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''Chennai Express'' is a 2013 Indian
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language
action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...
directed by
Rohit Shetty Rohit Shetty (born 14 March 1974) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, stuntman, producer and television personality who works in Hindi cinema. A notable director of Hindi cinema, his movies often mix the genres of action comedy and masala f ...
and produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Red Chillies Entertainment. It stars
Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
,
Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...
and with Nikitin Dheer and Sathyaraj in supporting roles. The film revolves around Rahul Mithaiwala, a businessman who accidentally boards the eponymous train and journeys from
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
to Rameswaram with the daughter of an influential crimeboss. The first planned collaboration between Khan and Shetty was a remake of '' Angoor'' (1982). The script of ''Chennai Express'', which was initially written as a backup project for Khan, was chosen instead. Conceived as a "commercial romance", the film was originally titled ''Ready Steady Po''. Filming began in
Mehboob Studio Mehboob Studio is an Indian film studio and recording studio in Bandra (W), Mumbai, founded in 1954 by director and producer Mehboob Khan, who previously owned Mehboob Productions (founded 1942), and is most known for films such as '' Mother I ...
in October 2012 and was completed by May 2013. A large part of the film was set in
Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...
, for which sets were constructed in Wai and also in Ramoji Film City. The soundtrack for ''Chennai Express'' was composed by Vishal–Shekhar, with the background score being composed by Amar Mohile. UTV Motion Pictures came on board as producer and distributor, marking its first active project with Khan after '' Swades'' (2004). ''Chennai Express'' was released theatrically in international markets on 8 August 2013 and a day later in India. The film received mixed reviews from critics and it broke several box office records in India and abroad, becoming the quickest film to collect net domestically. The film surpassed ''
3 Idiots ''3 Idiots'' is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Shar ...
'' (2009) to become the highest-grossing Hindi film worldwide at that point. The film become second highest grossing Indian film in 2013. Chennai Express has stayed among the top 50 highest-grossing Indian films for over a decade, from its 2013 release to 2024. With a worldwide gross of ₹395.92–424.54 crore, the film's blend of romance, comedy, and action has resonated with audiences worldwide, securing its place as one of the most beloved and commercially successful films in Indian cinema. At the 59th Filmfare Awards, ''Chennai Express'' received 7 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Shetty), Best Actor (Khan) and Best Actress (Padukone).


