Hindi
Hindi Medium….Fun in parts
MUMBAI: Hindi Medium is meant to be a satire on the education system as it has evolved in India lately. Just about every institution likes to add the word ‘International’ to its name and claim to be affiliated to a system of education somewhere in the West.
It is a take on the money versus schooling and the snob value added to education.
Publications have taken to ranking educational institutions and many swear by these rankings. And, just about every family on the top of the social ladder in Delhi, where the story is based, wants its ward to get into the number one in ranking; the rest would be a compromise and a blot on their status during society parties.
Saba Qamar is one such mother who wants her daughter to go to Delhi Grammar School, ranked number one.
The characters of Irrfan Khan and Saba are an old Delhi, Chandni Chowk, couple, married after a phase of teenage courting. The couple have a daughter. Irrfan, a ladies tailor’s son, has grown up to be a millionaire now owning a huge women’s high-end dress showroom.
Along with that, he also possesses the gift of gab. His customers, mostly women and into buying wedding trousseaus, usually go away having bought more than they planned to.
While, Irrfan, a dropout and has no English, Saba, a graduate, is fluent. Irrfan and Saba’s love is intact but Saba has just one ambition which is to get her daughter into Delhi’s number one school.
To this end, the process starts when Saba convinces Irrfan to shift to a posh Delhi locality, Vasant Vihar, because Chandni Chowk is downmarket and schools number one to five would not admit a child from this area. Some schools also have rules about admitting new students only if they are wards of ex-students or those belonging to vicinity.
Having moved, Saba now tries to fit in to the new neighbourhood. She pretends to be in with the rich neighbours but Irrfan’s way of life is a pure giveaway of his old Delhi ways. They are soon told that being rich is not the only criteria, being suave and savvy is also important. The neighbour’s kids would not play with Saba’s daughter because she speaks Hindi, not English!
Saba tries a number of ways but when everything fails, Irrfan is informed of the 25% RTE (Right To Education) quota meant for the poor as per the law set by the authorities. On Saba’s insistence, Irrfan applies. What ensues thereafter is another story altogether.
To prove that theirs is a poor family, Irrfan and Saba shift to a typical Delhi jhuggi jhopdi basti. That is because the school authorities plan to visit and verify the poor applicants. Here, in poor basti, the film takes a detour, going into the equation between selfish rich and the sacrificing poor. Irrfan’s neighbour, Deepak Dobrail, has also applied for his son’s admission under RTE and what ensues is pure 1960s drama of pure heart versus evil heart.
So far riding on subtle humour and human bondage, the film unfortunately decides to conclude on preaching. This costs about 20 extra minutes to finish. Its 133 minute duration starts feeling like 180. The climax is way too predictable. Which means, once again, that the editors have little say nowadays. Music plays to no effect. Dialogue is simple and witty. Saba’s takiya kalaam about her daughter ending up as a drug addict is fun.
This is an Irrfan vehicle but the one who excels is Deepak Dobriyal in an author-backed role. Saba, as an obsessed wife and mother, follows next. Irrfan remains his usual competent self.
Hindi Medium has had a weak opening. The film has been exempted from paying entertainment tax in Gujarat and Maharashtra and some more states may follow suit. With a good word of mouth, the film should pick over the weekend.
Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Dinesh Vijan.
Director: Saket Chaudhary.
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Saba Qamar, Deepak Dobriyal.
Half Girlfriend……Half Hearted!
We have had titles such as JhuthaSach, ThodisiBewafaii which raised some pre-release debates. But, in the absence of such widespread and active media we have now, not as much as Half Girlfriend did. Normally too, people are in a habit of defining friendship with unnecessary adjectives like True friend, loyal friend etc. A friend is a friend and, similarly, one has a man/boyfriend or a girlfriend.
