Fukrey

Fukrey
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Written by	Screenplay: Vipul Vig Mrighdeep Singh Lamba Dialogues: Vipul Vig Additional Dialogues: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Story by	Vipul Vig
Produced by	Farhan Akhtar Ritesh Sidhwani
Starring	Pulkit Samrat Manjot Singh Ali Fazal Varun Sharma Priya Anand Vishakha Singh Pankaj Tripathi Richa Chadda
Cinematography	K. U. Mohanan
Edited by	Munir Alias
Music by	Ram Sampath Shekhar Ravjiani (background score)
Production company	Excel Entertainment
Distributed by	AA Films
Release date	14 June 2013
Running time	143 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹8 crore (equivalent to ₹14 crore or US$1.7 million in 2023)
Box office	₹49 crore (equivalent to ₹83 crore or US$10 million in 2023)

Fukrey (transl. Slackers) is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language comedy thriller film, directed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, and starring Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Varun Sharma, Ali Fazal, Priya Anand, Vishakha Singh, Pankaj Tripathi and Richa Chadda. The story and dialogues are written by Vipul Vig and the screenplay is written by Vig and Lamba. Produced under the Excel Entertainment banner, the film was released on 14 June 2013. Despite a poor opening, the film went on to become a sleeper hit. Its first installment in Fukrey franchise. The film is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar.

As of August 2023, Fukrey remains the only Excel Entertainment film to not be owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, as rights of three of its films, viz. Game, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, were acquired by the network from Star India and Sony Pictures Networks India respectively.

Plot

Delhi-based school backbenchers Vikas "Hunny" Gulati and Dilip "Choocha" Singh are perpetually dreaming of making it big, and want to get into the local college but don't have the required grades. The college guard Pandit tells them that he can provide them with the leaked class XII papers to them, for a significant amount. Choocha has a god-gift where he can get the winning number of any lottery in his dream and Hunny has the talent to sand the exact number out of his dream. They cannot afford or collect the money required, so they decided to sell the papers to other students but fail there too. Meanwhile, through Pandit, they meet Zafar, a former student of the college and a struggling musician. The fourth character is Lali, whose father Billa, runs a sweet shop. Lali is currently pursuing his degree through correspondence and like Hunny and Choocha, also wants to get into the same college, where his girlfriend Shalu, who ignores him all the time studies but doesn't have the marks. Pandit asks Lali to donate ₹ 250,000 in the college development fund to get admission, but Billa refuses to, saying college is too costly. Zafar's girlfriend, Neetu, who has broken up with him over his career choices is now giving private tuitions to Lali so that he could attain enough marks to get into the college of his dreams and also to make Shalu jealous getting close to Neetu. On the other hand, Zafar's father faces a stroke and is paralysed now, for his treatment, the struggling musician needs money badly.

The four meet up at Pandit's office where Hunny explains his scheme. However, since now they all together need a lot of money, they need someone to invest their money. On Zafar's insistence, Pandit is talked into taking them to meet a local gangster, Bholi Punjaban, where Hunny tells them their scheme. Bholi is ready to invest, and Lali also gives his shop papers as a mortgage. Bholi tells them to come the next day with the number. However, the same night, everyone except Choocha falls asleep. The next morning, Choocha narrates a fake dream which Hunny interprets and gets a number. They go to Bholi and tell the number. But it backfires, and Bholi loses her money. Now to recover her money, she gives them a packet containing drug pills which Zafar, Hunny and Lali have to sell at a rave party the same night. She keeps Choocha as security with her. At the party, police and the Narcotics division conduct a raid, and Lali escapes with a packet with the police chasing him. Lali manages to fool the cops and reaches Neetu's place. He also sees Zafar there. Neetu throws the drugs down the drain just as the police are about to search her home. The cops leave her place warning Lali. Meanwhile, Zafar tells the whole story to Neetu and also he was thinking that Neetu was falling for him, but she refuses, Zafar also warns him. Lali also calls Choocha telling him to run from Bholi's house which he succeeds in doing.

The next morning, all the five land up at Bholi's place. She gives them 24 hours to pay all the money due; otherwise, she would take the money by selling Lali's shop. The four are fighting at Zafar's place where Choocha tells them the truth about not seeing the dream. However, he says to them that he slept last night, and he saw a dream. Zafar is not interested while Lali, Hunny and Neetu are. Hunny interprets the dream, but they are short of cash even after Neetu is ready to give her savings. However, next morning Lali is able to borrow some money from a homeless man who used to remove parts from Lali's motorbike. They invest and win a huge amount. They go to Bholi's house and give her the money. Hunny tells Bholi that he wants to sell the drug pills again and gives her an advance. Impressed, Bholi goes inside and returns with the pills, only to be caught red-handed by the police and Narcotics division who have raided her home; while Hunny, Choocha, Lali and Neetu were investing the money, Zafar met the Narcotics division and made a plan to catch Bholi and also called Neetu, Lali, Choocha and Hunny where they confessed to the police. Now with Bholi behind bars, the police pardon the four, and they are free.

