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Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Maneesh Sharma. Produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films, it stars Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra (in her debut), Dipannita Sharma and Aditi Sharma in lead roles. Loosely inspired from Jeffrey Archer's 1976 novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, the adapted screenplay was written by Devika Bhagat and Habib Faisal. The film revolves around a group of women teaming up to pull an elaborate con on Ricky Bahl (Singh), a con artist who has conned them. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl was released on 9 December 2011. It grossed ₹ 49.4 crore worldwide and received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry between Singh and Sharma. Chopra's performance was acclaimed; at the 57th Filmfare Awards, she won the Best Female Debut and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. PlotDimple Chaddha is the daughter of a successful businessman who quickly begins dating fitness instructor Sunny. She later learns that he wants to buy out his inheritance, which has been encroached upon by tenants. Her father pushes the tenants out using muscle power and, to top it, lends Ricky INR 20 lakhs, which he takes; in a twist, it is later revealed that the tenants he helped push out were legally occupying the property and that there is no question of inheritance. Dimple soon realizes, after contacting him in vain, that Sunny has disappeared with the money. Sometime later, a businesswoman in Mumbai, called Raina, is sold a fake painting by a man called Deven Shah, who presumably owns an art gallery. Deven takes off with INR 60 lakhs, and Raina makes the story public. She is contacted by Dimple, as well as a widow named Saira, who was conned of INR 10 lakhs by a man named Iqbal Khan who she was attracted to. Over the course of the conversation, they figure out that Sunny, Deven and Iqbal are aliases used by the same person. The three women gather in Mumbai, where they plan to 'con' this person for the money they lost. Not knowing his real name, they call him "bloody kameena" a.k.a. BK (which means rascal, in Hindi). They hire a mall worker named Ishika, who is an expert salesperson, to aid their con. Raina sponsors their arrangements, and the four women leave for Goa, having traced BK to a beach there. Ishika appears as the NRI daughter of a motel-chain owner from the US, on a business trip to Goa to set up a restaurant. BK, now going by the name Vikram Thapar, pretends to own a beachside watersports facility. He befriends Ishika and decides to target her next. To win her over, he agrees to invest in her restaurant and its launch party. Unknown to him, he is being sold fake products and arrangements, planted by Raina's contacts. Soon, the women are close to recouping the amount he stole from them. After the launch party, Ishika and "Vikram" spontaneously go clubbing, where they kiss. "Vikram" shows up at Ishika's hotel the next morning, only to find her plotting with Dimple, Raina and Saira. Realising he has been conned, he decides to get back his money, by selling Ishika a worthless property for her restaurant. The women accuse Ishika of colluding with "Vikram" and ask her to leave, but later return to find "Vikram" at their hotel, proposing to return them their money. Claiming he has realised what it feels like to be cheated, he expresses his desire to turn over a new leaf. Raina, Dimple and Saira notice Ishika is in love with BK, and reunite the two. He proposes to Ishika and reveals his real name, Ricky Bahl to her, but confesses he will have to learn from her how to live an honest life. Cast
EquipmentAseem Mishra and Ravi K Chandran have used an Angenieux Optimo as zoom lens.[3] ReceptionReleaseThe film was released in India on 9 December 2011. Upon release, it received mixed to positive response from critics. Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra's cousin, Parineeti Chopra, made her acting debut in the film and most critics have praised her highly for her acting skills. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave 3 out of 5 stars and said: "Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl is, at best, a decent fare, which appeals in parts. The film starts well, even ends well. It's the in between that's plain ordinary. Ideally, the film merits a two-and-a-half star rating, but that extra half star is for Ranveer and Anushka, who steal your heart with truly striking performances."[4] Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India gave 2.5 of 5 stars adding: "There is no humour, no earthy flavour, no tingling chemistry between the lead pair. What does work in favour of the film are its performances and its non-hysterical tenor."[5] Komal Nahta from Koimoi gave it a 3-star as well stating: Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl is a fair entertainer. What is good about it is: The basic plotline; some con-game sequences; performances; music NDTV gave the film 3.5 stars from 5, calling it predictable and adding that the loses out on the great chemistry between the two leads. But it is still great to watch. However, he praised the performance of Ranveer Singh.[6] So did Rajeev Masand who, in his review for IBN Live, described it as watchable but thought that it could've been so much more fun.[7] Zee News gave it 3/5 stars, stating: "A good option to get entertained this weekend and reconnect with the Band Baaja Baaraat Jodi for some laughter and foot stomping again! Go watch Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl." Box officeLadies vs Ricky Bahl had a biggest first day with many places recording high first day collections, but some multiplexes recording 90–100% for the first day. The collection improved well in Delhi and Punjab area throughout the day. The multiplex-dominated areas saw good to decent occupancy while single-screened areas remain on lower side. The film had a decent first day collections of ₹ 198.5 million.[8][9] During the second day of release, it showed good improvement and collected ₹ 445 million. Collections rose once again on Sunday and it collected ₹ 767.5 million to bring the 3-day total to ₹ 805 million approx.[10] The film remained steady on Monday, with collections around ₹ 815 million nett, taking the four-day total to million nett approx.[11] The film also put up a decent first week collection, grossing ₹ 730 million nett.[12][13] Overall, it did decent business at the box office and earned ₹ 840 million in full theatrical run and declared hit at the box office.[14] Awards and nominations
Soundtrack
The song "Jigar Da Tukda" won the most atrocious lyrics award at the Golden Kela Awards in 2012.[16] All tracks are written by Amitabh Bhattacharya
Plagiarism allegationsDirector Selva accused the makers of Ladies vs Ricky Bahl of plagiarising his 2007 Tamil film Naan Avan Illai and its 2009 sequel, both which followed a con artist marrying several women under various identities.[17] Separately, British novelist Jeffrey Archer accused the makers of plagiarising his 1976 novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less.[18] See alsoReferences
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