Dum Laga Ke Haisha

About the film

Dum Laga Ke Haisha (transl. Give it all your force), released internationally as My Big Fat Bride, is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sharat Katariya and produced by Maneesh Sharma in his production debut under Yash Raj Films, with chairman and norm producer Aditya Chopra serving as presenter. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana and debutante Bhumi Pednekar in the lead roles and follows Prem and Sandhya, a reluctantly newlywed couple in Haridwar who navigate their marital frictions as they overcome their differences.

Dum Laga Ke Haisha marked Khurrana's second collaboration with Yash Raj Films and Pednekar's debut following her stint as an assistant casting director with the company. Manu Anand and Namrata Rao, who had worked with Sharma on Shuddh Desi Romance, respectively served as cinematographer and editor. The film's soundtrack was composed by Anu Malik in his first outing with the studio, with Italian composer Andrea Guerra composing the background score.

Plot

In 1995, Prem Prakash Tiwari is a young owner of a video cassette shop in the local market of Haridwar, who subscribes to a nationalist organisation. One of the key values of the organisation is abstinence, although senior members are married and there are no restrictions on the marriage of junior members. However, it is expected that their members should not indulge in their married life at the expense of service to the nation. His father is keen on getting him married to an educated overweight girl Sandhya. In spite of not liking her, the school drop out Prem agrees to marry her. In addition, as Sandhya is trying to be a school teacher, his family asks him to think of this alliance for financial help too. Eventually, in an elaborate community-wedding ceremony, Prem and Sandhya get married.

Prem visibly shows his disinterest in the marriage and does not consummate the marriage on the wedding night. At home, Sandhya tries to get Prem attracted to her. But he is too embarrassed to even walk with her on the street. Prem and Sandhya's relationship remains strained although they share a kiss and have sex on their second night together. The branch manager advises him that since he could not uphold his oath of abstinence he should rather focus on his married life. Over time, Sandhya's frustration shows; when Prem's aunt brings up a petty topic, the two have a heated exchange of words and she tells them how he does not treat her well.

Amidst all this a close friend of Prem, Nirmal gets married. Prem and Sandhya go for the ceremony where due to his excessive drinking and jealousy over Nirmal's pretty wife, he tells everyone that sleeping with Sandhya feels like hell. Sandhya hears this and slaps him in front of his friends and he slaps her back. The following morning, Sandhya reflects on what she's been through, feels she has had enough and decides to leave Prem. Meanwhile, Prem decides to channel his energy into studying and to take his English paper again; he enrolls for the examination. His friends give up on him; after a verbal squabble, they throw him out of the group. He studies sincerely for the exam, but at the time of his exam, he is overwhelmed by the emotional turmoil and is not able to write a word. Ultimately he plainly writes an emotional message to the person checking his paper that if at all he feels any pity for his state he should not award him with a zero or else his family would be reduced to zero (indicating his suicide attempt).

Production

Dum Laga Ke Haisha was the first Yash Raj Films production to not be produced by Aditya Chopra; he instead served as a presenter and onboarded director Maneesh Sharma, who had helmed three of his previous productions, namely Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011) and Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) to produce the project. Writer and director Sharat Katariya had sent the script, which was written in 2007, almost seven years before release, to Yash Raj Films; Chopra sought to launch Sharma as a producer for new age avant-garde projects for the company, and they selected Katariya's script for the endeavour.

Filming took place in Haridwar and Rishikesh, making it the first Hindi film to be entirely shot in the twin temple towns. Bhumi Pednekar was selected for the female lead, marking her debut as an actor; while Ayushmann Khurrana had previously appeared in Chopra-produced Bewakoofiyaan (2014) a year before, Pednekar was an assistant casting director for the company before she was launched. The role required her to be overweight; she subsequently gained 30 kg to land the role.

Release

The censor board muted the word "lesbian" and replaced four words in the film. The film had a platform release in India, opening on 775 screens. The film released in UAE on 23 April 2015. As of 20 March 2015, this film has not been released in North America or Europe.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Dum Laga Ke Haisha is composed by Anu Malik in his maiden collaboration with Yash Raj Films, with lyrics by Varun Grover. The first soundtrack to not feature lead actor Ayushmann Khurrana as a singer, it marked the playback singing comeback of Sadhana Sargam, while Kumar Sanu sang two songs on the album, including the duet with Sargam. Among other vocalists are Papon, Bishal Phukan, Kailash Kher, sisters Jyoti and Sultana Nooran, Malini Awasthi, Rahul Ram and Monali Thakur.

Key details