Plot

Rahul Mithaiwala, a 40-year-old rich bachelor, lives in Mumbai with his paternal grandparents. Rahul's grandfather Y. Y. Mithaiwala is a businessman and owner of a chain of confectionery shops. Before Y. Y.'s 100th-birthday celebration, Rahul's friends Bobby and Baman invite him to a vacation in Goa, which he accepts. Meanwhile, Y. Y. dies on the eve of the celebration when he witnesses
Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
on TV in a
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
match get dismissed on his 99th run. After Y. Y.'s funeral, Rahul's grandmother Neetu tells Rahul that Y. Y. wanted his ashes to be divided into two partsone part to be immersed in the Ganga, and the other in Rameswaram. Neetu asks Rahul to take the ashes to Rameswaram and disperse them. Rahul reluctantly accepts her request, but is also eager to visit Goa. Rahul, Bobby and Baman plan to dump the ashes in Goa, but Neetu wants to see him off, forcing Rahul to travel by train. Rahul books a single ticket on the ''Chennai Express'', planning to meet Bobby and Baman along the way, at Kalyan Junction station. However, Rahul forgets to take the ashes while alighting, where he almost misses the train when he returns to collect them. While trying to leave the train, Rahul notices a young woman running to board it and helps her and four men board the moving train, but the train leaves the station before he can get off. Rahul tries to flirt with the woman, who starts communicating by singing parodies of
Hindi film songs Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi, Filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood so ...
, and explains that the four men are trying to kidnap her. Rahul lends her his phone so that she can contact her friends, but the men with her grab it and throw it off the train. Rahul is annoyed, but says nothing because the men are carrying weapons. Rahul tells the Travelling Ticket Examiner about them, but they push the Examiner into a river below a bridge. A panicked Rahul learns that the four men are her cousins and that her name is Meenalochni "Meenamma" Azhagusundaram. Meenamma is fleeing from a
forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
to a gangster Tangaballi, Meenamma's father Durgeshwara "Durgesh" Azhagusundaram is a powerful mafia kingpin and landlord in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. Meenamma takes Rahul to Durgesh and introduces Rahul as her lover. Tangaballi challenges Rahul to a duel that Rahul unknowingly accepts due to his lack of understanding
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
. On the night of the duel, Rahul escapes with the help of a local policeman Shamsher, but he ends up on a boat with Sri Lankan smugglers. A gun battle ensues between the police force and the smugglers. The police officers investigate and take Rahul into custody, but Rahul tells his story and ends up back in Komban. Terrified and once again surrounded by Durgesh's sickle-wielding henchmen, Rahul pretends to take Meenamma hostage and escapes with her in Durgesh's car, battling Durgesh's men. When the car breaks down, Rahul and Meenamma quarrel and part ways. Rahul, not knowing which way to go, returns to Meenamma, who takes him to the Vidhamba village. Meenamma tells the villagers that they are a married couple who need protection and rest, to which the villagers agree. Meenamma realises that she has fallen in love with Rahul. When Rahul plans to sneak away, Meenamma argues, not wanting to earn the villagers' distrust. Tangaballi catches Rahul as he tries to leave, but the villagers help them escape again. Meenamma persuades Rahul to disperse Y. Y.'s ashes and travels with him to Rameswaram, where they complete the rite. On their way back, Rahul realises that he has fallen for Meenamma and does not tell her where they are going. Rahul takes Meenamma back to Durgesh and tries to make him understand and honour Meenamma's wish, where he also tells Meenamma that he loves her. Rahul tells Tangaballi and his goons that he is ready for the fight. In the fight that follows, Rahul is severely beaten, but emerges victorious. Durgesh and Tangaballi reform, accepting that the love of a common man like Rahul is bigger than their physical ability and political influence. Durgesh allows Rahul to marry Meena. Later, Rahul leaves a message that love knows no regional or language barriers and that with a strong heart, there is no limit to what the common man can achieve.


Cast

*
Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
as Meenalochni "Meenamma" Azhagusundaram *
Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...
as Rahul Mithaiwala * Nikitin Dheer as Tangaballi * Sathyaraj as Durgeshwara "Durgesh" Azhagusundaram * Kamini Kaushal as Neetu Mithaiwala *
Lekh Tandon Lekh Tandon (13 February 1929 – 15 October 2017) was an Indian filmmaker and actor. He had directed numerous Bollywood movies and Indian TV Serials. He gained national fame due to success of his directorial ventures Professor (1962 film), Pri ...
as Y. Y. Mithaiwala * Mukesh Tiwari as
Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...
Shamsher Singh * Puvisha Manoharan as Radhika "Radha" Azhagusundaram (Meenamma's cousin) * Manu Malik as Baman (Rahul's friend) * Rakesh Kukreti as Bobby (Rahul's friend) * Mohan Raman as the village priest *
Yogi Babu Yogi Babu (born 22 July 1985) is an Indian actor and comedian, who appears in Tamil films. He has won Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for '' Aandavan Kattalai'' (2016), '' Kolamavu Kokila'' (2018), '' Pariyerum Perumal'' (2018), '' Love Today'' ( ...
as the Sri Lankan smuggler *
Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...
as Durgeshwara's henchman *
Besant Ravi Besant Ravi (born R. Ravi Kumar; 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor and stunt choreographer. He has played antagonistic supporting roles in Tamil, Hindi and several other Indian language films. Early life Besant Ravi, who was born and brought up ...
as Durgeshwara's henchman *
King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...
as a passerby, who speaks in gibberish to Rahul. * Jimmy Moses as a truck driver *
Delhi Ganesh Ganesan Mahadevan (1 August 1944 – 9 November 2024), known by his stage name Delhi Ganesh, was an Indian actor who mostly acted in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He was well known for the versatility of roles he played during h ...
as a villager * Priyamani in special appearance in a item song "1 2 3 4 Get on the Dance Floor"


