Motichoor Chaknachoor is a 2019 Indian comedy-dramafilm directed by debutant Debamitra Biswal and produced by Viacom18 Studios, Rajesh Bhatia and Kiran Bhatia. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Athiya Shetty in the lead roles, it follows the story of a 36-year-old man, Pushpinder Tyagi, working abroad in Dubai, trying to find a wife back home in Bhopal, while in the process he meets his much younger neighbor, Anita "Annie" Awasthi, who wants to marry someone settled abroad. The film also stars Vibha Chibber, Navni Parihar, Vivek Mishra, Karuna Pandey, Sanjeev Vats, Abhishek Rawat, Sapna Sand and Usha Nagar in supporting roles. Biswal filed a commercial arbitration petition on Bombay High Court which had ordered a stay on the release of its trailer, over non-payment of dues by the makers of the film Woodpecker Movies Private Limited; the stay was later lifted. The film was theatrically released in India on 15 November 2019. Although a commercial failure at the box office and the subject of mixed reviews, it earned praise for Shetty's and Siddiqui's performance. On 24 January 2020, the film was released on Netflix.
Anita "Annie" Awasthi, a girl from a middle-class family in Bhopal, has turned down several marriage proposals because she is desperate to leave India and settle abroad. Her determination to remain single and move abroad has caused stress for her parents. One day Annie finds out that Pushpinder Tyagi, her neighbor's son, has taken a leave from his job in Dubai to return to Bhopal and find a woman to marry. Pushpinder is 36 years old and is desperate to marry a girl no matter her appearance or personality. His mother Indu, meanwhile, is concerned about what kind of dowry her son can fetch. Annie's unmarried aunt, Prabha, encourages Annie to convince Pushpinder to marry her so she can leave India. Pushpinder and his family visit an apparently wealthy family and submit a marriage proposal for their daughter's hand. He agrees to the marriage despite the girl showing no real interest in him. While the couple's wedding is the planning stage, Indu makes a dowry demand to the girl's family, but the girl's family rejects the demand. In a fit of rage, Indu calls off the wedding. Realizing that Pushpinder is a mama's boy who would never cross his mother, Annie talks him into eloping with her. When they show up back at the family's doorstep already married, the two families are forced to accept their marriage and start preparing for a wedding ceremony. Despite Indu's anger that Annie's family cannot afford her dowry demands, the wedding goes ahead as planned. When Annie's father discreetly offers Pushpinder a portion of the dowry amount, he refuses to take it because he does not believe in the concept of dowry. Annie overhears their conversation and gains more respect for Pushpinder. Nevertheless, she feels no attraction for him and cannot consummate the marriage. News arrives from Dubai that Pushpinder has been fired from his job there, to which he replies by revealing he has secured a job in Bhopal and plans to settle there. This news enrages Annie and Indu, who both desperately want Pushpinder to move back to Dubai. Soon Pushpinder is offered his Dubai job back, but he plans to reject the offer and stay close to his family. Annie and Indu hatch a plan whereby Annie will withhold sex from Pushpinder until he agrees to return to Dubai. Pushpinder, overhearing them discuss their plan, argues with Annie and slaps her. He apologizes to Annie and tries to make amends to her, but she does not wish to reconcile. One night, Pushpinder abruptly goes to Dubai. Before leaving, he writes a note to Annie in which he apologizes again for slapping her. With the note he encloses a one-way ticket to Singapore so that her dream of settling outside of India may yet come true. In Pushpinder's absence, Indu and Annie see the error of their ways. Indu regrets forcing Pushpinder into marrying to satisfy her financial needs. Annie regrets marrying Pushpinder without any personal attachment solely from a desire to leave India. Meanwhile, Pushpinder, unable to leave Indu or Annie behind, returns. His sudden reappearance sparks a reconciliation with Indu and Annie. Pushpinder and Annie dash off at last to consummate the marriage.
Production
The film was shot extensively in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The highlight of the film was that all actors were speaking the Bundelkhandi language, and had to attend workshop to learn the dialect perfectly.
Release and Controversy
The official trailer of the film was unveiled by Viacom18 Studios on 11 October 2019. Biswal, who hails from Odisha, disowned her film, alleging that creative control was wrested away from her during the post-production process. She also said she was not allowed to present her version of the film due to ‘silly ego fights’. She is also in a legal tussle with producers of the film. She even approached Bombay High Court seeking stay on the film's trailer and its release over alleged non-payment of dues. Producers Rajesh and Kiran on their part accused her of trying to sell the film's rights to a film distributor in Bihar without their knowledge. Shetty was reportedly not paid her full due payment. The film producers even served legal notice to Shetty's father, veteran actorSuniel Shetty, over interfering in his daughter's film. Terming it a lie he said "I can very strongly say that I never interfere in Athiya’s films and that was all a lie. The producers said what they wanted to but I never gave any explanation because it was somebody else’s film. I had no involvement in it." He further said the film could have been one of the most beautiful films of 2019 but was not meant to be. He also said the film's failure impacted his daughter.
Soundtrack
The film's music is composed by Bharat – Hitarth, Ramji Gulati, Arjuna Harjai, Amjad Nadeem Aamir and Siddhart Amit Bhavsar while lyrics are written by Kumaar, Siddhart Amit Bhavsar and Bharat Menaria.
Box office
Motichoor Chaknachoors opening day domestic collection was 30 lacs. On the second day, the film collected 50 lacs. On the third day, the film collected 55 lacs, taking total opening weekend collection to 1.35 crore., with a gross of 2.44 crore in India and 36 lacs overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of 2.80 crore. The film that garnered negative reviews, was a box office disaster despite touching upon important subject like dowry and fascination of NRI lifestyle.
