2005 Indian film by Shaad Ali
Bunty Aur Babli (transl. Bunty and Babli) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali, written by Jaideep Sahni from a story by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Chopra under Yash Raj Films. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji as the titular con artists, with Amitabh Bachchan in a supporting role as a police officer tracking them across India. Inspired by the 1967 American film Bonnie and Clyde, the narrative follows two small-town dreamers who team up to pull off a series of cons under the aliases Bunty and Babli, gaining notoriety across the country.
The film marked the first on-screen collaboration between Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, and one of several pairings of Bachchan Jr. and Mukerji. Principal photography took place across various locations in India. The music was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics by Gulzar and Blaaze.
Bunty Aur Babli was theatrically released on 27 May 2005, and received positive reviews from critics who praised the direction, screenplay, costumes, music, and lead performances. The film emerged as a major commercial success, grossing ₹904 million (US$11 million) worldwide, and became the second highest-grossing Indian film of the year.
At the 51st Filmfare Awards, the film received eight nominations, including Best Film, Best Actor (Abhishek Bachchan), Best Actress (Mukerji), and Best Supporting Actor (Amitabh Bachchan), winning three: Best Music Director (Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy), Best Lyricist (Gulzar), and Best Female Playback Singer (Alisha Chinai), the latter two for the song "Kajra Re".
The film was later remade in Telugu as Bhale Dongalu (2008). It's sequel, Bunty Aur Babli 2 was released theatrically on 19 November 2021. Mukerji reprised her role with Saif Ali Khan replacing Abhishek Bachchan. Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh joined as a new pair of con artists.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.