Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar

About the film

Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (transl. Sandeep And Pinky Have Absconded) is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language black comedy drama film directed and produced by Dibakar Banerjee with distribution by Yash Raj Films. The film stars Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor as the titular characters. Filming began on 7 November 2017 in Mahipalpur. Initially scheduled for theatrical release on 20 March 2020, the film was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in India. After being delayed for a year, it was finally released theatrically on 19 March 2021.

Made on the budget of ₹20 crores, the film grossed ₹58.125 lakhs globally, emerging as a box office bomb. The critical reception was mixed-to-positive with praise towards the storyline, performances (particularly Chopra), Banerjee's direction and social commentary but criticism towards its slow pacing.

Plot

The film opens with a group of friends in their SUV returning home from a party when suddenly, they are killed by a hail of bullets. Several hours earlier, Sandeep Kaur Walia a.k.a. Sandy, a top executive at Parivartan Bank, is waiting for her boss, Parichay, for a dinner date at an upscale restaurant. She meets a journalist, Purva, who invites her to a party later in the evening. Outside, Sandy meets Satinder Dahiya alias "Pinky", who informs her that he is a cop with Haryana police and Parichay has sent a car to take her to somewhere else to meet. Sandy is annoyed by Pinky's driving, especially since he is continuously on the phone with his boss (informing him of their location), and reveals that she is three months pregnant. Pinky encounters hooting from the young men in a nearby SUV and when his boss asks for his car's license plate number, he gives the number of the SUV.

The SUV is stopped at a police check post where they fire indiscriminately at it, as shown in the opening scene. Pinky, who is driving behind the SUV, witnesses the massacre and drives to an isolated place. He concludes that Sandy was the actual target and the police wanted to kill him as well to frame her death as a casualty in a failed operation on a suspended police officer. Pinky calls up his boss Tyagi, the head of a private security firm, who tries to placate him. He demands answers from Sandy but she remains evasive.

Sandy takes Pinky to the party Purva invited her to in order to relax and get a sense of the situation, where she finds that her SM accounts are blocked. The police track her and the duo flees the party. Pinky tries strangling Sandy to protect himself but cannot go through with it. He plans to go to Nepal and Sandy asks Pinky to take her with him, promising a million rupees in exchange. They travel by train and then bus to Pithoragarh, a border town. Upset by the unsanitary conditions around her, Sandy requests a friendly couple, Aunty and Uncle, in the market to take them as paying guests. Pinky finds an agent who will create fake documents for them to cross over to Nepal.

Production

Yash Raj Films announced the film on 3 July 2017. It marks the third collaboration between Kapoor and Chopra after they starred together in Ishaqzaade (2012), which was followed by the two pairing up again in Namaste England (2018).

On 30 October 2017, Kapoor shared an image of his character which is shown to be a cop. On 27 March 2018, the second look of both actors was released, giving a glimpse of their different worlds.

Filming took place in locations near (Pithoragarh) the Indo-Nepal border of Uttarakhand. To get into their characters, Banerjee insisted the two not to communicate with each other prior to filming and even off-screen. Filming of Arjun's portion wrapped up on 17 January 2018.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Anu Malik, Dibakar Banerjee, Narendra Chandra and Kamlesh Haripuri, with lyrics written by Anu Malik, Dibakar Banerjee, Pardhaan, Narendra Chandra, Sangeeta Chandra and Kamlesh Haripuri. The film's background score is composed by Dibakar Banerjee.

Release

Initially scheduled for release on 20 March 2020, the film release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The producers announced in May 2020 that the film's release had been postponed until theatres reopen. The film was released in theatres on 19 March 2021.

Reception

Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from the film critics who generally praised the performances of the lead actors, particularly of Chopra's but criticised the film for its slow pacing. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV awarded the film 3.5 stars (out of 5) and wrote, "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar is an inspired cinematic essay that draws strength from upending time-worn tics". Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 3 stars (out of 5) and wrote, "Dibakar Banerji, who has a nuanced eye when it comes to depicting power play and class differences in the NCR, should have given us a tighter film". Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave the film 3 stars (out of 5) and stated, "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar is an intriguing mess". Stutee Ghosh of The Quint gave the film a score of 3 (out of 5) and wrote, "Devoid of excesses and dramatic highs, the sparseness with which Banerjee steers the story adds meaning and subtly. While mainstream Bollywood fares spell out every little detail and even hammer it repeatedly, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar fervently sticks to its austerity". Anupama Chopra of Film Companion wrote, "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar doesn't have the pacing that you might expect in a chase film. The narrative has long stretches that plod dangerously. But ultimately, Dibakar steers it to a climax that is both stinging and satisfying".

Key details