Three months later, it is shown that Hunny and Choocha have become rich and are entering the same college on horses as they had planned at the beginning of the film while Pandit is shocked to see them also Lali making new girlfriends and Jealous Shalu. Priya reunites with Honey, and Neetu gets engaged to Zafar. Lali, Zafar, Neetu and Priya are having a good laugh.

Cast

Production

Filming

The film was shot extensively in Delhi at various locations, including Miranda House, where most of the college sequences and opening song were shot.

Re-release

The film was re-released in theatres due to public demand and popularity. The PVR Cinemas showed Fukrey along with other movies in September 2013.

Reception

Critical reception

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated it 3.5/5 and quoted, "Fukrey is a twisted and delectably uproarious take on the shortcuts the youth of today indulge in". Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN rated the movie 2.5/5 and noted that, "A tighter script and more screen time for the excellent Pankaj Tripathi, as enterprising campus security guard Panditji, might have helped turn this moderately entertaining film into a rollicking good caper." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a 3/5 rating.

Box office

Fukrey grossed around ₹142 million within the first five days of its release. By the end of its second week, the film had collected ₹290 million nett in the domestic markets. The business of the film was varied across India. It was a success in Delhi/UP and East Punjab, as well as in Rajasthan but average in the rest of the country. The film collected around ₹20 million net on its second Friday which was just 20% less than the first day. The second weekend and second week business were excellent for the film. Fukrey collected ₹360 million in the domestic markets by the end of its theatrical run.

Soundtrack

Distributed and released by T-Series, the soundtrack of Fukrey is composed by Ram Sampath, with lyrics by writers Vipul Vig and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba for one song each, and Munna Dhiman for the rest. Fukrey is thus the first Excel Entertainment production to not feature songs written by producer Farhan Akhtar's father and regular lyricist Javed Akhtar.

Fukrey
Soundtrack album by Ram Sampath
Released	14 April 2013 (India)
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	25:19
Label	T-Series
Producer	Ritesh Sidhwani Farhan Akhtar
Ram Sampath chronology
'Talaash: The Answer Lies Within' (2012) Fukrey (2013) 'Purani Jeans' (2014)

Reception

The music of the film received good reviews, especially for the song "Ambarsariya", an adaptation of a traditional Punjabi folk song, performed by Sona Mohapatra.

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Result	Recipient	Ref.
Screen Awards	Best Actor in a Comic Role (Male/Female)	Won	Richa Chadda (Bholi Punjaban)
	Best Actor in a Comic Role (Male/Female)	Nominated	Varun Sharma (Choocha)
	Best Ensemble Cast	Nominated	Fukrey
	Best Screenplay	Nominated	Mrigdeep Singh Lamba & Vipul Vig
Big Star Awards	BIG Star Most Entertaining Comedy Film	Nominated	Fukrey
	BIG Star Most Entertaining Singer	Nominated	Sona Mohapatra ("Ambarsariya")
Star Guild Awards	Best Dialog	Nominated	Vipul Vig & Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
	Best Performance In A Negative Role	Nominated	Richa Chadda
	Most Promising Debut - Male	Nominated	Varun Sharma
	Best Performance In A Comic Role	Won	Varun Sharma (Choocha)
	Best Female Singer	Nominated	Sona Mohapatra ("Ambarsariya")

Sequel

On 30 January 2016, a sequel to the film was announced, featuring the original cast and directed by Lamba and produced by Excel Entertainment. Filming began in August 2016 in Delhi. The film was released on 8 December 2017.

A threequel titled Fukrey 3 commenced shooting on 13 March 2022 with the cast of the previous two films reprising their roles and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba as the director. The film was released on 28 September 2023.

Animated series

An animated series for kids, titled as Fukrey Boyzzz, jointly produced by Excel Entertainment and Discovery Kids India, premiered on 12 October 2019 on Discovery Kids India, which showcases the animated avatars of popular characters Hunny, Choocha, Laali, and Bholi Punjaban, along with other characters. Fukrey Boyzzz: Space Mein Fukrapanti, an Indian animated comedy film directed by Avinash Walzade was released in 2020 continuing from the series.

See also

• List of Bollywood comedy films