Raabta (film)

Raabta
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dinesh Vijan
Written by	Siddharth-Garima
Produced by	Dinesh Vijan Homi Adajania Bhushan Kumar
Starring	Sushant Singh Rajput Kriti Sanon Jim Sarbh Varun Sharma Rajkumar Rao
Narrated by	Irrfan Khan
Cinematography	Martin Preiss
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad Huzefa Lokhandwala
Music by	Score: Sachin–Jigar Songs: Pritam JAM8 Meet Bros
Production companies	Maddock Films T-Series
Distributed by	AA Films
Release date	9 June 2017 (2017-06-09)
Running time	148 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	₹39.05 crore

Raabta (transl. Connection) is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Dinesh Vijan in his directorial debut and co-produced by Vijan, Homi Adajania, and Bhushan Kumar. It stars actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, with Jim Sarbh, Rajkummar Rao, and Varun Sharma in supporting roles. The story is based on the concept of reincarnated star-crossed lovers.

The film had faced controversy from producer Allu Aravind of Geetha Arts, who claimed that the film's storyline and characters strongly resembled those of the studio's 2009 film Magadheera.^[1] It received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and was a commercial failure, grossing ₹39 crore at the worldwide box office.^[2]

Shiv Kakkar, a fun-loving banker from Amritsar, moves to Budapest for a lucrative job opportunity along with his childhood friend, Radha. In Budapest, he continues his playboy ways until he meets Saira Singh, a chocolatier haunted by mysterious nightmares of drowning. Despite being on a date with another woman, Shiv feels an intense connection with Saira, who initially rejects his advances due to her existing relationship with her boyfriend, Manav. However, Shiv convinces her to be with him instead, leading to the end of her relationship with Manav.

As Shiv and Saira grow closer, she reveals her fear of water, stemming from a childhood trauma when her parents drowned. Shiv then leaves for a business trip, and during his absence, Saira meets Zakir, who later kidnaps her. Zakir claims they were lovers in a past life, showing her paintings of her from that time and triggering memories of her previous life as a warrior princess named Saiba. In that life, Saiba loved a warrior named Jilaan (Shiv in the present), but their love story ended in tragedy when Qaabir (Zakir in the present) killed Jilaan out of jealousy.

To prevent history from repeating, Saira initially agrees to marry Zakir but eventually decides to fight back. Shiv, unaware of their past lives but deeply in love with Saira, helps her escape. In a final confrontation, Zakir tries to kill Shiv, but they both fall into the ocean, and Zakir drowns while Saira saves Shiv. They are rescued by the navy, and ten years later, Shiv and Saira, now married with twin sons, visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar, signifying their peaceful future.

• Sushant Singh Rajput as Jilaan, and his reincarnation Shiv Kakkar, who is Saira's boyfriend-turned-husband
• Kriti Sanon as Saiba, who was Jilaan's wife, and her reincarnation Saira Singh, who is Shiv's girlfriend-turned-wife
• Jim Sarbh as Kaabir, who was Saiba's ex-lover, and his reincarnation Zakir "Zack" Merchant, who is Saira's ex-fiancé
• Varun Sharma as Radha Chembare, Shiv's childhood friend
• Vikas Verma as Manav Mehta, Saira's former boyfriend
• Karan Singh Chhabra as Happy
• Rajkummar Rao as Muraaqi (guest appearance)
• Deepika Padukone as an item number(special appearance in the song "Raabta")

The film production began in 2015 and it was set to release in 2016. But the film was delayed for a year due to casting issues. In March 2016, a new release date of 9 June 2017 was announced.^[3] The film has been majorly shot in Budapest, Hungary and India. Title song Raabta was shot at Tata Castle in Tata, Hungary. The song Sadda Move was shot at Partition Museum, Amritsar.^[4] Budget of the film is ₹59.07 Crores (₹590.7 Million).^[5] The total number of screen count in India was 1820 and 330 overseas.^[6]

Alia Bhatt was initially considered to play the lead role opposite Sushant Singh Rajput, but turned down the role over scheduling conflicts.^[7] In December 2015, Asin was approached to play the lead role opposite Rajput, but she turned down the offer because of her decision to not act post marriage. Kriti Sanon was signed on to play the lead female role in the film in February 2016.^[8]

Raabta makers received a legal notice over plagiarism from Magadheera producer Allu Aravind. Raabta producers offered to show Arvind the film. They also offered to deposit an escrow amount with the court, but Arvind reportedly rejected both.^[9] A source says it was likely Arvind wanted Magadheera to be remade in Hindi, and was concerned no one would be interested after Raabta.^[10] On 8 June 2017, the courts ruled in favor of Raabta makers.^[11]

Bollywood Hungama rated it 3.5/5.^[12] The Times of India rated it 3.5/5, writing "If sparks flew more organically, it would have been easier to make a connection with this epic tale of love."^[13] Koimoi rated it 2/5, writing "Raabta is a confused film that never establishes a firm balance between its crossover love stories." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated it 1.5/5, writing, "Some questions arise after Raabta has been seen, chief amongst which is one that comes up every time Bollywood tries, and fails, to do a cracking romance. Why is Bollywood incapable of pulling off a full-length film with a pair of lovers connecting, pulling apart, coming together?"^[14] India Today rated it 1/5, calling it "A comet-crossed romance which never hits the target."^[15]

Critic Rajeev Masand gave the movie one out of five, stating, "This is a movie so singularly pointless, you have to wonder how the writers and the director tricked the financiers into thinking there was a story here worth telling, and why the actors preferred going to shoot every morning instead of sleeping longer hours. This is the kind of film that film critics must endure so you don't have to. Even Denzel Washington couldn't save this film. I’m going with one out of five."^[16]

The film's music was composed by Pritam, JAM8 and Meet Bros while lyrics are penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Irshad Kamil and Kumaar. The first song of the film "Ik Vaari Aa" sung by Arijit Singh was released on 21 April 2017. The second track of the film "Raabta" (Title Track) is a remake from 2012 film Agent Vinod's "Raabta (Kehte Hain Khuda)" by Irshad Kamil, and by original makers, Amitabh Bhattacharya and Pritam, sung by Arijit Singh (who had also the original) and Nikhita Gandhi and were released on 2 May 2017. The third song, "Sadda Move," sung by Diljit Dosanjh and Pardeep Singh Sran and rapped by Raftaar was released on 9 May 2017. The fourth song, titled "Lambiyaan Si Judaiyaan", sung by Singh, Shadab Faridi and Altamash Faridi, was released on 18 May 2017. The fifth track of the film "Main Tera Boyfriend" is a remake from 2007 album "Punjabi Blockbuster", song "Girl Friend Boy Friend" sung by Gopal Sharma,^[17] written by Kumaar and composed by Sohrabuddin and Sourav Roy, was recreated for this film and was released on 22 May 2017. The sixth and the last song titled "Darasal" voiced by Atif Aslam was released on 1 June 2017. Music director Pritam gave his credit to his launched band JAM8 due to creative differences with producers. He cleared that he wants to work as a solo composer by posting a status on Facebook. The soundtrack consisted of 7 songs and was released on 3 June 2017.

By the opening weekend, the movie collected Rs. 159.3 million nationwide. The lifetime collection of Raabta was Rs. 256.7 million nationwide. The movie made worldwide gross collection of Rs. 390.5 million.^[18]

• Raabta at IMDb