Tumhari Sulu (transl. Your Sulu) is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Suresh Triveni and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Tanuj Garg, Krishan Kumar, Atul Kasbekar and Shanti Sivaram Maini under the banners of T-Series and Ellipsis Entertainment.[5]

Tumhari Sulu
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySuresh Triveni
Written byStory & Screenplay:
Suresh Triveni
Dialogues & Additional Screenplay:
Vijay Maurya
Produced byBhushan Kumar
Tanuj Garg
Krishan Kumar
Atul Kasbekar
Shanti Sivaram Maini
StarringVidya Balan
Neha Dhupia
Manav Kaul
Abhishek Sharma
CinematographySaurabh Goswami
Edited byShivkumar V. Panicker
Music bySongs:
Guru Randhawa
Rajat Nagpal
Tanishk Bagchi
Amartya Bobo Rahut
Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Santanu Ghatak
Score:
Karan Kulkarni
Production
companies
T-Series Films
Ellipsis Entertainment
Distributed byAA Films[1]
Release date
  • 17 November 2017 (2017-11-17)[2]
Running time
140 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget20 crore[3]
Box office51.39 crore [4]

Tumhari Sulu stars Vidya Balan as the titular character, an ambitious housewife who becomes a radio jockey for a late-night relationship advice show. Manav Kaul and Neha Dhupia co-star as Sulu's husband and boss, respectively. Tumhari Sulu was released worldwide on 17 November 2017, to become both a critical and a decent box office success which earned over 513.9 million on a 200 million budget.[4]

At the 63rd Filmfare Awards, Tumhari Sulu received 9 nominations, including Best Supporting Actor (Kaul), with Balan winning her fourth Best Actress award at the ceremony. It was remade in Tamil as Kaatrin Mozhi (2018) with Jyothika reprising Vidya's role.[6]

Plot

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Sulochana Dubey, nicknamed Sulu (Vidya Balan), is a middle-class housewife living in Virar with her family. She enjoys her life to the fullest with her husband Ashok (Manav Kaul) and 11-year-old son Pranav. Sulu dreams of being a working woman, but since she couldn't complete high school, she is unable to apply for white-collar jobs. Her elder twin sisters mock her, seeing Sulu as beneath them due to her education. Ashok works as a manager in a tailoring firm; a frustrating job since all his colleagues are cantankerous and over the age of sixty. To make matters worse, the firm is taken over by the owner's grandson, who is extremely rude and abusive to his employees. Sulu and Ashok's son, Pranav, is going through a rough time in school. He is incessantly teased by a group of delinquent classmates who sell R-rated magazines and videos.

One day, Sulu wins a contest hosted by her favourite radio station and goes to collect her prize. While at the station, she sees a poster advertising auditions for an RJ, and feels that this is the job she is meant for. Sulu meets the boss, Maria (Neha Dhupia), who finds her extroverted nature intriguing and gives her an opportunity to audition. Sulu laughs throughout the audition but at the end, says 'Hello' in a sensual tone, which impresses Maria. Inspired by her performance, Maria asks Sulu to do a call-in night show, where people would call her to talk about their problems and she agrees.

Ashok is irritated at first that Sulu took up the job without discussing it with him but relents out of love for his wife. On her first day, Sulu faces an annoying caller who tries to change their chat into an obscene one, but is able to tactfully handle it. Next, she gets a request to sing, and excitedly does a song she only sings for her husband. Ashok is annoyed by her behaviour, his displeasure further exacerbated by his frustrations with his new boss who treats him terribly. Sulu's family disagrees with the tone of her show and wants her to quit, but Ashok stands by her. The show becomes successful and Sulu enjoys her work, growing more worldly and confident. However, Ashok continues taking out his frustrations at home about both his job and her. Sulu's life becomes high at work and low at home.

One day, the principal of Pranav's school reveals that he has been charging other kids for showing adult videos on a phone he stole from Ashok, as well as faking his father's signatures. Pranav is suspended from school, which becomes a serious issue at home. Sulu's sisters blame her, claiming that she has neglected her son because of her job and her low level of education is influencing him. They say she has to quit but Sulu takes a tough stand, rejecting their conditions. She later gets a call that Pranav is missing. Sulu and Ashok find a note by him, revealing he is ashamed of what he has done and is sad that his mother had to leave her job because of him. Pranav requests his father to support his mother and her work. Ashok and Sulu reconcile as they search for their son.

The police find Pranav the next day and bring him home. Sulu resigns from the show, feeling that she is not able to handle the conflict it is causing at home. As she leaves, Sulu finds the receptionist arguing with the tiffin service guy. She has an idea and requests Maria to give her the tiffin service contract. In the end, Ashok is now managing the tiffin business and Sulu resumes her radio jockey job, managing both the household and her professional life in her own style.

Cast

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  • Vidya Balan as Sulochana "Sulu" Dubey
  • Manav Kaul as Ashok Dubey, Sulu's husband
  • Vijay Maurya as Pankaj Rai Baaghi, poet and creator of the late night talk show at the radio station 'Radio Wow'
  • Neha Dhupia as Maryam "Maria" Sood, Sulu's employer at 'Radio Wow'
  • RJ Malishka as RJ Albeli Anjali, Sulu's colleague at 'Radio Wow'
  • Abhishek Sharrma as Pranav, Sulu's son
  • Ayushmann Khurrana as himself (Special Appearance)
  • Mahesh Pillai as School Principal
  • Sindhu Shekharan as Aradhana, one of Sulu's elder twin sisters
  • Seema Taneja as Kalpana, the second twin sister
  • Trupti Khamkar as lady cab driver
  • Santanu Ghatak as Sanjay, boss of Ashok Dubey
  • Uday Lagoo as Sulu's father
  • Hitesh Dave as grocery shop owner
  • Shashi Ranjan as Ramesh
  • Sonel Singh as Girija – Receptionist at the radio station 'Radio Wow'
  • Vibhavari Deshpande as Constable

Production

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Development

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The official announcement of the film was made in November 2016.[7]

Filming

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The principal photography of the film commenced in Mumbai on 25 April 2017.[5] The team started the shoot by performing a 'puja' which was attended and blessed by the mothers of the producers and director on 21 April 2017.

