| Toilet: Ek Prem Katha | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release posters | |
| Directed by | Shree Narayan Singh |
| Written by | Siddharth Singh |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Anshuman Mahaley |
| Edited by | Shree Narayan Singh |
| Music by |
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Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Viacom 18 Motion Pictures (India) Reliance Entertainment through 20th Century Studios and Paramount Pictures (Overseas) |
Release date |
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Running time | 155 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹75 crore[2] |
| Box office | est. ₹311.5 crore[3] |
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (transl. Toilet: A Love Story) or simply Toilet, is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film[4] directed by Shree Narayan Singh.[5][6] Co-produced by Akshay Kumar and Neeraj Pandey,[7] the film stars Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar,[8] with campaigns to improve sanitation conditions in India, with an emphasis on the eradication of open defecation, which, before the Swachh Bharat mission, was still a problem, especially in rural areas.[6]
Up until then, the lack of infrastructure led to nearly half of the rural population defecating in the open (2015). In 2021 though, this amount had greatly decreased to 15% for the general population (1% for urban areas, and 22% for rural areas[9]). It was reported that the movie is based on the true story of Anita Narre from Madhya Pradesh, who refused to go back to her husband Shivram's home because it had no toilet.[10][11] In fact, after the ending of the film, a photograph of Narre couple is shown with Bhumi Pednekar, and this fact is mentioned as a subtitle. In the beginning of the film too, it is narrated that the film is inspired by a true incident, although the name of real characters comes only towards the end.
The film released on 11 August, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from the critics for the scripting and performances of lead actors. It was a commercial success domestically as well as overseas, particularly in China. It became Kumar's highest-grossing film of all time and the fourth highest grossing Indian film of the year grossing ₹311.02 crore worldwide.
The film received three nominations at the 63rd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Narayan Singh and Best Actor for Akshay Kumar.
- ^ "TOILET: EK PREM KATHA (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ Express Web Desk (30 July 2017). "Akshay Kumar on poor success rate of Bollywood films: In South, they don't spend more than £2 on publicity". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
firstpost2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ IBTimes (17 August 2017). "Toilet-Ek Prem Katha success: Haryana Government directs village heads to watch Akshay Kumar's film". International Business Times, India Edition. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- ^ ANI (19 September 2017). "Uttar Pradesh becomes the new flavour of Bollywood in 2017". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ BOC India Team (31 March 2017). "Toilet Ek Prem Katha Cast & Crew". BoxOfficeCollection.in. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ "Akshay Kumar: 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha' not a propaganda film". The Times of India. PTI. 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ Aggarwal, Shivangi (13 July 2021). "Is India really open-defecation-free? Here's what numbers say". Down To Earth. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
firstpostwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Madhya Pradesh woman awarded for leading 'toilet revolution'". NDTV. Agence France Presse. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.