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 ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

Tanuja Chandra Tanuja Chandra (born 1969) is an Indian film director and writer. Chandra is the daughter of writer Kamna Chandra and sister of author Vikram Chandra (novelist), Vikram Chandra and film critic Anupama Chopra. She co-wrote the screenplay of Yash ...

Zee Studios Zee Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company, that specializes in film, streaming, and television, content development and production. It also specializes in film marketing and distribution. It is based in Mumbai, India, ...

JAR Pictures JAR Pictures is an Indian motion picture production company based in Mumbai. The company was founded in 2011 by Bollywood producers Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Jar Pictures is mostly known for making independent films. Jar Pictures also provi ...

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

Parvathy Thiruvothu Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvatta (born 7 April 1988), known mononymously as Parvathy, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, two Kerala S ...

Neha Dhupia Neha Dhupia (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Femina Miss India in 2002 and represented India at Miss Universe 2002. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films and t ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Fairy Queen train and head to

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. Yogi, in search of

pakoras Pakora () is a fritter originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are sold by street vendors and served in restaurants across South Asia. They often consist of vegetables such as potatoes and onions, which are coated in seasoned gram flour ...

, misses the train, again scaring Jaya. Initially Jaya decides to abort her trip due to Yogi's whimsical ways. But he explains to her that their ways of looking at and leading life are simply different, but that's all. Jaya relents and on their way to meet Anjali, Yogi's second girlfriend, buys "sleeping pills" from a medical store. She gobbles down 3–4 pills to shut the inquisitive Yogi. She soon goes under influence of the sedatives and begins to act funny. Yogi's ex girlfriend Anjali meets them. It is revealed that she abandoned her anniversary party to make it to the meeting. Yogi walks Anjali back to her home, she hugs and gives him a peck. An inebriated Jaya sees this and rants at Yogi, calling him a cheat, hints of her developing feelings for him starting to show. Finally exhausted, she crashes on him and falls asleep under the starry sky. Next morning the duo head to

Gangtok Gangtok (, ) is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Sikkim. The seat of East Sikkim district, eponymous district, Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an elevation of . The city's population of 100 ...

, to meet his third girlfriend. A still seething Jaya reveals that she has accompanied Yogi only so that she could meet her ex-boyfriend from college, now a very famous industrialist in the city. This revelation upsets Yogi. At the hotel Jaya puts on a beautiful saree and waits for her ex-boyfriend at a café, while Yogi books his return ticket and prepares to leave. Jaya meets her ex—boyfriend and they spend some lovely time together at his home. Yogi goes to see his third girlfriend who is a dance teacher. From the window he watches her dance lessons in progress. He leaves a note at her doorstep, which salutes her for her victories and then silently goes away. Back at the hotel he packs his bags and goes to Jaya's room when he finds her Laptop. She has created a

webpage A web page (or webpage) is a Web document that is accessed in a web browser. A website typically consists of many web pages linked together under a common domain name. The term "web page" is therefore a metaphor of paper pages bound together in ...

of Yogi's poems. Realizing his feelings for Jaya, Yogi runs out. He gets into a

ropeway Ropeway may refer to: Cable transport * Cableway, or cable transport, a broad class of transport modes that have cables * Aerial lift, a means of cable transport in which cabins, cars, gondolas, or open chairs are hauled above the ground by mea ...

car while searching for Jaya. Their paths cross and Jaya calls to him from an opposite car. An excited Yogi finally doesn't miss and makes the jump into the

cable Car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** ...

. The couple look at each other, smiling in a knowing way. Yogi asks her if she would share her water bottle with him, which she willingly does.

Cast

*

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

as Yogendra "Yogi" Kumar Devendra Nath Prajapati *

Parvathy Thiruvothu Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvatta (born 7 April 1988), known mononymously as Parvathy, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, two Kerala S ...

as Jaya Shashidharan *

Neha Dhupia Neha Dhupia (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Femina Miss India in 2002 and represented India at Miss Universe 2002. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films and t ...

as Anjali (cameo) *

Pushtiie Shakti Pushtiie is an Indian actress best known for playing the lead role of Mahi Talwar in the comedy series ''Mahi Way'' on Sony TV. Personal life She is the sister of actor Vrajesh Hirjee, famous for playing comedic roles in Bollywood films and sho ...

as Radha *

Avneet Kaur Avneet Kaur (born 13 October 2001) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi television and films. Kaur is well-known for her work in '' Dance India Dance Li'l Masters'', '' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5'', ''Mardaani'', ''Chandra Nandini'', ''Aladdin – ...

as a teen girl at the clothing store *

Brijendra Kala Brijendra Kala is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for his subtle portrayals of characters rooted in reality. He gained attention for his small roles in mainstream cinema. Early life Kala spent his childhood in Mathura, ...

