''Rajjo'' is a 2013

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n romantic musical produced by Four Pillars Entertainment and directed by Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer Vishwas Patil. It stars

Kangana Ranaut Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfare ...

and newcomer

Paras Arora Paras Arora is an Indian actor who works in Hindi-language television shows and Bollywood films. He is best known for portraying the character of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in '' Veer Shivaji'', Abhimanyu in ''Mahabharat The ''Mah� ...

in the lead roles and its supporting cast includes

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of severa ...

Mahesh Manjrekar Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar (Marathi pronunciation: əɦeːʃ maːɲd͡zɾekəɾ born 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri films. He ...

and

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician. She is hailed as one of the most iconic and influential actresses in both Telugu and Hindi film industries in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada i ...

. The film released in theatres on 15 November 2013. The film that earned 2 crores at the domestic box office bore a loss of 10 crores on the venture.

Plot

A romantic musical, Rajjo is the journey of a

Nautch The nautch (; meaning "dance" or "dancing")Scott A. Kugle, 2016When Sun Meets Moon: Gender, Eros, and Ecstasy in Urdu Poetry p.230. was a popular court dance performed by girls (known as "nautch girls") in India. The culture of the performing ...

girl in the most extraordinary circumstances. It tells the love story of Rajjo (

) and Chandu (

) set against the backdrop of the dying Kothas of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

that nurtured the traditional art of singing and dancing for centuries. The story's central characters are Rajjo, a Muslim girl and Chandu, a young Brahmin boy. When Chandu helps his team win a cricket match, the team decides to celebrate the victory by visiting the Kothas of

Nagpada Nagpada is a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. The place derives its name from a local Shiva temple, and abode of Naag or the snake wound around Shiva's neck. It has a community basketball court. In 2005, Nagpada was the location of the Sadaf ...

. This is where Chandu meets Rajjo who mesmerizes him with her elegant Mujra dance and it is love at first sight for him. Chandu belongs to a family of music lovers; he is a very good harmonium player, his mother is a Bhajan singer. Rajjo is trained under Kothewali Amma; she is naughty, sweet and quite attractive. Music is the common thread between them, as is the strong attraction that draws Rajjo and Chandu together and seals their love. Simultaneously the Nagpada area goes under the clutches of re-development and all the dancers and singers are under the shadow of this potential danger. Amidst these circumstances, Rajjo and Chandu have to deal with Begum (

) who runs the Kotha and Hande Bhau (

), a corporator with powerful political connections who has his eye on Rajjo.

Cast

as Rajjo *

as Chandu * Sadhana Sharma as Chanda Chandu's Sister *

as Begum *

as Hande Bhau *

as Jankidevi *

Sharad Shelar Sharad/Sarath/Sharath ( sa, शरद्)is the autumn season or ritu in the Hindu calendar. It roughly corresponds to the western months of mid-September to mid-November. Sharad is preceded by Varsha and followed by Hemant. The Hindu calendar c ...

Deepika Amin Deepika Amin (born Deepika Deshpande) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films. She is known for her roles in the films '' Fan, Raanjhanaa and'' ''Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.'' She has also worked in the TV shows ''Farmaan'' and ''Tash ...

as Kamladevi * Alok as Chandu's Friend *

Rakesh Barsewal Rakesh (Devnagari: राकेश) is a masculine given name of Indian origin. It is derived from the Sanskrit language. Notable people with the given name *Chaudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi, Indian politician *Mohan Rakesh, literary movement ac ...

as Hijra *

Shruti Bisht Shruti Bisht (born 22 January 2003) is an Indian film and television child actress. She played Ira in '' Ek Nayi Chhoti Si Zindagi''. In 2011, she appeared in the television serial ''Hitler Didi'' as Indu.Swati Chitnis Swati Chitnis (2 May 1959) is an Indian Bollywood actress who works in both the film and television industry. She is currently playing the Pivotal Role of Suhasini Goenka (Kartik's Grandmother and Akshara's Great-Grandmother) in Star Plus's Long ...

as Ammi *

Avtar Gill Avtar Gill is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi and Punjabi language films and television serials. He has done many plays with Indian People's Theatre Association Mumbai. Selected filmography Films * '' Noorie'' (1979) * '' ...

as Acharya Deshbhushan *

Ravi Hande Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (music director) (1926� ...

as Vikram Hande * Ateshan Hussein as Jaggu (Govind Hande's PA) *

Anand Ingle Anand may refer to: People * Anand (name), a surname and given name (including a list of people with the name) * Anand (actor), Indian actor * Anand (Maoist), Indian communist * Anand (writer) (born 1936), Indian Malayalam writer Places * Anand ...

as Meghraj Shetty *

Kinjal Jain Kinzhal may refer to: * Khanjali, double-edged dagger * Kh-47M2 Kinzhal The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (in Russian: Х-47М2 Кинжал, "Dagger", NATO reporting name Killjoy) is a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-surface missile. ...

as Chandu's Sister * Jaiveer as Chandu's Friend *

Kishore Kadam Kishore ( �raːm kɪʃoːr may refer to: * Kishore (name), an Indian given name and surname * ''Captain Kishore'', a 1940 Bollywood film * '' K for Kishore'', a 2007–2008 Indian television singing contest * ''Kishore Bangla'', Bengali-language j ...

