Baar Baar Dekho

About the film

Baar Baar Dekho (transl. Look again and again) is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language science-fiction romantic drama film directed by Nitya Mehra in her Hindi film debut. It is produced by Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar under Dharma Productions and Excel Entertainment respectively. The film stars Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra with Ram Kapoor and Sarika playing supporting roles.

The film was released in India on 9 September 2016 worldwide and grossed ₹626.7 million against a production budget of ₹530 million becoming an average success at box office.

Plot

Diya Kapoor and Jai Varma are childhood sweethearts. Jai is a mathematics professor and Diya an artist. While Jai hopes to get a fellowship at Cambridge University, Diya wishes for them to get married. Jai reluctantly agrees to marry her but changes his mind because of the thought of the seven vows and the many rituals, as well as the fear of divorce. Jai protests that these rituals are meaningless and talks negatively about his wedding. He tells Diya that he has other plans for his bright future and she may not be a part of it. She walks away heartbroken. Jai gets drunk and passes out only to wake up in Thailand on his honeymoon. He discovers that it's been ten days since he married Diya, but he has no memory of it.

In 2018, Jai wakes up in Cambridge, finding Diya about to deliver their child. He discovers that it has been two years since his marriage, and realizes that he has been time traveling and has no control over it.

The next morning, Jai wakes up in 2034, and is a professor at Cambridge University. It has been eighteen years since his marriage, but his horror, Jai realizes that it is the day when he and Diya are divorced. Heartbroken, he returns home and pleads to return to the past to set things right.

Production

In October 2013, it was announced that Nitya Mehra, assistant director to films Life of Pi and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, would be making her directorial debut with Excel Entertainment on their new project. Aamir Khan and Deepika Padukone were initially attached, but both eventually left the project. Anushka Sharma was also offered the female lead but she turned it down as well. In September 2014, it was officially announced that the film will be co-produced by Karan Johar of Dharma Productions and with Sidharth Malhotra as the male lead. Later in April 2015, Katrina Kaif was confirmed to feature in the film, opposite Malhotra. The film was initially titled Kal Jisne Dekha.

Principal photography began on 28 August 2015, in Glasgow, Scotland, and went for over a month. Filming then continued in Delhi and Mumbai from November 2015 onwards. On 22 February 2016, the team filmed "Sau Aasmaan" in Krabi, Thailand, for a week.

According to Box Office India, the film had a total budget of ₹530 million (equivalent to ₹760 million or US$8.0 million in 2023). However, The Indian Express stated that budget was around ₹350 million (equivalent to ₹500 million or US$5.3 million in 2023) excluding the cost of printing & marketing which are generally not considered part of the budget.

Soundtrack

Distributed and released by Zee Music Company in its first of a string of collaborations with Excel Entertainment, the soundtrack of Baar Baar Dekho is composed by Amaal Mallik, Arko, Badshah, Jasleen Royal, Bilal Saeed, and Prem-Hardeep, making it the first Excel Entertainment production to feature a multi-composer soundtrack. The sixth song "Kala Chashma", a recreation of an earlier Punjabi song, was released on 27 July 2016.

Release

In August 2016, the film was granted a U/A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). However, the examining committee of the board asked the producers to remove two visuals from the film which involved sequences depicting an actor wearing a brassiere and another referencing Savita Bhabhi, a popular Indian pornographic cartoon character.

Reception

Baar Baar Dekho released alongside Sohail Khan's sports romantic comedy Freaky Ali and collected ₹68.1 million (equivalent to ₹98 million or US$1.0 million in 2023) on its opening day in India beating Freaky Ali's ₹25.5 million (equivalent to ₹37 million or US$380,000 in 2023). On the second day, the film showed growth in its occupancy and collected ₹76.5 million (equivalent to ₹110 million or US$1.2 million in 2023) before its breakdown on the third day where it collected ₹67 million (equivalent to ₹96 million or US$1.0 million in 2023) and reached the first weekend collection of ₹211.6 million (equivalent to ₹300 million or US$3.2 million in 2023). The film then started its break down as it collected ₹83.4 million (equivalent to ₹120 million or US$1.3 million in 2023) in the next four days and with that the film made its first collection of ₹295 million (equivalent to ₹420 million or US$4.4 million in 2023). In the second week it collected ₹17.5 million (equivalent to ₹25 million or US$260,000 in 2023) and then ₹600,000 (equivalent to ₹860,000 or US$9,000 in 2023) and ₹200,000 (equivalent to ₹290,000 or US$3,000 in 2023) in the third and fourth week, respectively. The film's net collection was ₹312.4 million (equivalent to ₹450 million or US$4.7 million in 2023) while its grossing in India was ₹433.9 million (equivalent to ₹620 million or US$6.5 million in 2023).

Key details