Production


Development and casting

Rohit Shetty Rohit Shetty (born 14 March 1974) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, stuntman, producer and television personality who works in Hindi cinema. A notable director of Hindi cinema, his movies often mix the genres of action comedy and masala f ...
had originally planned to team up with
Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...
for a remake of the 1982 film, '' Angoor''. After the 2011 blockbuster '' Singham'', Shetty had begun writing the script of the film but left it half-finished. The script of ''Chennai Express'' was ready for Khan as a back-up, because of the difficulty of obtaining the actor's filming dates. Upon reading the script, Khan liked the idea and agreed to star in it before the ''Angoor'' remake, causing ''Angoor'' remake to be postponed. Shetty said the film is "a hard-core commercial film with a romantic angle. The story is about this man's travel from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens during the journey." About 68 minutes of footage were enhanced with CGI by Reliance MediaWorks. Khan was the first actor to be approached with the script and was the first lead actor to be signed for the film. Rohit Shetty stated that despite the title, Khan would not play a South Indian in the film. The casting of the lead heroine was the subject of much press speculation; Kareena Kapoor,
Asin Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of List of awards and nominations ...
and
Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
were rumoured to be involved. Shetty denied those rumours, stating that the cast would be finalised in April 2012, and that he was going to cast an established actress in the role. In October 2012, it was confirmed that
Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
had been signed to play the female lead opposite Khan, and photographs showing Padukone and Khan shooting were released. This was Padukone's second film opposite Khan, with whom she made her Bollywood debut in the 2007 blockbuster ''
Om Shanti Om ''Om Shanti Om'' (transl. literally to ''Peace Be With You'') is a 2007 Hindi-language romantic fantasy film written and directed by Farah Khan, co-written by Mayur Puri and Mushtaq Shiekh, and produced by Gauri Khan under Red Chillies E ...
''. Starting with this film, which was released on Women's Day, Khan wished to have the name of his female co-star appear above his own in the credits. Sathyaraj was cast to play the role of Padukone's character's father, making his debut in Bollywood. Actress Priyamani was signed in January 2013 for an item number in the film replacing Nayanthara; both the actresses would eventually go on to star alongside Khan in '' Jawan''. Other personalities from
Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...
, including
Delhi Ganesh Ganesan Mahadevan (1 August 1944 – 9 November 2024), known by his stage name Delhi Ganesh, was an Indian actor who mostly acted in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He was well known for the versatility of roles he played during h ...
, Mohan Raman, Manorama and Kottachi, appear in minor roles; however, scenes involving the latter two did not make the final cut. The film was initially titled as ''Ready Steady Po'' (''Po'' means ''Go'' in Tamil). However, to emphasise on the connection with South India, the film was retitled as ''Chennai Express'' with the planned title used as the tagline.


