Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (), popularly known by its initialism ZNMD, is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language road comedy drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani under Excel Entertainment. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin. The film follows three friends from school, Arjun, Kabir, and Imran, who go on a three-week road trip in Spain for Kabir's bachelor party.
It was filmed across Spain, India and the United Kingdom on a budget of . The music and background score were composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was initially planned to release on 27 May 2011, but technical problems with post-production work led to the release being postponed to 24 June, and again to 15 July of that year. The film had a worldwide release on 1,800 screens and was a commercial success grossing , becoming the 5th highest-grossing Hindi film of 2011, and received critical acclaim for its direction, story, screenplay, music, dark humor, cinematography and performances of the ensemble cast.
The film is widely regarded as one of Farhan Akhtar's finest acting performances, with particularly praise for his dialogue delivery and comic timing. At the 57th Filmfare Awards, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara received a leading 13 nominations, and won a leading seven awards, including Best Film, Best Film (Critics), Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Farhan Akhtar). Additionally, at the 59th National Film Awards, it won two awards – Best Choreography (Bosco-Caesar for "Señorita") and Best Audiography (Baylon Fonseca).
Plot Kabir Dewan, an architect, proposes to his interior designer girlfriend, Natasha Arora. At their engagement celebration, Natasha discovers that Kabir has planned a three-week bachelor road trip across Spain with his childhood best friends, Imran Qureshi, an advertising copywriter, and Arjun Saluja, a London-based investment banker. Bound by a school-day pact, each friend must secretly choose an adventure sport that all three must complete together. Arjun initially resists the trip because of work, but Kabir persuades him by reminding him that they had abandoned the same vacation four years earlier. Meanwhile, Imran has a personal mission: after finding an old letter addressed to his mother, he plans to locate his biological father, Salman Habib, an artist living in Spain.
The friends reunite in Spain, where Arjun remains glued to his laptop and phone, working remotely throughout the journey. Frustrated, Imran throws Arjun's phone out of the moving car, triggering an argument over a painful betrayal: four years earlier, Imran had slept with Arjun's then-girlfriend, causing the cancellation of their original trip. Kabir intervenes, urging them to let go of the past and not allow it to ruin the vacation.
At the Costa Brava, Imran flirts with Laila, an Anglo-Indian fashion design student. Kabir reveals his chosen challenge: deep-sea diving. Arjun, who has a severe fear of water, is terrified, but Laila, their diving instructor, helps him overcome his phobia and complete the dive. Later, Natasha notices Laila in Kabir's hotel room during a video call and becomes suspicious of his fidelity. At Laila's suggestion, the group postpones their trip to Seville to attend the La Tomatina festival in Buñol with her and her friend Nuria. Afterward, they return to find Natasha waiting unexpectedly at their hotel.
Natasha confronts Kabir but refuses to believe his explanations. After an awkward dinner, Imran and Nuria spend the night together, while Arjun and Laila walk through the city. Arjun reveals that his ambition to retire by forty stems from watching his mother struggle financially after his father's death. Laila encourages him to stop living only for the future, and the two fall in love. The following morning, the group sees Natasha off at the airport. As Laila leaves for Morocco, she chases down their car, stops it, and passionately kisses Arjun. Although Natasha returns to London convinced that Kabir remained faithful, Arjun and Imran question whether Kabir truly wants to marry her.
In Seville, Arjun reveals his chosen adventure: skydiving. Imran, who fears heights, overcomes his phobia with his friends' support. Later, a prank at a bar leads to the trio's arrest. To secure their release, Imran contacts Salman, who admits that he abandoned Imran's mother because he did not want the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Though hurt, Imran gains closure and sincerely apologizes to Arjun for betraying him years earlier, allowing the friends to reconcile.
The journey ends in Pamplona, where Imran reveals his challenge: the running of the bulls. On the eve of the event, Kabir confesses that he never intended to propose to Natasha; she had mistaken a ring meant for his mother for an engagement ring, and he lacked the courage to correct her. Arjun realizes Kabir organized the trip hoping to find the courage to call off the wedding and encourages him to do so, even if it hurts Natasha. Before the run, the friends make one final pact: if they survive, Imran will publish his poetry, Arjun will travel to Morocco to be with Laila regardless of his job, and Kabir will end his engagement. They complete the run safely.
During the closing credits, photographs reveal that Arjun and Laila have married in Morocco, Imran has published his poetry and remains in a relationship with Nuria, and Kabir has ended his engagement to Natasha, who is dating someone else, though the two remain friends.