as Hotel Receptionist * Aman Sharma as Salil, Taxi Driver *

Isha Sharvani Isha Sharvani is an Indian contemporary dancer and actress. She is known for her stylistic Indian contemporary and aerial dance performances. She has also starred in a few Bollywood, Malayalam and Tamil movies. Early life Isha was born in Gujar ...

as Gauri *

Luke Kenny Luke Kenny is an Indian actor, film director, producer, music director, composer, and former VJ. He began his career as a DJ, followed by a successful stint as the first male VJ on Channel V. He gained widespread recognition for his role in t ...

as Sidkong *

Navneet Nishan Navneet Nishan (also known as Navnit Nishan, Navnit or Navnit Singh) is an Indian actress. She is best known for her role as Tara in the soap opera '' Tara'', and '' Kasautii Zindagii Kay''. She has also worked in the TV serial ''Chanakya'' as ...

as Mrs. Saluja * Nidhi Joshi as Meghna * Siddharth Menon as Ashish, Jaya's Younger Brother * Babil Khan as young man on bike at the medical store (Titles scene, uncredited) * Anud Singh Dhaka as DJ Chintu

Production

Development

''Qarib Qarib Singlle'' is based on a story which was originally written many years ago as a radio play by director

Tanuja Chandra Tanuja Chandra (born 1969) is an Indian film director and writer. Chandra is the daughter of writer Kamna Chandra and sister of author Vikram Chandra (novelist), Vikram Chandra and film critic Anupama Chopra. She co-wrote the screenplay of Yash ...

's mother

Kamna Chandra Kamna Chandra is an Indian writer who has written plays for All India Radio and stories and dialogues for the screen which include the films '' Chandni'', '' 1942: A Love Story'' (directed by her son-in-law Vidhu Vinod Chopra), ''Prem Rog'' and t ...

. In August 2016, it was reported that

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

would be the lead actor in Tanuja Chandra's next film which would be a romantic comedy about an odd couple falling in love on a road trip. The production team approached

Richa Chadha Richa Chadha (born 18 December 1986) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi cinema. She made her acting debut with a small role in the comedy film ''Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!'' (2008). Chadha's breakthrough came in 2012 with the crime film ''Gangs ...

,

Kalki Koechlin Kalki Koechlin (; born 10 January 1984) is a French actress and writer who works in films and stage. Known for her unconventional body of work, particularly in Hindi films, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film ...

and

Pooja Hegde Pooja Hegde ( born 13 October 1990) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest-paid actresses of South Indian cinema, Hegde is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards along with three Filmfare Awar ...

for the film but talks didn't materialize with any of them. While scouting for the lead actress of the film,

Gazal Dhaliwal Gazal Dhaliwal is an Indian screenwriter who wrote the screenplay and dialogues for Vinod Chopra Films’ '' Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga'', starring Rajkummar Rao, Anil Kapoor and Sonam K Ahuja. Previously, she worked on Alankrita Shrivasta ...

, who is the co-writer of the film, suggested the name of

Parvathy Thiruvothu Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvatta (born 7 April 1988), known mononymously as Parvathy, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, two Kerala S ...

, an actress who was supposed to work in a

Vidhu Vinod Chopra Vidhu Vinod Chopra (born 5 September 1952) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards. He is known for directing films ...

film written by

Gazal Dhaliwal Gazal Dhaliwal is an Indian screenwriter who wrote the screenplay and dialogues for Vinod Chopra Films’ '' Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga'', starring Rajkummar Rao, Anil Kapoor and Sonam K Ahuja. Previously, she worked on Alankrita Shrivasta ...

but could not as the film got shelved. In February 2017, it was confirmed by

Parvathy Thiruvothu Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvatta (born 7 April 1988), known mononymously as Parvathy, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, two Kerala S ...

herself that she would be making her debut in

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 ...

cinema with Tanuja Chandra's film opposite

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

.

Filming

The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

of the film began in February 2017 in

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. The film was shot across multiple locations of

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

,

Alwar Alwar ( Rajasthani Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (NCR) and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km ...

,

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

,

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in the Indian state Uttarakhand. The northern part of Rishikesh is in the Dehradun district while the southern part is in the Tehri Garhwal district. It is situated on the right bank ...

,

Roorkee Roorkee (Rūṛkī; ) is a city and Municipal Corporations in India, municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar, the district headquarters. It is spread over a flat terrain under the ...

and

Gangtok Gangtok (, ) is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Sikkim. The seat of East Sikkim district, eponymous district, Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an elevation of . The city's population of 100 ...

.

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is the recipient of a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film ...

