Queen is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Vikas Bahl and produced by Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Madhu Mantena. The film stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead role, with Lisa Haydon and Rajkummar Rao playing supporting roles. The film follows the story of Rani Mehra, a diffident Punjabi girl from New Delhi who embarks on her honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam by herself after her fiancé calls off their wedding.
Bahl co-wrote the script of Queen with Chaitally Parmar and Parveez Shaikh. Anvita Dutt Guptan wrote the dialogues for the film. Ranaut, who was encouraged by Bahl to improvise her lines during filming, is recognized as an additional dialogue writer. Amit Trivedi provided the musical score and Guptan also wrote the lyrics. Principal photography of Queen began in 2012 and took 45 days to complete. Queen received universal critical acclaim, praised for its direction, screenplay and Ranaut's titular performance, with various critics and publications citing it as the best Indian film of 2014. Made on a budget of , the film earned over at the global box-office, emerging as a commercial success. It is one of the highest-grossing Indian films featuring a female protagonist. The film won several accolades at prominent Indian and international award ceremonies. At the 60th Filmfare Awards ceremony, the film received a leading 13 nominations and won a leading 6 awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Bahl), and Best Actress (Ranaut). At the 62nd National Film Awards ceremony, the film won the Best Hindi Film (Bahl) and Best Actress (Ranaut).
Queen is cited as a groundbreaking and an influential feminist film by many scholars. Over the years, the film has built a strong cult following. It was named one of the best films of the decade (2010s) by multiple publications such as Paste and Film Companion. Several publications such as O, The Oprah Magazine and Cosmopolitan have named it one of the best films of Indian cinema. Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express named Queen as one of India's 75 most iconic and finest films that celebrate the journey of the country. The British Film Institute ranked Queen amongst the 10 greatest Bollywood films of the 21st century.
Plot Rani Mehra, a sheltered and meek 24-year-old Punjabi woman from Delhi, is left devastated when her fiancé, Vijay Dhingra, calls off their wedding just two days before the ceremony. Vijay, who has recently lived abroad, explains that his lifestyle has changed and that Rani's conservative habits no longer align with his. After spending a day locked in her room reflecting on their relationship, Rani decides to take control of her life and requests her parents' permission to embark on her pre-booked honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam alone. Though initially hesitant, her parents and supportive grandmother agree, believing a change of scenery will help her heal.
In Paris, a overwhelmed Rani struggles to adapt to the foreign city and experiences minor run-ins with the local police and a street robber. She contemplates returning to India immediately, but is salvaged by Vijayalakshmi, a free-spirited hotel employee of French-Spanish-Indian descent. Vijayalakshmi takes Rani under her wing, guiding her through the city and introducing her to a liberated lifestyle. During these adventures, Rani frequently recalls memories of Vijay patronizing her, controlling her behavior, and forbidding her from dancing or drinking. While trying on a revealing outfit, Rani accidentally sends a selfie to Vijay instead of Vijayalakshmi. The photograph instantly reignites Vijay's interest, prompting him to travel to Europe to track her down.
Rani bids an emotional farewell to Vijayalakshmi and travels to Amsterdam, where she discovers her hostel room is shared with three male travelers: Taka from Japan, Tim from France, and Oleksander from Russia. Overcoming her initial skepticism, she forms a deep bond with them. Together, they explore the city, visiting historical sites, a sex shop, and a dance club, where Rani befriends Rukhsar, a Pakistani pole dancer who secretly supports her family in Lahore. As Rani gains confidence and independence, she enters a local culinary competition and successfully sells gol gappas, realizing her own earning potential. Following the event, she shares a brief, amicable romantic moment with Marcello, an Italian restaurant owner.
Rani's newfound independence is interrupted when Vijay tracks her down at the hostel. He apologizes and demands she reconsider the marriage, but when he tries to physically grab her, Rani's roommates intervene, and she orders him to leave. Later, Rani agrees to meet Vijay for dinner to discuss their future. However, Vijay immediately begins criticizing her new friends, her living arrangements, and her behavior. Realizing he has not changed, Rani abruptly leaves the dinner, stating they will speak after she returns to India. She spends one final night celebrating at a concert with her roommates before flying back to Delhi.
Back in India, Rani visits Vijay at his home. Assuming she has returned to reconcile, Vijay and his family immediately begin reorganizing the wedding festivities. Instead, a poised and confident Rani hands him her engagement ring, softly thanks him for giving her the opportunity to discover herself by rejecting her, and walks away with a smile.
Cast Kangana Ranaut as Rani Mehra (Rani means Queen in English) Rajkumar Rao as Vijay Dhingra, Rani's selfish and aggressive fiancé Lisa Haydon as Vijayalakshmi, Rani's friend Mish Boyko as Oleksander (Sikander) Jeffrey Ho as Taka Joseph Guitobh as Tim Tantrik Baba as Baba Marco Canadea as Marcello, Rani's Crush Yogendra Tiku as Rani's Father Alka Badola Kaushal as Rani's Mother Sabeeka Imam as Roxette (Rukhsar) Chinmai Chandranshuh as Chintu Mehra, Rani's Brother Tripta Lakhanpal as Dadi Nayani Dixit as Sonal Alexandre Plasti Melara as flying pig drunk No. 1 Leonardo Pricoli as flying pig drunk No. 2
Production
Development Producer-director Vikas Bahl made his directorial debut with Chillar Party (2011), co-directed with Nitesh Tiwari, which won three National Film Awards. Since he liked the story of Queen, he decided to direct the film himself. It was eventually produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Phantom Films, which he co-owns with Anurag Kashyap and Vikram Motwane.
