Bajrangi Bhaijaan () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama musical film co-written and directed by Kabir Khan, based on an original story by screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad, and produced by Salman Khan, Rockline Venkatesh and Kabir Khan. The film stars Salman with debutante Harshaali Malhotra, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and tells the story of Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi, a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman, who embarks on a journey to take a mute six-year-old Pakistani Muslim girl Shahida, separated in India from her mother, back to her hometown.
Made on a budget of , the principal photography commenced in November 2014. The cinematography was done by Aseem Mishra and was edited by Rameshwar S. Bhagat. Julius Packiam composed the film score while the songs featured in the film were composed by Pritam.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan received widespread critical acclaim upon release. Critics praised its storyline, dialogues, music, cinematography, direction, and cast performances, particularly those of Salman Khan, Siddiqui, and Malhotra; the film became a commercial success, grossing worldwide, and is currently the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film. It was also the highest-grossing Indian film of the year. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 63rd National Film Awards and was nominated for 4 awards at the 61st Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Kabir Khan) and Best Actor (Salman Khan), and won Best Story (V. Vijayendra Prasad). It was also nominated for Best Foreign Film in China's 2015 Douban Film Awards.
Plot In a mountainous village in Sultanpur, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, Shahida, a six-year-old mute girl, falls from a cliff. Though rescued, her inability to speak leaves her stranded for hours. Desperate for a cure, her mother, Razia, takes her to the Nizamuddin Auliya shrine in Delhi, India. On their return journey, the train halts for repairs near the border. Shahida steps off to rescue a trapped sheep, but the train departs without her. Stranded in India, she boards a freight train that takes her to Haryana.
Shahida encounters Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi, a devout Hindu Brahmin and an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman living in Delhi. Noticing her disability and assuming she is lost, Pawan names her "Munni" and takes her in. Pawan lives with his father's friend, Pandey, whose daughter, Rasika, is Pawan's fiancée. Pandey is deeply conservative and skeptical of the girl's origins, but Pawan rationalizes that her fair skin indicates a Brahmin background. However, Munni's preference for meat and her eventual entry into a mosque reveal her Muslim identity. Later, while watching a cricket match, Munni cheers for Pakistan, confirming her nationality.
Furious, Pandey demands her removal. Pawan tries the Pakistani embassy, but a riot suspends all visa processing. He then turns to a travel agent, handing over the savings meant for his future home with Rasika. When Pawan discovers the agent actually sold Munni to a brothel, he overcomes his pacifism, thrashes the traffickers, and resolves to personally escort Munni back to Pakistan without a passport or visa.
Assisted by a border smuggler, Pawan breaches the frontier. His rigid honesty leads him to demand permission from Pakistani border guards, resulting in a severe beating before they reluctantly let him pass. In Pakistan, Pawan is arrested under suspicion of being an Indian spy after Munni playfully steals a policeman's handcuffs. Chand Nawab, a struggling local journalist, initially seeks to exploit the "spy" story but realizes Pawan's innocence after witnessing his dedication to Munni.
Nawab decides to help them, documenting their journey while evading the police. They receive shelter from a sympathetic Islamic scholar, Azad, who helps them disguise themselves in burqas to escape the city. When mainstream television channels reject Nawab's heartwarming footage as unnewsworthy, he uploads the videos to YouTube.
Reviewing old footage, Munni spots her mother on a bus. Nawab identifies the route, leading them to her home village in Sultanpur. As the police close in, Pawan distracts them, allowing Nawab to safely reunite Munni with her parents, while Pawan is captured and tortured in custody.
Nawab's video detailing Pawan's sacrifice goes viral, sparking massive public outcries in both India and Pakistan. Under immense international and public pressure, Pakistani officials agree to release Pawan at the Narowal border crossing. Thousands of citizens from both nations gather at the gates. As Pawan walks back toward India, Munni, running to the fence, overcomes her speech impediment through sheer emotion and calls out to him. Pawan turns back, and the two share an emotional embrace across the border.
Cast
Production
Development The film's story writer V. Vijayendra Prasad stated that the idea of the film was inspired by the 1987 Telugu film Pasivadi Pranam, which itself is a remake of the Malayalam film Poovinu Puthiya Poonthennal (1986). Prasad also took inspiration from a story he heard about a Pakistani couple coming to India for their daughter's heart surgery. It has also been noted that the core plot is equivalent to that of the 2006 Kannada movie Kallarali Hoovagi.
Kabir Khan noted that the script of Bajrangi Bhaijaan was influenced by some of his own experiences. He noted the influence of the Hindu epic Ramayana, which he used to watch Ramlila plays of as a child, and particularly the Hindu deity Bajrangi (Hanuman), who left a strong impression on him as a child. He felt that Bajrangi was a character who was loved by people all religious communities in India, including Hindus and Muslims in India, due to how Bajrangi brought joy and fun to many Indian children. Khan began writing Bajrangi Bhaijaan partly in response to the rise of religious sectarianism in India since the 1980s and particularly in response to the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu fundamentalist organisation that appropriated Bajrangi for violent sectarian motives and played a central role in the deadly 2002 Gujarat riots, leading to the name Bajrangi having communal connotations. He began writing Bajrangi Bhaijaan in 2013 as a way of reclaiming Bajrangi for all communities, and as a way of bringing Hindus and Muslims together.