Cast Hrithik Roshan as Arjun Saluja, a financial broker based in London Abhay Deol as Kabir Dewan, an architect Farhan Akhtar as Imran Qureshi, a copywriter who dabbles in poetry Katrina Kaif as Laila, an Anglo-Indian fashion design student Kalki Koechlin as Natasha Arora, an interior designer and Kabir's fiancée Ariadna Cabrol as Nuria, Laila's friend Naseeruddin Shah as Salman Habib, Imran's biological father (special appearance) Deepti Naval as Rahila Qureshi, Imran's mother Suhel Seth as Natasha's father Concha Montero as a flamenco dancer in the song "Señorita" Mandi Sidhu as Rohini, Arjun's ex-fiancée Anupam Kher filmed scenes as Faisal Qureshi, Imran's stepfather, but did not make the theatrical cut.
Production
Development
In November 2009, director-writer Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti completed the scripting of a film after three months of work. The script had the working title Running with the Bulls, before the title Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was finalised, the new title being an amendment of the line "Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara" from the title song of Rock On!! (2008). Akhtar and Kagti incorporated real-life observations and wrote the character of Imran for the former's brother Farhan, who wrote the dialogue for the film. Farhan produced the film with Ritesh Sidhwani under Excel Entertainment. The theme of the film was "three guys on the verge of making commitments in life", according to him. They used Farhan's father Javed Akhtar's poetry as a voiceover because they felt the poetry added depth to the characters and lent voice to their feelings. A special poem inspired by a fan's poem was written for Katrina Kaif's character after she was cast in the project. The first choice for the location of principal photography was Mexico, but was later changed to Spain because the climax features the running of bulls and Zoya wanted a country that blended history, culture, and sports. The film's release date was postponed twice because its original editor Chandan Arora fell ill and they had to re-edit it.
Casting Initially, the producers wanted Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan to play two of the three leads, but they declined without specifying a reason. Farhan Akhtar had worked with Zoya on her debut film Luck by Chance (2009) and also wrote dialogue for the film; Zoya felt he would know exactly what she wanted from the film. He was the first actor to be cast in the film. Farhan Akhtar defined his role as a "fun character" and a "guy who for the longest time takes nothing seriously". Hrithik Roshan was chosen for another lead role because he was one of Zoya's favourite actors. After finalising the two, she needed someone "who could not just fit in with them visually but also bring something new to the table." She sought Abhay Deol for the role, as he was her friend and had worked with her before in Kagti's Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007)
For the role of Laila, Zoya wanted someone with an accent who would be willing to scuba dive, and was a half-Indian and half-Caucasian woman. A lot of women were auditioned for the part in New York and London. Later, at a party, Zoya met Katrina Kaif and chose her for the role. Her role was described as "a free- spirited girl, a wanderer at heart and a bohemian gypsy by nature". Zoya had wanted to work with Kalki Koechlin ever since seeing her in Dev.D (2009) and That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011); she felt Koechlin would suit the character of Natasha because she had "the sense of comedy, but not over-the-top". Spanish actress Ariadna Cabrol was chosen for the role of Nuria because Zoya liked her work in the 2009 Spanish film Eloïse's Lover.
Filming Principal photography began in June 2010 and took place in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Mumbai, and in Spain at Barcelona, Pamplona, Buñol and Andalusia. Cinematographer Carlos Catalan, who had worked with Zoya on Luck by Chance, wanted all three lead actors to appear tanned because he "didn't want everything glossed over" and wanted to make the film as realistic as possible.
Kaif's introduction scene was shot on a nudist beach; during the filming, the crew asked beach-goers stay out of the frame to avoid objections from the Central Board of Film Certification. The La Tomatina festival of Buñol was re-created for the song "Ik Junoon"; almost sixteen tons of tomatoes worth were flown in from Portugal for the scene. A scene involving a kiss between Roshan and Kaif was filmed despite the couple's reluctance to do so. The filming of the flamenco song "Señorita" took place in Alájar, a town in the province of Huelva. The crew warned local residents about the song's volume because the scene was filmed at night. On the third day of filming, locals dressed in costumes attended and the mayor of Alájar joined them. The climax of the film, which features the running of the bulls, was filmed at Pamplona. The final schedules were at Vashi and Alibag in Mumbai in December 2010.
Soundtrack
Composer trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, who had worked with Farhan Akhtar in Rock On!! (2008) and Karthik Calling Karthik (2010), composed the soundtrack for the film. The lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. The composers engaged María del Mar Fernández, a Spanish flamenco singer, to perform the vocals on "Señorita"; her film-singing debut. The song is also the singing debut of Roshan and Deol, who sang it along with Farhan Akhtar.
Marketing