Filming and post-production

Filming on the project began at
Mehboob Studio Mehboob Studio is an Indian film studio and recording studio in Bandra (W), Mumbai, founded in 1954 by director and producer Mehboob Khan, who previously owned Mehboob Productions (founded 1942), and is most known for films such as '' Mother I ...
in Mumbai on 5 October 2012. Additional filming was done at
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), also known sometimes as Victoria Terminus (VT), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The ter ...
with a minimal crew. Stills of the lead actor were unofficially released in mid-October 2012. In November 2012, the cast and crew went to Goa to begin filming the scenes set there. Vasco da Gama railway station was used to portray as Kalyan Junction railway station. A romantic scene on board a train passing next to Dudhsagar Falls was also shot. In December 2012, the crew went to
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
to film certain scenes. The Pamban Bridge also known as Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge, connecting the town of Mandapam in Tamil Nadu with Pamban Island, and Rameswaram was the scene for the song "Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na". In January 2013, a shoot was supposedly scheduled to take place in
Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...
, but since Khan felt that Ooty was too far from Mumbai, several locations from Ooty were reconstructed on the outskirts of Panchgani in Wai by the art director Narendra Ruharikar. It took over 40 days and 15 million to build the required sets. Filming in Wai took the entire month of March 2013. A 10-day shooting schedule in
Munnar Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantat ...
, Kerala, began in mid-April 2013; scenes were filmed at Devikulam Lake, Meesapulimala, Wagavara and Kannimala. Filming was stopped for several days because of heavy rainfall, resulting in the schedule being slightly extended until end of the same month. A press conference was held in Munnar. In May 2013, scenes were filmed in
North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...
. Padukone finished shooting on 25 May 2013. Khan flew to Ramoji Film City,
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
in May 2013 to film his remaining scenes. Though the film has several Tamil dialogues, Khan said the makers intentionally excluded subtitles to emphasise the language barrier between the Tamil speakers and the lead character. Instead, Padukone's character translates some of the Tamil dialogues. ''Chennai Express'' was produced by Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under the Red Chillies Entertainment banner. It was released internationally by UTV Motion Pictures.


Music

The score of ''Chennai Express'' was composed by Amar Mohile; the songs were composed by the duo Vishal–Shekhar, and the lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Yo Yo Honey Singh. Recording of the songs began in late October 2012. The track "Ready Steady Po" was recorded in November 2012 by the music's composers. Several sources said that the director and actor were unsatisfied with the score. The director was reportedly asked to plan for a different musical composition. However, the composers denied these rumours. In mid-April 2013, singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam recorded the title track for the film, marking his return to Bollywood for playback after an absence of fifteen years. He said the song celebrated the spirit of togetherness. Initially, Balasubrahmanyam was apprehensive, but chose to sing due to the content and leads of the film. The song "1 2 3 4 Get On The Dance Floor" was released as a promotional single on World Music Day. On 27 June 2013, the video promo of the song "Titli" was released, and on 11 July 2013, the promo video of " Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari" was released. On 19 July 2013, T-Series uploaded a song to its official channel on YouTube; sung by Honey Singh. The song was titled " Lungi Dance – The 'Thalaivar(r)' Tribute" in honour of the film actor Rajinikanth. On 25 July 2013, a promotional video of the song "Tera Rasta Main Chhodoon Na" was released. The music album was launched on 1 July 2013.


Release

The film had paid previews in India on 8 August 2013, with ten to twelve shows at multiplexes. ''Chennai Express'' was scheduled to be released in non-traditional international markets. In Peru, it was the first Hindi film to be released on the same day as in India. ''Chennai Express'' was also released in Morocco, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Israel. The price of tickets for ''Chennai Express'' was increased 40 percent above the usual tariff during the weekday shows and up to 20 percent on weekends; although this increase was not uniformly applied in all multiplexes. The film was released in 2,550 cinemas across 3,550 screens in India, and across 700 screens internationallyincluding 196 screens in North America, 175 in the United Kingdom, 55 in the Middle East, and 30 in Australiathe widest Bollywood release up to that point.


Marketing

A first look of ''Chennai Express'' was released on 1 January 2013. A 31-second title track teaser, sung by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, was released on 23 May 2013. The official trailer of the film was released at an event in Mumbai on 13 June 2013; two days after its launch it exceeded four million views on YouTube. The outfits worn by Khan and Padukone in the film were auctioned; proceeds from the sale were donated to a charity. The auction took place around the day of the film's release. A
Karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...
app developed by ''Singbox''a Swedish gaming studiowas launched on 2 August 2013 for Android and iOS based smartphones. Khan promoted his film on the reality television shows '' Comedy Nights with Kapil'', '' Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah'', '' Madhubala Ek Ishq Ek Junoon'', '' DID Super Moms'', '' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6'' and '' Indian Idol Junior''. The Zeitgeist
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
's year-end compilation of the most frequent search queriesnamed ''Chennai Express'' the most trending topic of 2013 in India. The film's satellite television rights were sold to Zee Network for . The agreement was linked to the film's box office revenuethe first deal of its kind in Indian cinema. If ''Chennai Express'' collected over net, then for every 100 million earned after that, the producers would get an additional 20 million. The film had its television premiere on 20 October 2013, and was seen by a record number of viewers, almost doubling that of the highest rated fiction show. It helped its broadcaster,
Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...
, to reach the top position among General Entertainment Channels that month.


