Bad Newz (film)

Bad Newz
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anand Tiwari
Written by	Ishita Moitra Tarun Dudeja
Produced by	Karan Johar Hiroo Yash Johar Apoorva Mehta Amritpal Singh Bindra Anand Tiwari
Starring	Vicky Kaushal Triptii Dimri Ammy Virk
Cinematography	Debojeet Ray
Edited by	Shan Mohammed
Music by	Songs: Rochak Kohli Vishal Mishra DJ Chetas-Lijo George Prem-Hardeep Karan Aujla Abhijeet Srivastava Score: Amar Mohile
Production companies	Dharma Productions Leo Media Collective Amazon Prime
Distributed by	AA Films
Release date	19 July 2024 (2024-07-19)
Running time	140 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	est.₹80 crore
Box office	est.₹115.74 crore

Bad Newz is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Anand Tiwari. Produced by Amazon Prime, Dharma Productions and Leo Media Collective, the film inspired by true events stars Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri, and Ammy Virk. It is a spiritual sequel to Good Newwz (2019), and revolves around heteropaternal superfecundation, a reproductive process in which twins are born to the same mother, but from different biological fathers.

Principal photography took place from March 2022 to July 2023. The film was theatrically released on 19 July 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed over ₹115.74 crore (US$14 million) worldwide against a budget of ₹80 crore (US$9.6 million), becoming ninth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024.

Plot

Saloni Bagga is a chef who dreams of her restaurant winning the Meraki Star. She meets Akhil Chadha and they hit it off immediately and get married soon. However, soon problems arise in their marriage, one of which causes her restaurant to lose its Meraki star which results in Saloni getting fired from her job. The couple decides to get divorced and Saloni then relocates to Mussoorie to work at a restaurant owned by Gurbir Singh Pannu. After a chain of events, a drunk Saloni ends up having a one-night stand with Gurbir. That same night, Akhil shows up at her door, wanting her back, that results in them having a one-night stand as well.

As a result of these encounters, Saloni gets pregnant. After taking a paternity test to determine the baby’s father, she realises that she is pregnant with twins. To make matters worse, she is told by her doctor that due to a very rare phenomenon of heteropaternal superfecundation, the twins have different fathers, who are revealed to be Akhil and Gurbir. This results in hilarious situations where both Akhil and Gurbir are trying to prove that one of them is a better partner and father than the other. During one such event, Saloni faints due to stress. She is admitted to the hospital and the doctor reveals that Gurbir’s baby is not growing well but Akhil’s baby is growing normally but waiting until the due date will result in Gurbir’s baby not surviving.

Akhil selflessly decides to have the twins delivered prematurely, since that would give both the babies a chance to survive. Luckily Saloni delivers two healthy babies and is doing well herself. Post delivery, when she is informed of the selfless decision Akhil made, she is touched. She asks Akhil to marry her again, which he accepts; and Gurbir gets back together with his ex-girlfriend. In the end, the two couples decide to raise the babies together; and after some time, Saloni’s restaurant also manages to win a Meraki star.

Cast

• Vicky Kaushal as Akhil Chadha
• Triptii Dimri as Saloni Bagga
• Ammy Virk as Gurbir Singh Pannu
• Neha Dhupia as Ma Corona, Saloni’s aunt
• Sheeba Chaddha as Vishni Chadha, Akhil's mother
• Faisal Rashid as Doctor Baweja
• Khayali Ram as Sukhi Mama
• Guneet Singh Sodhi as Harman Sathija
• Kamlesh Sharma as Teji
• Navin Kaushik as Panama Cafe Manager
• Harnek Singh Aulakh as Amardeep Bagga
• Vijaylaxmi Singh as Sunita Bagga
• Mahabir Singh Bhullar as Darzi
• Shayank Shukla as Golu
• Deepak Anand as Rifleman
• Ananya Panday as Herself (special appearance)
• Neha Sharma as Sejal, Gurbir's ex-girlfriend (cameo appearance)
• Gajraj Rao as Akhil's dead father (special appearance)

Production

Development

The film was announced in March 2024 by Karan Johar which was initially titled Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam, and later changed to Bad Newz. The total budget of the film including marketing stood at ₹80 crore.