as Daadi Patil * Mazhar Khan as Hirja * Suhas Khandke as Professor *

Shubhangi Latkar Shubhangi Latkar is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Hindi and Marathi films. She is known for her character roles in Delhi Belly (2011), Aashiqui 2 (2013), Singham Returns ''Singham Returns'' is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language action f ...

as Chandu's Mother *

Upendra Limaye Upendra Limaye (born 8 November 1969) is an Indian actor, who won the National Film Award for his role in the Marathi film '' Jogwa''. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, '' Forbes'' included Limaye's performance in the film '' J ...

as Inspector Salunkhe * Manmauji as Chacha (Garage) * Naren as NGO guy * Girish Pal as Hirja * Atul Patil as Chotelal * Piyusha Patil as Sana * Poonampreet Bhatia as Acharya Deshbhushan's PA * Aarti Rana as Kotha Girl *

Shivani Rawat Shivani Rawat is a film producer based in New York known for producing independent films like ''Danny Collins'' (2015), '' Trumbo'' (2015), '' Captain Fantastic'' (2016) and '' Brian Banks'' (2018). She is the founder and CEO of ShivHans Picture ...

as Sakina * Rutwik as Chandu's Friend * Sachi as Salunke's Daughter * Rajesh Sahu as Hirja * Kuldeep Sarin as C.M. *

Sumit Senapati Stackable Unified Module Interconnect Technology (SUMIT) is a connector between expansion buses independent of motherboard form factor. Boards featuring SUMIT connectors are usually used in "stacks" where one board sits on top of another. It was pub ...

as Chandu's Friend *

Nitesh Shah Nitesh is an Indian masculine given name. * Nitesh Pandey (born 1973), Indian actor * Nitesh Patel (born 1989), English cricketer * Nitesh Narayan Rane (born 1982), Indian politician * Nitesh Tiwari, Indian director See also * Nitesh Hub Nite ...

as Chandu's Friend *

Vipin Sharma Vipin Kumar Sharma is an Indian actor, editor and filmmaker. He is best known for his acting roles in ''Taare Zameen Par'' (2007), ''Gangs of Wasseypur'' (2012), '' Kick'' (2014), '' Paatal Lok'' (2020) and ''The Family Man'' (2021). Early lif ...

as Chandu's Father * Rizwana Sheikh as Kotha Girl *

Shashank Shende Shashank Shende is an actor, director, producer and writer in India. Early life Shende grew up in Pune till 10th standard, in a middle-class family. He then moved to Ahmednagar for two years before moving back. After college, he started his o ...

as Gannewala *

Soham Shah Soham Shah is a Bollywood movie director who is popularly known for directing the films '' Kaal'' (2005) and the movie '' Luck'' (2009). Personal life Shah is from Mumbai. Career Shah previously worked for Dharma Productions and producer Kara ...

as NGO guy *

Dalip Tahil Dalip Tahil (born as Dalip Tahilramani; 30 October 1952) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor. He studied at Sherwood College in Nainital, India. After attending Aligarh Muslim University for a year, he graduated from St. Xavier's ...

as Lala Pathan *

C.P. Thakur Dr Chandreshwar Prasad Thakur or C. P. Thakur (born 3 September 1931) is a former member of Rajya Sabha, a former minister in the Government of India, a physician and a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was a cabinet minister from 1999 ...

as Bank Manager *

Atul Tiwari Atul may refer to: People * Atul Agnihotri (born 1970), Indian actor *Atul Bakshi (born 1956), Indian glass artist *Atul Bhatkhalkar (born 1965), Indian politician * Atul Butte, American biotechnology entrepreneur * Atul Dodiya (born 1959), Indian ...

as Builder Patel * Sanjay Tripathi as Hijra * Vedita as Kotha Girl

Development

Pre-Production and Production

The lead star of the film

did extensive research in order to prepare for her role in the film. She visited Kothas and met with women there to understand their body language and mindset. The makers of the film reportedly spent Rs. 5 crore to recreate the ambiance of Mumbai's red light area,

Kamathipura Kamathipura (also spelled Kamthipura) is a neighbourhood in Mumbai, India known for prostitution. It was first settled after 1795 with the construction of causeways that connected the erstwhile seven islands of Mumbai. Initially known as Lal ...

, for their film. It took two months for around 700 workers to construct the set under the guidance of art director Muneesh Sappel. The music of the film was recorded in London's Abbey Road Studios by composer

Uttam Singh Uttam Singh (born 25 May 1948) is an Indian music director and a well-known violinist. He has also worked as a music arranger, programmer and recordist for many Bollywood films. He worked as a music assistant for Ilaiyaraaja in numerous Tamil fi ...

Crew

*Banner - Four Pillars Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. *Distribution - WAVE CINEMA Ponty Chadha Release. *Director- Vishwas Patil *Producer- M. H. Shah & U. A. Karande *Cinematographer - Binod Pradhan *Music & Background Score-

*Editor- Rajesh Rao *Production Designer- Muneesh Sappel *Executive Producer - Priyadarshini *Original Story- Jayant Pawar *Screenplay - Vishwas Patil *Lyrics - Sameer Anjaan, Dev Kohli *Action Director- Salam Ansari *Choreographer- Ganesh Acharya *Dialogue- Atul Tiwari & Vishwas Patil *Sound Design - Vikram Biswas *Costume Designer - Reza Shariffi *Art Director

Soundtrack

Music of film is composed by

, lyrics penned by

Sameer Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

and Dev Kohli.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 2438764 2013 films Indian romantic musical films Films set in Mumbai Films about courtesans in India