English Vinglish

English Vinglish
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGauri Shinde
Screenplay byGauri Shinde
Story byGauri Shinde
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyLaxman Utekar
Edited byHemanti Sarkar
Music byAmit Trivedi
Production
company
Hope Productions
Distributed byEros International
Release dates
  • 14 September 2012 (2012-09-14) (TIFF)
  • 5 October 2012 (2012-10-05) (India)
Running time
134 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹10 crore[2][better source needed]
Box office₹198 crore (see below)

English Vinglish is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Gauri Shinde. The film stars Sridevi as Shashi Godbole, a small entrepreneur who makes snacks and sweets. Shashi enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills[3] and gains self-respect in the process. Shashi was written by Shinde, inspired by her mother. The film marked Sridevi's return to film acting after a 15-year hiatus post Judaai (1997); it also features Adil Hussain, French actor Mehdi Nebbou, and Priya Anand.[3] Amitabh Bachchan makes a cameo appearance in the film's Hindi version, whereas Ajith Kumar replaced him the same portions of the film which was reshot for the Tamil-dubbed version.[4]

English Vinglish premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received a 5-minute standing ovation[5][6] Before its release, the film was screened for the Indian press and critics.[7][8] The film was released theatrically on 5 October 2012. It received universal critical acclaim, with reviewers raving Shinde's direction and screenplay, Sridevi's performance as well as the film's soundtrack and cinematography. It became a major financial success as well, grossing ₹102 crore against a budget of ₹10 crore.[2]

English Vinglish won all of the Best Debut Director awards of 2012 for Gauri Shinde. It was shortlisted as India's official entry for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.[9] The film earned global acclaim at several international festivals and Sridevi was hailed as the "Meryl Streep of India"[10] and the "female Rajinikanth".[11]

  1. ^ "English Vinglish (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b "English Vinglish". boxofficeindia. BOI. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017. Budget: ₹26 crore
  3. ^ a b "Amitabh to do a cameo in English Vinglish". IBNLive. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Boney Kapoor- India's Biggest Crossover Filmmaker". The Avenue Mail. 12 November 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference tortoi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference torin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ IndiaToday. "English Vinglish has the biggest premiere of the year". Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  8. ^ Hindustan Times. "Critics Verdict: Sridevi's English Vinglish a Must Watch". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012.
  9. ^ Times of India (15 September 2013). "2 Kannada films in race for Oscar entry". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 September 2013.
  10. ^ Times of India (17 September 2012). "Sridevi being hailed as India's Meryl Streep". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013.
  11. ^ India Today. "Sridevi – the female Rajinikanth in Japan?". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.