The title Half Girlfriend may have sounded good enough for the novel ChetanBhagat wrote since it would help raise curiosity and sell copies. In the film, it sounds funny despite explanations. Does a girl qualify to be called girlfriend after she has slept with the boy? That is how it comes across in this film. Since Shraddha Kapoor has no such immediate plans, she suggests Arjun Kapoor consider her as his half girlfriend!
This, then, is an indication of things to come.
Arjun Kapoor, a native of a small town in Bihar, applies at Delhi’s prestigious college, St Stephens, on sports quota being an ace basketball player. He is being interviewed by a panel but is unable to answer since he knows no English. He suggests he be interviewed in Hindi rather than ‘the language of a country thousands of miles away’! The panel looks extremely ashamed of their insistence on English no matter all the education meted out by the faculty is in English.
He calls up his mom, Seema Biswas, who runs a school in his hometown and expresses a desire to return because of language problem. She gives him a new mantra about never to give up or something to that effect! While he is talking to Seema, he spots Shraddha practicing basketball. More than the mother’s mantra it isShraddha magic that makeshim ‘Mantramugdha’ and he decides to stay. Shraddha, who arrives in college in a limousine, is the daughter of a millionaire Delhi businessman.
The list of students accepted by the college is put up and Arjun has qualified. This looks a bit strange since the college seems to be functioning in its full glory with students teeming all over the campus!
Forget English, Arjun now concentrates all his attention on Shraddha. He manages to draw her attention when she is not having a good time with her scoring on the basketball court by suggesting how to go about it. It works for her. But, there is nothing thereafter. She seems to have forgotten he existed while all of Arjun’s time around the college is spent stalking her. To guide him are three of his fellow Bihari friends in the hostel who may never have talked to a girl but know what Arjun should do next!
Friends advise Arjun ask Shraddha out on a movie date and only then will they believe she is not leading him on! That done, Arjun is told that the only way Bihar knows to make sure if a girl really loves a boy is to invite her over to have sex!
Angry, Shraddha, walks out and decides it is better to sleep with a suitor her parents have chosen for her by marrying him than to sleep with the man she loves!
There is no way to salvage the film hereafter.
Half Girlfriend has two major faults: casting and scripting. As for casting, the chemistry does not work between Arjun and Shraddha, Arjun and Seema or Arjun and his friends. As of the script, if there are 80 scenes in the film, they all seem to have their origins in some or other old film. It is a totally contrived script. The situations created of a pining lover Arjun fail to create empathy. Direction is below par. Music has no takeaway value. Editing is lacking.
There is not much to talk about performances. Arjun Kapoor lacks range and carries limited expressions. Shraddha Kapoor is okay. Seema Biswas’ is an ill-defined role. Same goes for Vikrant Massey. Rhea Chakraborty is good in a brief role.
Half Girlfriend has at some centres and average at others and not expected to sustain for long.
Producers: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, MohitSuri, ChetanBhagat.
Director: MohitSuri.
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Shradha Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Vikrant Massey, Rhea Chakraborty.
Hindi
GUEST COLUMN: Why film libraries & IPs are the new engines of growth
Unlocking value through catalogue strength and IP synergy
MUMBAI:In a media landscape defined by fragmentation, platform proliferation, and ever-evolving audience behavior, the economics of filmmaking are undergoing a fundamental shift. No longer confined to box office performance, a film’s true value is now measured across an extended lifecycle that spans digital platforms, syndication networks, and global markets. As content consumption becomes increasingly non-linear and algorithm-driven, film libraries and intellectual properties (IPs) are emerging as strategic assets, capable of delivering sustained, long-term returns. For Mohan Gopinath, head – bollywood business at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., this transformation signals a decisive move from hit-driven models to portfolio-led value creation. In this piece, Gopinath explores how legacy content, when intelligently repurposed and distributed, can unlock recurring revenue streams, why the interplay between catalogue and original IP is critical, and how media companies can build resilient, future-ready entertainment businesses.