,

Rochak Kohli Rochak Kohli is an Indian music director for Bollywood films. He is famous for writing the song 'Karan's Saddle Point'. He made his music debut in Shoojit Sircar's romantic comedy '' Vicky Donor'' with " Pani Da Rang". The song was made in col ...

and Vishal Mishra while the lyrics have been penned by Raj Shekhar,

Hussain Haidry Hussain Haidry is an Indian spoken word poet, writer and lyricist. He gained prominence for his spoken word poem titled, "Hindustani Musalmaan". He has written lyrics for the Bollywood films Gurgaon (film), Gurgaon, Qarib Qarib Singlle, Qarib Q ...

and Varun Grover. The first song of the film titled, "Khatam Kahani" sung by

Nooran Sisters Nooran Sisters are Sultana Nooran (born 14 June 1992) and Jyoti Nooran (born 24 February 1994), an Indian devotional Sufi singing duo. Born to a family of Sufi musicians, they perform Sham Chaurasia gharana classical music. They gained public ...

, was released on 13 October 2017. The second song of the film, "Tu Chale Toh" which is sung by Papon, was released on 19 October 2017. The third single to be released was "Jaane De" which is sung by

Atif Aslam Atif Aslam (; born 12 March 1983) is a Pakistani playback singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He has recorded many songs in both Pakistan and India, and is known for his Belting (music), vocal belting technique. Born in Wazirabad, Waziraba ...

was released on 25 October 2017. The soundtrack was released by

Zee Music Company Zee Music Co. (ZMC) is an Indian music company, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It carries its business activities mainly from New Delhi. The company has captured a major chunk of market share in Music of Bollywood, Bollywood m ...

on 10 November 2017.

Critical reception

The film received mainly positive reviews. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''Qarib Qarib Singlle'' has an approval score of 86% based on 7 reviews with an average rating of 7.2 out of 10.

Rajeev Masand Rajeev Masand (born 13 March 1976) is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films rel ...

of

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, ( d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief ...

gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that, "Yogi and Jaya won my heart, and I wouldn't have minded spending more time in their company." Neil Soans of

The 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 ...

praised the performances of the leading actors of the film,

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

and Parvathy and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5. The critic concluded his review by saying that, "As long as you don't expect fireworks, enjoy this sweet film that will leave you smiling." Sweta Kausal of

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

was impressed with the performances of

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

and Parvathy and said that ''Qarib Qarib Singlle'' is "A heartfelt film where Parvathy outshines a superb Irrfan". The critic gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5.

Namrata Joshi Namrata Joshi is an Indian film critic based in New Delhi. Originally working for ''Outlook'', she remained there from 1999 till 2015, when she joined ''The Hindu''. She won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2004. Career Joshi i ...

of

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

applauded the movie as well as the acting performances of Irrfan Khan and Parvathy saying that, "QQS is a happy confluence of many things besides an absolutely entrancing, candid and un-self-conscious Khan who makes acting seem utterly easy and effortless." 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 the film a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that, "Qarib Qarib Singlle might put off average film goers but if you see value in a film that breaks away from norm and derives strength from understatement rather than flashy storytelling methods, your search ends here." 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 ...

complimented the performance of leading actress Parvathy saying that, "Qarib Qarib Singlle's beating heart is Parvathy (the lead actor of the terrific Malayalam film Take Off). She is such a breath of fresh air, such a break from the dressed up dolls of Bollywood." About the movie the critic said that, "This Irrfan Khan starrer is a well-crafted, winsome rom-com" and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

Murtaza Ali Khan (film critic) Murtaza Ali Khan is an Indian film critic and journalist. He is the film editor of the New York City-based magazine ''Café Dissensus''. He currently contributes to leading publications like The Hindu and ''The Sunday Guardian''. He has also writ ...

of

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

said that, "Qarib Qarib Singlle is a beautiful slice-of-life film about solitude and companionship that takes time to cast a spell on the viewers but once they are hooked there is no escape from its irresistible charm." and gave the film a rating of B+. Rachit Gupta of

Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...

gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and said that ''Qarib Qarib Singlle'' is "A light but spectacularly adroit romantic comedy." Stutee Ghosh of

The Quint ''The Quint'' is an English and Hindi language Indian general news and opinion website founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur after their exit from Network18. The publication's journalists have won three Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism ...

gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, "The screenplay by Tanuja Chandra and Gazal Dhaliwal is a mature and sensitive meditation on life and love, but the unhurried pace at which the story unfolds might disappoint some."

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Bollywood Hungama movie, qarib-qarib-singlle 2017 films 2010s Hindi-language films 2017 romantic comedy-drama films Indian romantic comedy-drama films Films shot in Rajasthan Films shot in Sikkim Films shot in Uttarakhand Films directed by Tanuja Chandra Films scored by Anu Malik

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

Filming

Soundtrack

Critical reception

Accolades

References

External links