Legal issues

Along with '' Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!'', ''Chennai Express'' was initially abandoned by Pakistani distributors and exhibitors because four
Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
films were released on the same day. The release dates were postponed to 15 and 9 August, respectively. During its Wai schedule of filming, the film's unit ran into trouble for using too much water from Dhom Dam, in the drought-stricken Satara district of
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
. The state's relief and rehabilitation minister, Patangrao Kadam, addressed the problem. The film's poster and trailer, released on Twitter and YouTube, were criticised by some Tamil media for their depiction of Tamil ethos. They said Padukone's heavily accented dialogue resembled a Malayalee accent rather than a Tamil one. Padukone defended the film, saying that it did not parody South Indian culture and that most of the crew, including herself, are South Indians. She later said, "Why would we spoof our own culture?" On 31 July 2013, the Nationalist political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's film wing threatened to disrupt the film's premiere; it reportedly attempted to dislodge ongoing popular Marathi movies from cinemas that show only one film at a time. The party was upset with reports that the distributors of ''Chennai Express'' had demanded prime slots in single-screen cinemas, and at some multiplexes, where the superhit Marathi film '' Duniyadari'' (2013) had been popular since 19 July. On 1 August 2013, both the film directors, Rohit Shetty and Sanjay Jadhav were called on by Raj Thackeray to find a solution. After listening to both parties, Thackeray ruled that if ''Duniyadari'' was not removed from single-screen cinemas across the state, then the MNS would not object to the release of ''Chennai Express'' in Maharashtra. ''Chennai Express'' was released in 10 languages.


Controversy

Upon release, the film's authenticity was questioned.
Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
's character had more similarities to Malayalis despite playing a Tamil character: she uses a nasal accent and wears a white sari. The song " Lungi Dance" was not considered an apt title since the men wear veshtis in the film.


Reception


Critical response

''Chennai Express'' received mixed reviews from critics.


