Chennai Express
Chennai Express (/tʃɪˈnaɪ/ (audio speaker iconlisten)) is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film[8][3] directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Gauri Khan and Karim Morani, based on a story by K. Subash, with a screenplay written by Yunus Sajawal and dialogues by Farhad-Sajid. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Rahul Mithaiwala, a man who accidentally boards the eponymous train and journeys from Mumbai to Rameswaram with the daughter of a local don, played by Deepika Padukone. Nikitin Dheer and Sathyaraj play supporting roles.
The first planned collaboration between Khan and Shetty was a remake of Angoor (1982). The script of Chennai Express, which was initially written as a backup project for Khan, was chosen instead. Conceived as a “commercial romance”, the film was originally titled Ready Steady Po. Filming began in Mehboob Studio in October 2012 and was completed by May 2013. A large part of the film was set in Ooty, for which sets were constructed in Wai. The soundtrack for Chennai Express was composed by Vishal–Shekhar, with the background score being composed by Amar Mohile. UTV Motion Pictures came on board as producer and distributor, marking its first active project with Khan after Swades (2004).
Chennai Express was released theatrically in overseas markets on 8 August 2013 and a day later in India. The film received mixed reviews from critics and it broke several box office records in India and abroad, becoming the quickest film to collect ₹1 billion (US$13 million) net domestically. The film surpassed 3 Idiots (2009) to become the highest-grossing Bollywood film worldwide at that point. It is among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all time worldwide.
Rahul Mithaiwala is a 40-year-old orphaned bachelor living in Mumbai. Raised by his grandparents from the age of eight, Rahul’s grandfather Bhishambhar owns a chain of confectionery shops. Before Bhishambhar’s 100th-birthday celebration, Rahul’s friends Bobby and Baman invite him to accompany them on a vacation in Goa, which he accepts. Meanwhile, Bhishambhar dies on the eve of the celebration, just when he witnesses Sachin Tendulkar on TV in a cricket match get dismissed on his 99th run. After Bhishambhar’s funeral, Rahul’s grandmother Neetu tells Rahul that Bhishambhar wanted his ashes to be divided into two parts—one part to be immersed in the Ganga, and the other in Rameswaram. She asks Rahul to take the ashes to Rameswaram and disperse them. Reluctantly, he accepts her request but is also eager to attend the Goa trip.
Rahul, Bobby and Baman plan to dump the ashes at Goa but Neetu wants to see him off, forcing Rahul to travel by train. He books a single ticket on the Chennai Express, planning to meet Bobby and Baman along the way, at Kalyan Junction station. However, Rahul forgets to take the ashes, and he almost misses the train when he returns to collect them. As Rahul tries to leave the train, he notices a young woman running to board it. He helps her and four other people board the moving train, but the train leaves the station before he can get off.