The film's casting director was Mukesh Chhabra.
Principal photography The principal photography began on 3 November 2014 in New Delhi, with Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan participating. The second filming schedule took place at the ND Studios, Karjat. The third schedule of the film was held in Mandawa, Rajasthan. On 7 January 2015, Khan was seen on the top of the castle of Mandawa playing cricket with a young boy. On 10 January 2015, Khan shot with school students in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district.Salman Khan Surprises School Children on the Sidelines of Bajrangi Bhaijaan Shoot – NDTV Movies. Movies.ndtv.com (10 January 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015. Shooting of the film was completed on 20 May. Some scenes of the film were shot at Khan's Panvel farm house. Shooting also took place in the Kashmir Valley in places like Sonamarg and Zoji La.Kashmir Connection: Salman Khan Tells Twitter Hes Reminded of Katrina Kaif – NDTV Movies. Movies.ndtv.com (19 May 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015.PHOTOS: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor back from Kashmir after wrapping up ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. The Indian Express (20 May 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015.Salman Khan: Press conference in Kashmir wasn't to promote ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. The Indian Express (21 May 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015.Salman Khan Wraps Bajrangi Bhaijaan in Kashmir, Flies to Mumbai – NDTV Movies. Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved on 19 July 2015. The film's climax was shot at Sonmarg near the Thajiwas glacier (at 10,000 ft above sea level) with around 7,000 people.Salman Khan leaves Sonamarg fans disappointed : Bollywood, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (15 May 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015.Bajrangi Bhaijaan climax was shot at 10,000 ft above sea level . Hindustantimes.com (23 June 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015.Salaam Bhaijaan. Telegraphindia.com (14 July 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015. Nawazuddin Siddiqui's character Chand Nawab was inspired by a real character Chand Nawab, who was with Karachi-based Indus News in 2008.Meet Chand Nawab: Nawazuddin's inspiration in Bajrangi Bhaijaan . Hindustantimes.com. Retrieved on 20 July 2015.Desk, Entertainment. (12 July 2015) Pakistani reporter Chaand Nawab inspires a rendition in Bajrangi Bhaijaan – The Express Tribune. Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved on 20 July 2015.
Music
A. R. Rahman was initially in talks to compose the music of the film, however he did not sign the film. The music was then composed by Kabir Khan's usual collaborators, with Pritam composing the songs and Julius Packiam composing the score. The lyrics were written by Mayur Puri, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Neelesh Misra, Shabbir Ahmed, and Kausar Munir while Julius Packiam composed the score. The soundtrack of the movie become Super Hit. The Song "Bhar Do Jholi" one of the biggest hits of 2015 sang by Adnan Sami. The soundtrack album consists of eleven tracks, was released on 17 June 2015. "Tu Chahiye" and "Selfie Le Le Re" become chartbusters.
The film includes the qawwali "Bhar Do Jholi Meri Ya Muhammad" originally written by Purnam Allahabadi and composed and sung by the Sabri Brothers. The qawwali was revamped with the voice of Adnan Sami Khan and partly includes "Dam Ali Ali". EMI Pakistan and Amjad Sabri heir to the Sabri Brothers, have called for legal action against the producers of the film and the qawwali in separate instances.
Release Initially announced as an Eid 2014 release, the film was rescheduled to 12 January 2014. Bajrangi Bhaijaan was released on 17 July 2015, one day before Eid, on 4,500 screens in India and 1,000 screens in overseas respectively.‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ storms the box office on opening day. Livemint (14 July 2015). Retrieved on 19 July 2015. The film was also released in 50 countries outside India, on more than 700 screens.
In November 2017, it was announced that Bajrangi Bhaijaan was set to release in China, following the success of Aamir Khan's Dangal (2016) in the country. In December 2017, it was announced the film would release there in 2018. Prior to the announcement, Bajrangi Bhaijaan had a cult following in China, where it has an average rating of 8.6 out of 10 on the popular film site Douban, with over 70,000 votes. It placed fourth on Douban's list of top foreign films of 2015. Bajrangi Bhaijaan was released in China under the title 小萝莉的猴神大叔 which roughly translates as "Little Lolita's Monkey God Uncle"; "monkey god" is a rough translation of "Bajrangi" while "little lolita" and "uncle" reference the characters. The Chinese version was also cut down in length to 140 minutes.
In January 2018, it was announced that the film would be getting a wide release, on 8,000 screens in China, building on the Chinese box office success of Aamir Khan's Dangal and Secret Superstar (2017), and Bajrangi Bhaijaans positive word-of-mouth. The film released in China on 2 March 2018. On 6 February 2018, the film had advance screenings in 29 Chinese cities, receiving a positive reception from audiences. It also had a limited preview on 25 February 2018. The film's China premiere on 27 February 2018 was attended by Kabir Khan and Harshali Malhotra. Its release date of 2 March 2018 marks the Lantern Festival, which celebrates families coming together.