India

Taran Adarsh of ''
Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides n ...
'' gave 4/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, '''Chennai Express''' has the trademark Rohit Shetty stamp all over. You seek entertainment, entertainment and entertainment in a film like '''Chennai Express''' and the movie lives up to the hype and hoopla surrounding it." Rachit Gupta of ''Filmfare'' gave 4/5 stars and wrote "The film's peppered with humorous set pieces and colourful locales and songs. Shetty makes chettinad-style masala movies. And that's the perfect description of this film. If you don't plan to engage in a multi-lateral critique of dramatic elements and narrative, this film can be fun." Sarita Tanwar Of ''
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
'' gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "This is a treat for all Hindi film lovers. It has all the ingredients you'd expect from a big commercial masala filmbig star cast, drama, action, comedy, songs, the car chases and the big finish, all delivered in Shetty's unapologetic ishtyle ...  Overall, this is a bubblegum blockbuster." Meena Iyer of ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Chennai Express is a magnificently mounted film. In an ode to his own cinemaread ''Golmaal'' series or ''Bol Bachchan'', Rohit Shetty, the director, who has grosser in Bollywood's 100-crore club, ups the scale for his Eid offering." Saibal Chatterjee of ''
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The whole-hearted zeal that SRK and Deepika bring to the table and the steady flow of funny one-liners serve Shetty's purpose well, turning ''Chennai Express'' into a full-on masala film that is completely unapologetic about its intentions. And that is its USP nique Selling Point" ''
Zee News Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language right-wing news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation. The channel has been involved in several controve ...
'' gave 3/5 stars, stating that if one ignores the platitudes, the absence of "punch" in the script and predictability, then the person is "on board for a fun ride" with Chennai Express. ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The good news first. Chennai Express''' is a pleasant and likeable film in parts. The bad news is, it does nothing for Shah Rukh Khan's indomitable star power except to tell us he can still play a 40-year ldRahul without faltering." Abhishek Gupta of ''
India TV India TV is a Hindi television news channel based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The channel was launched on 20 May 2004 by Rajat Sharma and his wife Ritu Dhawan. The channel is a subsidiary of Independent News Service, which was co-founded ...
'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "The comedy along with the action is rarely served with equal entertainment in today's cinema. We discern Rohit Shetty for his mass leisure which includes cars fluttering from the unknown corners and comedy which isn't slapstick but works." Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "Still, given the material, Shetty does more right than wrong...Shetty fashions a Shah Rukh Khan showreel, borrowing bits from his greatest hits, and gives us an unfettered avatar of the star that the star himself has seemed somewhat ashamed, of late, to embrace." Shubhra Gupta of ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote that the film comes up with some genuinely funny moments. She commended Padukone's looks, although she criticized aspects of her stagecraft skills. Sukanya Verma of ''Rediff.com'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Chennai Express evokes a few laughs but otherwise it decides to shift tracks from droll comedy to dreadful drama." Khalid Mohamed of ''
Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...
'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Board Chennai Express at your own risk". Rajeev Masand of '' CNN-IBN'' gave 2/5 stars and said the film was a "big, fat" bore. He commented that ''Chennai Express'' was a "bloated vanity project", and felt that the lead actor could have performed better. Anupama Chopra gave 2/5 stars and wrote "''Chennai Express'' plays neither to Rohit's strengths nor to Shah Rukh's. It's a strangely sloppy mishmash of cheesy humour, half-hearted romance, half-baked emotion and head-banging action. The film is filled with gigantic men whose size functions as a punch line."
Mayank Shekhar Mayank Shekhar is an Indian film critic, journalist and author. He has been a film critic and a national cultural editor with ''Hindustan Times''. He previously worked under ''Mumbai Mirror'' and ''MiD DAY''. He also used to write a blog, ''Fad F ...
of '' Dainik Bhaskar'' gave 1/5 stars and wrote "You've paid for the ticket? Yes. Now just sit back and suffer." Raja Sen of
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gave 1/5 stars and wrote "Shah Rukh Khan yelps and squeaks and shrieks and bares fangs and pouts and, well, exhausts himself overcompensating at every step, despite nobody else in the film following this template."


Overseas

Rachel Saltz of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote, "''Chennai Express''' feels like a sumptuous meal with carefully chosen wine and tasty appetizers but a botched main course. Money and visual care have been lavished on this Bollywood action-comedy-romance and glossy stars engaged (Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone). But the movie chugs along for most of its 2 hours and 20 minutes searching for comedy and characters in a frantically overplotted story." Sneha May Francis of '' Emirates 24/7'' wrote, "Rohit Shetty's s(h)tyle of romance relies heavily on buffoonery and will be applauded mainly by Shah Rukh Khan loyalists". She added, "Rohit's carnival-like comedy coaxes some laughs, but can leave you exhausted." Sneha said that Padukone's performance "outshines" that of Khan. Ronnie Scheib of '' Variety'' wrote, "Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone are ill matched in this overworked comedy/romance/actioner ... Shetty's need to maintain his characters' romantic heroism constantly grates against his depictions of their ridiculousness." Simon Foster of the ''
Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...
'' gave 2/5 stars and described it as "a loud, lame-brained romantic comedy from the (very) broad directorial brush of Rohit Shetty, SRK's over-hyped vehicle sees the charismatic but ageing actor badly miscast and easily overshadowed by his leading lady, Deepika Padukone."