Filming

Principal photography commenced in March 2022. Production was wrapped in July 2023. The song 'Rabb Warga' was shot in exotic locations of Croatia.

Soundtrack

Bad Newz
Soundtrack album by Rochak Kohli, Vishal Mishra, Lijo George - DJ Chetas, Prem-Hardeep, Karan Aujla and Abhijeet Srivastava
Released	17 July 2024
Recorded	2023–24
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	24:34
Language	Hindi
Label	Saregama
Official audio
Bad Newz (Audio Jukebox) on YouTube

The music of the film is composed by Rochak Kohli, Vishal Mishra, Lijo George-DJ Chetas, Prem-Hardeep, Karan Aujla and Abhijeet Srivastava while the background score is composed by Amar Mohile. The first single titled "Tauba Tauba" was released on 2 July 2024. The second single titled "Jaanam" was released on 9 July 2024. The third single titled "Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam" was a remix of the original song from the 1998 film, Duplicate (originally composed by Anu Malik) and was released on 14 July 2024.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Tauba Tauba"	Karan Aujla	Karan Aujla	Karan Aujla	3:27
2.	"Jaanam"	Vishal Mishra	Vishal Mishra	Vishal Mishra	3:18
3.	"Rabb Warga"	Shayra Apoorva	Abhijeet Srivastava	Jubin Nautiyal	2:35
4.	"Haule Haule"	Gurpreet Saini, Gautam G. Sharma	Rochak Kohli	Jubin Nautiyal	3:32
5.	"Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam"	Javed Akhtar	Lijo George - DJ Chetas	Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik	3:02
6.	"Raula Raula"	Davvy Singh	Prem-Hardeep	Romy	2:54
7.	"Haule Sajna" (Ammy Virk Version)	Gurpreet Saini, Gautam G. Sharma	Rochak Kohli	Ammy Virk, Rochak Kohli	2:55
8.	"Rabb Warga" (Neeti Mohan Version)	Shayra Apoorva	Abhijeet Srivastava	Neeti Mohan	2:51
Total length:					24:34

Release

Theatrical

After multiple date changes and other delays, Bad Newz was theatrically released on 19 July 2024.

Home video

The film premiered on Amazon Prime on 13 September 2024.

Reception

Box office

As of 15 August 2024, Bad Newz has earned over ₹115.74 crore (US$13 million) worldwide with an opening day collection of ₹8.3 crore and a total of ₹44.1 crore over its first weekend. The film went on to collect ₹9 crore in its second weekend and ₹3 crore in its third weekend, contributing to its final worldwide gross of ₹115.74 crore.

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 27% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10.

Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 and wrote "On the whole, Bad Newz is a fun-filled entertainer." Dhaval Roy of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "With a hilarious premise and two funny men, this one’s a laugh riot. Even when the plot takes a familiar turn and stretches, the witty dialogues and spot-on comedic timing from the cast ensure you're consistently entertained." Rishil Jogani of Pinkvilla gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Bad Newz is an unadulterated fun entertainer with potential that's left untapped. The concept of the film had much more scope for a deeper and broader messaging but it gets reduced to a movie you watch for a few laughs and gags, before getting on with your life."

Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com rated 2.5/5 stars and notes "Pretty frames, gorgeously styled actors, easily resolved complex issues, Bad Newz has no wish to rise above its fluff objectives." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated the film 2.5/5 and wrote "If Bad Newz had stuck to its comedic guns, without resorting to the weepy saccharine bits which take over in the second half, it would have been gold." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film at 2/5, saying "It is the absence of genuine crackle in the average, single-note confection that Bad Newz is that does the film in."

See also

• Desperate Lies, Brazilian drama TV series touching on heteropaternal superfecundation

External links

• Bad Newz at IMDb
• Bad Newz at Bollywood Hungama