For all these years, we thought that a film is successful if it performs well in theatres. There are opening weekend numbers, box office milestones, and distribution footprints that gave a good picture of how the movie has done commercially and also tell us about its cultural impact. However, there are multiple platforms today, always-on content ecosystem, which has caused a shift. Today, the theatrical performance is not the culmination of a film’s journey but merely the beginning of a much longer and more dynamic lifecycle.
Film libraries today are emerging as high-value, constantly evolving assets that deliver sustained returns well beyond initial release cycles. This becomes a point of great advantage for legacy content owners with diverse catalogues, to shape long-term business outcomes.
According to FICCI-EY, the media and entertainment industry of India achieved a valuation of Rs 2.78 trillion in 2025 which is expected to reach Rs 3.3 trillion by 2028 through a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7 per cent and digital media will bring in more than Rs 1 trillion to become the biggest sector which generates about 36 per cent of overall market revenues.
This shift is the expansion of distribution endpoints. We know how satellite television was once the primary secondary window but today, it coexists with YouTube, OTT platforms, Connected TV, and FAST channels. Each of these platforms caters to distinct audience demographics and consumption behaviors, helping content owners to obtain more value from the same asset across multiple formats.
For instance, films that had great reruns, now find continuous engagement across digital platforms. On YouTube, classic Hindi cinema continues to attract significant viewership, reaching audiences across generations and geographies with remarkable consistency. At Shemaroo Entertainment, this is reflected in our film library shaped over decades as part of a long association with Indian entertainment. From classics such as Amar Akbar Anthony to much-loved entertainers like Jab We Met, Welcome, Dhamaal, Phir Hera Pheri, Dhol, Golmaal, and Bhagam Bhag, many of these titles continue finding new audiences while retaining their place in popular memory. Their enduring appeal reflects how culturally resonant stories can continue creating value over time. Similarly, FAST channels have created curated, always-on environments where catalogue content can continue to thrive through star-led and genre-based programming.
This multi-platform approach has very well transformed films into long-tail IP assets which are capable of generating recurring revenue across advertising, subscription, and syndication models.
The evolution of audience behavior is equally important. Nowadays, it’s more important to find what’s more relative than what’s recent as viewers are more influenced by mood, memories, and algorithmic suggestions than by release schedules. Even if a movie was released decades ago, it can trend alongside a newly released movie, if surfaced in the right context. Thoughtful packaging, whether through festival-based playlists, actor-driven collections, or genre clusters, allows catalogue content to remain dynamic and continuously discoverable. Shemaroo Entertainment has built extensive film libraries over decades and its focus has mostly been on recontextualizing content for the consumption of newer environments. This process doesn’t just include digitization and restoration, but also re-packaging of films as per platforms.
Syndication itself has evolved into a key growth driver. In perspective, when looking at the domestic market, curated content packages continue to find strong demand across broadcast and digital platforms. Meanwhile, in the international market, especially in markets like Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia, the appetite for Indian content is opening up new monetization avenues. Here, the ability to package and position catalogue content effectively becomes as important as the content itself.
Importantly, the need to re-package catalogue content does not diminish the role of new content. In fact, originals and fresh IP are essential to sustaining the long-term value of a film library because they act as discovery engines that bring audiences into the ecosystem, while catalogue content drives depth, retention, and repeat engagement.
This interplay between the “new” and the “known” is what defines a robust content strategy today. While new films generate spikes in consumption, catalogue titles offer familiarity and comfort. These are factors that are increasingly valuable in an era of content abundance and decision fatigue. This is also shaping our strategy, drawing value from both a deep catalogue assets and a growing focus on original IPs to strengthen long-term audience engagement and build more predictable revenue streams.
There is growing recognition that long-term value in entertainment will be shaped not only by how intelligently existing content continues to live, travel and find relevance, but also by how consistently new stories are created to renew that ecosystem. In that sense, film libraries and original IP are not parallel bets, but reinforcing engines of growth. For media companies, the opportunity lies in making these two forces work together, because that is increasingly where more resilient and predictable businesses are being shaped.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
