In early 2011, it was reported that Sridevi would make a comeback with a film to be directed by ad filmmaker Gauri Shinde and produced by Gauri's husband R. Balki. It was said that Sridevi will play the protagonist in the role of a lady speaking English and the hilarious sequences that takes place in the process to learn the language forms the rest of the story. It was further reported that Amitabh Bachchan would play a cameo in the film and he shot with them for a day.
Owing to Sridevi's comeback after more than a decade, the film garnered much media interest. Amitabh's cameo, music by Amit Trivedi and Balki's track record have further added to the interest in the film. The film rights have been bought by Eros International for Rs. 20 crore.
The film marks the Bollywood debut of actress Priya Anand,whose previous work was in the Tamil and Telugu cinemas. It is also the directorial debut of Gauri Shinde. It was shot largely in New York. Balki also clarified that, other than Sridevi, all the actors in the film will be new.The principal photography concluded in October and the film was dubbed and released in Tamil and Telugu.
The first look of English Vinglish was launched on 14 June 2012. The official distributor Eros International posted the first look video and poster on YouTube and Twitter.The two-minute teaser showed Sridevi reading out the Censor Certificate of the film in deliberate broken English according to her character Sashi in the film, who struggles with the language. The first look was received positively and praised for its unique and fresh concept.The full theatrical trailer was unveiled at a special media event on 13 August 2012 to coincide with Sridevi's birthday.
The trailer met with a positive response and went viral on YouTube crossing one million views within a week of release. Sridevi's performance in the trailer was also highly acclaimed by her fans and the media, "Sridevi casts a spell in English Vinglish." The Tamil and Telugu theatrical trailers were subsequently released at Chennai and Hyderabad respectively. Sridevi also appeared in Kaun Banega Crorepati with her director Gauri Shinde.
English Vinglish was released in India and worldwide on 5 October. In India It was released across 739 screens for Hindi version, 110 screens for Tamil version inTamil Nadu and Telugu version released on 47 screens Andhra Pradesh and around 250 screens overseas.
Toronto International Film Festival
In July 2012, English Vinglish was selected by the prestigious 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and slotted for a World Premiere at the coveted Galas section of the festival. The comeback of Sridevi made it a highly anticipated film at the festival and all shows at TIFF were sold out during advance booking. The World Premiere took place at the Roy Thomson Auditorium on 14 September and was attended by Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, R. Balki, Gauri Shinde and other cast and crew. At the end of the premiere, the full-house audience gave a 10 minute long standing ovation to the film.
After the Toronto Premiere, some international media outlets hailed Sridevi as the "Meryl Streep of India".Two weeks later America's entertainment weekly Variety wrote in its review of English Vinglish that it found Sridevi "Disarmingly charming in a manner that recalls Audrey Hepburn."
Prior to the official release of the film, English Vinglish was specially screened for several actors in the Indian film fraternity and received unanimous praise.Amitabh Bachchan tweeted "English Vinglish" a delightful film, tender, soft, beautiful, relevant .. Sridevi immaculate, director Gauri Shinde .. YMUP !!" and later wrote in his blog that "A viewing of “English Vinglish” directed by Gauri Shinde, wife of R Balki tonight, leaves me with collective lumps in the throat and a surge of flushed eyes near the tear ducts. And it is not all the emotion of a particular moment that puts one in such state. It is the uncontrollable effect of appreciation that prevents one from expressing any at all."Rajnikanth also praised the film and said "Sridevi has lived the character." Ace director Shekhar Kapur tweeted "English Vinglish is not just a film about Sridevi learning English. It's a funny heartwarming story of a woman coming into her own" while Anupam Kher tweeted that "English Vinglish is Spectacularly Beautiful. Film with a Golden Heart. ORIGINAL QUEEN OF CINEMA is BACK.:)"
Many actors also voiced their excitement after watching the promos of the film. Hrithik Roshan predicted that the film will be a success and even postponed his travel plans to attend the premiere.Salman Khan also cancelled his shoot for a day to travel back to Mumbai for the premiere.Anil Kapoor called Sridevi '"the best actress'" and said that he was expecting "a great performance."Konkona Sen Sharma also tweeted "Have to say I'm really looking forward to watching Sridevi in her new film English Vinglish!
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