Hasee Toh Phasee (transl. If she smiles, she is trapped) is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Vinil Mathew and produced by Karan Johar, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap under Dharma Productions and Phantom Films. The film stars Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra, along with Adah Sharma, Manoj Joshi, Sharat Saxena and Neena Kulkarni. Marking Malhotra's reunion with Dharma Productions, as well as Chopra's first project outside her Yash Raj Films collaborations, Hasee Toh Phasee follows the story of Nikhil, a struggling businessman who, believing he is in love with Karishma, an actress he is engaged to, has to prove his worth to his father-in-law while grappling with the sudden return of his fiancée's geeky sister, Meeta, who he had an encounter with years ago, throwing all of them into uncharted waters as he gets to know Meeta better. Vishal–Shekhar composed the music, while lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Kumaar. The film was released on 7 February 2014. It mainly received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its story, music, humor, cinematography and cast performances, particularly Chopra's, and earned ₹63.38 crore worldwide, thus emerging as a moderate commercial success at the box office. At the 60th Filmfare Awards, Hasee Toh Phasee received 3 nominations, including Best Lyricist (Bhattacharya for "Zehnaseeb") and Best Male Playback Singer (Shekhar Ravjiani for "Zehnaseeb").
Plot Nikhil Bhardwaj is a struggling businessman who loves Karishma Solanki, an actress. A firm old–schooler, he believes that once committed to a girl, there should be no straying, so he asks Karishma's father, Devesh, to help him with ₹50 million before marriage to earn a contract. However, Devesh sidesteps his request, thus forcing him to prove his worth on his own. Sometime later, Nikhil meets Meeta, Karishma's younger sister, whom he had a brief encounter with seven years ago. Meeta, an IITian in Chemical Engineering and PhD, is a super-intelligent geek with unusual habits and tics. She ran away seven years ago to China via Goa, Nikhil inadvertently helping her while declining her offer to accompany, after stealing money for her project from Devesh, leading him to suffer a heart attack on the day of their eldest sister, Deeksha's wedding. Now, just a week before Nikhil and Karishma's wedding, Meeta has turned up to meet Devesh, but Karishma, fearing that Meeta's sudden appearance might ruin their wedding, assigns Nikhil to watch over Meeta and keep her away from the Solanki family. Nikhil and Meeta become close during the seven days preceding Nikhil's wedding. He learns that Meeta has returned, intending to steal again, and has taken a hefty loan of ₹100 million from a Chinese investor for her research by forging her father's signature. The deadline for payback is over, and an extension of three days was given, during which she has to steal money from her father's account to save him from the investor's goons. Nikhil helps Meeta hack her father's account, but advises her to apologise to her family. Meeta apologizes and reunites with her family. Meeta cannot gather the courage to steal her father's money and tells him the truth; in response, he forgives her and gives her the money. She later meets Nikhil and proposes an elopement, but unwilling to betray Karishma, he backs off. Meanwhile, Mukesh Adnani, an investor, shows his interest in Nikhil's idea, which was originally proposed by Meeta. On the wedding day, Meeta leaves her house without informing anyone, leaving her mobile phone in Karishma's room. Nikhil tries to call her and sends many texts, which go unanswered. On reaching the wedding altar, Devesh informs Nikhil that she has left for China. Karishma finds Meeta's phone in her room, reads Nikhil's messages, and realises she has lost him. During the wedding, she asks Nikhil to leave, to which Nikhil hesitantly obliges. Heartbroken, Meeta tries to run away, but soon gathers enough courage to go back and profess her love for Nikhil. She and Nikhil reunite at the same place and in the same predicament they first met 7 years ago. They both express their love for each other and share a kiss. The film ends with Nikhil, now an IPS officer and Meeta, at the airport, scheduled to travel to Germany. Meeta tells him that there is another problem waiting for them there, as Meeta tells Nikhil he will be safe, but Nikhil says he wants Meeta to be safe with him as well, and they have a fun banter.
Cast Parineeti Chopra as Dr. Meeta Solanki Anshikaa Shrivastava as Young Meeta Sidharth Malhotra as Nikhil Bharadwaj Namit Shah as young Nikhil Adah Sharma as Karishma Solanki Manoj Joshi as Devesh Solanki, Meeta and Karishma's father Sharat Saxena as S. B. Bharadwaj, Nikhil's father Neena Kulkarni as Mrs. Bharadwaj, Nikhil's mother Sameer Sharma as Abhay Bharadwaj, Nikhil's brother Anil Mange as Abhinandan Sameer Khakhar as Alpesh Solanki, Meeta's uncle Sunil Upadhyay as Salim Garvita Sharma as Amrita Gulzar Dastur as Nikhil's aunt Lily Patel as Baa, Meeta's grandmother Akash Dabas as Nikhil's friend Jaymeet Sinha as Ruhaan Tinnu Anand as Mukesh Adnani (special appearance) Bobby Darling in a special appearance in song "Drama Queen" Karan Johar in a special appearance Vikas Bahl in a special appearance Madhu Mantena in a special appearance
Production
Development Karan Johar's Dharma Productions along with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl's Phantom Films, announced that they would make a romantic comedy together. The film is directed by Vinil Mathew in his directorial debut. The film was initially titled Hasta la vista Su Badam Pista. But it was later changed to Hasee Toh Phasee. Anurag Kashyap said, "The story works with fresh faces, but requires a high level of chemistry and maturity in the performances. After spending months shortlisting various actors, we finalised Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra."
Casting
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