi, Rajkummar, Sonam, Abhishek Duhan are top notch" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". Box Office Mojo. Amazon. 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  24. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". New On Netflix –USA–. April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  25. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". instantwatcher.com. April 2019. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  26. 1 2 "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". JioSaavn. 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  27. ↑ Lulla, Sonia (28 January 2019). "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga composer Rochak Kohli strikes gold on number 12". Mid-Day. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  28. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga". Saregama. 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  29. ↑ "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (EP)". Soundtrack.Net. 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

Further reading

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