The lead role of Rani was earlier offered to Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, both of whom turned down the film. As he wrote the script, he based Rani on people he had observed while growing up in Delhi. "I know life for girls is planned out for them by their families. They lose their own perspective on life and they are okay with that." In a scenario where as a girl crosses 20, her family gets busy to get her "settled", she never plans anything by herself, unless as in this case of Rani, marriage plans go awry. Thus the script was developed so that in the "first half, Rani gets over the guy, and in the second, she gets over herself." Bahl wrote the script keeping Ranaut in mind, however it was Anurag Basu who connected him with her and helped cast her in the film.
After her audition, actress Lisa Haydon, who played an Indo-French hotel staff member, Vijaylaksmi, practiced French for a month. Other actors Mish Boyko (Alexander) and Jeffery Ho (Taka) were cast after auditions in London, while Joseph Guitobh (Tim), who played Rani's third roommate, was spotted singing on a street and was asked whether he'd be interested in working in Hindi film, though he couldn't speak English.
Filming The film was shot in late 2012 over a period of 45 days, starting with Paris, followed by Amsterdam and Delhi. Despite shooting abroad, Vikas Bahl did not have a huge budget to spend on the film. He took a crew of 25 people from India to shoot the film in about 145 locations in 40 days. Locations were booked a couple of hours, before the crew would rush to another location as they often shot 3–4 locations in a day. The crew would eat their meals at nearby restaurants, and at times actors including lead Kangana Ranaut would change clothes in nearby public toilets and restaurants. Since the film was not shot in a linear fashion, the colour of mehndi, applied to bride's hand was faded to match its natural fading. During the filming upon Ranaut's suggestion some scenes were added, like the kiss scene with the Italian chef, and a small scene where Rani asks a stranger to click her picture in Amsterdam. She even ended up writing a lot of her dialogue, and was given credit for the additional dialogue. In fact during filming, the director allowed all the actors to improvise their dialogue, to add realism to the film.
The remixed version of "Hungama Ho Gaya" was shot at Club NL, in Amsterdam, where a Hindi song was played for the first time.
However, when 90 percent of the film was already shot, cinematographer Bobby Singh died suddenly following an asthma attack on 25 December 2012, after just having completed a schedule in Delhi. After seeing rushes of the film, Anurag Kashyap volunteered to edit the film himself and since Bahl didn't have any editors at the time, he too agreed.
Marketing The trailer of the film was released on 20 December 2013.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack is composed by Amit Trivedi, with lyrics by Anvita Dutt. The album was released exclusively on iTunes on 23 January 2014, followed by a release on all streaming platforms on 25 January 2014. The music album was physically released on 5 February 2014 at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai. An additional track was released on 1 March 2014, it was the remixed version of hit cabaret number of the 1970s Hungama Ho Gaya sung by Asha Bhosle for the film, Anhonee (1973) was remixed by Amit Trivedi for the film, with additional vocals by Arijit Singh. The song was also used in end credits of the film.
Critical reception Queen, as well as Ranaut's performance, received universal critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Queen has an approval rating of 90% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. On the Indian film review aggregator website The Review Monk, Queen received an average score of 8.1/10 based on 31 reviews and 100% critics being in the favor.
India Meena Iyer from Times of India gave the film a rating of 4.5/5 and wrote, ‘‘This film belongs to its director Vikas Bahl; Bollywood should blow bugles in his honour’’. Calling Ranaut a ‘‘class act’’ she further wrote, ‘‘Ranaut's performance is outstanding; Whether she's crestfallen or ecstatic, selling golgappas or naively buying sex-toys, hiding her infatuation for an Italian restaurateur or showing deep dejection about her wimpy beau Vijay, she's a class act’’. Sarita Tanwar from DNA gave the film a rating of 4.5/5 and wrote, ‘‘Queen is irresistible. Highly recommended. A must-see film. You will leave the theatre with your heart humming happily’’. Praising Ranaut's performance she further wrote, ‘‘Kangana displays a surprising capacity for both comedy and emotion. As Rani, she displays amazing vulnerability and depth that very few performers can pull off; She is a delight’’. Saurabh Dwivedi from India Today gave the film a rating of 4.5/5 and called it a ‘‘must-watch’’. He praised Ranaut's performance by writing, ‘‘Kangana has a done fabulous job playing Rani; She has let her fans and audience know that she means business and is here to be taken seriously’’. Devesh Sharma from Filmfare gave the film a rating of 4.5/5 and opined, ‘‘Queen is definitely a step in the right direction for Indian Cinema’’. Praising Ranaut's performance he wrote, ‘‘It's Kangana's film from frame one. The way she flits from one aspect of her character to another without breaking strides shows her maturity as an actor’’.