Box office

At the time, ''Chennai Express'' became the highest-grossing Bollywood film, both in India and around the world, when it collected . It currently stands as the eighteenth-highest-grossing Bollywood film worldwide. The film's gross broke the record set by ''
3 Idiots ''3 Idiots'' is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Shar ...
'', according to ''Box Office India''. The film's final worldwide gross was 424
crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
(
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
72.31 million).


India

During paid previews, ''Chennai Express'' performed well, with the Hindi version collecting 67.5 million, surpassing the previous record held by ''3 Idiots'', according to ''
Box Office India Box Office India is an Indian film website dedicated to tracking, reporting, and analyzing the financial performance of films released in the Hindi entertainment industry. Established in 2003, Box Office India has become a prominent source of ...
''. The film collected 292.5 million on its opening day, making it the second-highest opening day collection behind '' Ek Tha Tiger''. The film broke the second and third day box office records, collecting , and , respectively, and collected ( including paid previews), breaking the previous weekend record set by ''
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani ''Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'' (), also abbreviated as ''YJHD'', is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Ayan Mukerji, written by Mukerji and Hussain Dalal, and produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Produc ...
''. ''Chennai Express'' set another record for worldwide opening gross, earning in the three-day weekend. The film performed well on Monday, collecting over . It grossed on its first Tuesday, becoming Shah Rukh Khan's highest-grossing film in India. The film grossed on Wednesday. ''Box Office India'' reported that the film grossed net on Thursday, taking its first week total (including paid previews) to , beating the previous record of ''Ek Tha Tiger''. It had a worldwide gross of in the first seven days. The film collected on its second weekend, taking the total domestic net to , and also became the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film in ten days with a worldwide gross of . The film earned in two weeks and had collected after its third weekend in the domestic market. It grossed in its third week, bringing up its total to . ''Chennai Express'' broke the domestic net record set by ''3 Idiots'' in its fourth weekend and added around in week four to take the total to . The film collected on its sixth week, for a final total of . The film's lifetime domestic distributor share stands at , breaking ''Ek Tha Tiger''s previous record of .


Overseas

''Chennai Express'' also broke overseas records; during paid previews in the UK the film collected more than any first day of a Bollywood film in the UK. The film broke opening weekend records in foreign territories, taking in , including record collections from key markets in the US ($2.22 million), the UAE (AED 7.73 million) and the UK (£934,118). ''Chennai Express'' set a record for opening weekends overseas, grossing . It was also successful in Pakistan, where it collected in its opening weekend. By 18 August, the film had broken all box office records in
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
by grossing over . The film earned in just nine days in overseas markets. By the second weekend, it had grossed approximately . ''Chennai Express'' had grossed about by its third weekend overseas and by the fourth weekend. By the fifth weekend, the film had grossed about abroad. It was still collecting in its sixth weekend, taking its total to .


Records


Accolades


Game

A platform running game titled ''Chennai Express: Escape from Rameshwaram'', based on the film and featuring Shahrukh Khan & Deepika Padukone, was developed by Indiagames,
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
- UTV's digital wing, and launched on 24 July 2013 for Android systems. In the game, the player rides a virtual roller-coaster, fighting off goons and dodging obstacles while they attempt to collect over 10,000 coins in order to unlock Padukone's game avatar.


Notes


References


External links

* (archive) * * * * {{Authority control 2013 films Films set in Chennai Films set on trains Indian action comedy films Films shot at Ramoji Film City 2010s Hindi-language films 2010s Indian films Indian nonlinear narrative films Films directed by Rohit Shetty Films scored by Vishal–Shekhar Films shot in Munnar Films set in Maharashtra Films shot in Mumbai Films set in Tamil Nadu Films shot in Goa Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Tamil Nadu UTV Motion Pictures films Red Chillies Entertainment films 2013 comedy films Films adapted for other media Films about interclass romance Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Wai, Maharashtra Films set in Mumbai Films set in Goa