Soundtrack

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Tumhari Sulu
Soundtrack album by
Released4 November 2017
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length16:02
LanguageHindi
LabelT-Series
Singles from Tumhari Sulu
  1. "Ban Ja Rani"
    Released: 16 October 2017
  2. "Hawa Hawai 2.0"
    Released: 26 October 2017
  3. "Manva Likes To Fly"
    Released: 3 November 2017

The music of the film is composed by Guru Randhawa, Rajat Nagpal, Tanishk Bagchi, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, Amartya Bobo Rahut and Siddhant Kaushal while the lyrics have been penned by Randhawa, Nagpal, Javed Akhtar, Vayu, Siddhant Kaushal and Santanu Ghatak who sang the song "Rafu". The first song of the film "Ban Ja Rani" from Randhawa's 2016 album "Tu Meri Rani" has been recreated for this film and it was released on 16 October 2017. The second song of the film titled as "Hawa Hawai 2.0" from Anil Kapoor's 1987 film Mr. India has also been recreated for this film by music composer Bagchi and it was released on 26 October 2017. The third single to be released was "Manva Likes To Fly" which is sung by Shalmali Kholgade was released on 3 November 2017. The soundtrack was released by T-Series on 4 November 2017.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Ban Ja Rani"Guru RandhawaGuru Randhawa, Rajat NagpalGuru Randhawa3:46
2."Hawa Hawai 2.0"Javed AkhtarTanishk Bagchi, Laxmikant–PyarelalKavita Krishnamurthy, Shashaa Tirupati2:58
3."Manva Likes To Fly"VayuTanishk BagchiShalmali Kholgade2:30
4."Farrata"Siddhant KaushalAmartya Bobo RahutArmaan Malik, Adityan2:32
5."Rafu"Santanu GhatakSantanu GhatakRonkini Gupta4:16
Total length:16:02

Awards and nominations

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Date of Ceremony Award Category Recipient Outcome Ref.
2 December 2017 Screen Awards Best Actress Vidya Balan Won [8]
Best Supporting Actress Neha Dhupia (jointly with Meher Vij for Secret Superstar) Won
Best Supporting Actor Manav Kaul Won
Best Debut Director Suresh Triveni Nominated
30 December 2017 Zee Cine Awards Best Actor – Female (Viewer's Choice) Vidya Balan Nominated [9]
Best Actor – Female (Jury's Choice) Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Neha Dhupia Nominated
Best Debutant Director Suresh Triveni Nominated
20 January 2018 Filmfare Awards Best Actress Vidya Balan Won [10]
[11]
Best Supporting Actor Manav Kaul Nominated
Best Lyricist Santanu Ghatak (for the song "Rafu") Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Ronkini Gupta (for the song "Rafu") Nominated
Best Original Story Suresh Triveni Nominated
Best Dialogue Suresh Triveni, Vijay Maurya Nominated
Best Sound Design Subhash Sahoo Nominated
Best Choreography Vijay Ganguly (for the song "Ban Ja Rani") Nominated
28 January 2018 Mirchi Music Awards Upcoming Lyricist of The Year Santanu Ghatak (for the song "Rafu") Won [12][13]
Raag-Inspired Song of the Year "Rafu" Nominated
22 June 2018 International Indian Film Academy Awards Best Film Tumhari Sulu Won [14]
Best Story Suresh Triveni Nominated
Best Director Nominated
Best Actress Vidya Balan Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Manav Kaul Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Neha Dhupia Nominated
Best Music Director Guru Randhawa, Rajat Nagpal, Tanishk Bagchi, Amartya Rahut, Santanu Ghatak Nominated
10 August 2018 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Best Director Suresh Triveni Nominated [15]
Best Actress Vidya Balan Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Meet Anil Thadani, the distributor who backed successful films like 'DDLJ', 'Baahubali' series, 'KGF' franchise, 'Pushpa' and 'Kantara'". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  2. ^ "'Tumhari Sulu' release preponed to November 17". Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Tumhari Sulu Box Office Collection Day 3: Vidya Balan's film had a "super-strong weekend"". NDTV. 20 November 2017. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b Hungama, Bollywood (18 November 2017). "Box Office: Worldwide collections and day wise break up of Tumhari Sulu – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Vidya Balan's Tumhari Sulu starts shooting. See pic". The Indian Express. 31 January 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^ Lakshmi, V. (16 November 2018). "Kaatrin Mozhi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Vidya Balan to star as RJ in 'Tumhari Sulu'". Business Standard. 29 November 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Star Screen Awards 2017 full Winners List: Irrfan Khan, Rajkummar Rao, Vidya Balan, Neha Dhupia & Dangal win big!". International Business Times. 3 December 2017. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  9. ^ "2018 Archives – Zee Cine Awards". Zee Cine Awards. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  10. ^ "Nominations for the 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018". filmfare.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  11. ^ "63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018: Vidya Balan wins the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) award". The Times of India. 21 January 2018. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Nominations – Mirchi Music Awards 2017". MMAMirchiMusicAwards. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Winners – Mirchi Music Awards 2017". MMAMirchiMusicAwards. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  14. ^ Narayan, Shreya. "IIFA awards 2018: Nomination List, Tumhari Sulu bags the maximum categories". International Business Times, India Edition. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Indian Film Festival Melbourne". www.iffm.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
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