Bunty Aur Babli

Rakesh Trivedi is an aspiring entrepreneur from the small town of Fursatgunj in Uttar Pradesh who wants to build his own business and wishes to try his luck in the city, but is under pressure from his ticket examiner father Chandra Prakash Trivedi to apply for a government job in the railways. Extremely unwilling to follow into Chandra's footsteps, he runs away one day hoping to reach Mumbai. Elsewhere, in the fictional town of Pankinagar in Punjab, Vimmi Saluja harbours dreams of becoming a fashion designer but is constantly under pressure from her family for marriage. Seeking to avoid any more prospective suitors, she too runs away, hoping to display her talent in Mumbai. However, at one point, Rakesh's attempts to sell his business ideas to a client go awry when he learns that the prospect he discussed his plan outside with, Q. Q. Qureshi, had already pitched it and obtained approval. Vimmi too is unsuccessful, and she and Rakesh meet each other, sharing their respective failures. Determined to avenge Mehmood, Rakesh plans an elaborate job with help from Vimmi and successfully dupes Qureshi. The runaway success prompts them to turn into con artists, and they adopt the aliases "Bunty" and "Babli", embarking on a series of adventures, eventually attracting national attention. As time passes, they decide to get married and continue as husband and wife.

Meanwhile, JCP Dashrath Singh has slowly been catching up with them, and finally, at one point, he manages to get dangerously close to the couple. After one of their jobs ends in Dashrath issuing orders against them and engaging the forces in an active lockdown to prevent them from escaping, Rakesh and Vimmi, who by this time has become pregnant and given birth to a baby boy, try to run away and successfully board a train. Enroute, Vimmi contemplates the lifestyle they have chosen and the impact this will have on their son, while an initially ignorant Rakesh finally recognizes the potential perils of engaging in such a dangerous career. They mutually decide to leave their life of crime behind, but Rakesh is caught by Dashrath the next morning, leaving him and Vimmi with no choice but to accompany the officer.

Dashrath listens to their entire story and realizes their pleas to turn over a new leaf are genuine. He decides to let them go, certain that he has destroyed "Bunty" and "Babli" as outlaws. The couple moves back to the Trivedi household in Fursatganj, living a content life with stable jobs. Sometime later, Dashrath approaches them with an offer to help bust crime, seeking to pull them out of their rut by re–enabling their "Bunty" and "Babli" personas.

• Amitabh Bachchan^[6] as JCP Dashrath Singh
• Abhishek Bachchan as Rakesh Trivedi / Bunty^[6]
• Rani Mukerji as Vimmi Saluja / Babli^[6]
• Raj Babbar as T. T. Chandra Prakash Trivedi, Bunty's father^[7]
• Talluri Rameswari as Mrs. Trivedi, Bunty's mother
• Puneet Issar as Mr. Saluja, Babli's father^[7]
• Kiran Juneja as Mrs. Saluja, Babli's mother
• Pratima Kazmi as Phool Sakhi^[7]
• Prem Chopra as the Sikh Truck Driver^[7]
• Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay as Protestor
• Ranjeet Bedi as Showroom Manager
• Ravi Baswani as Hotel Owner in Mussoorie
• Sanjay Mishra as Q. Q. Qureshi
• Virendra Saxena as Police Commissioner
• Yunus Parvez as Hotel Owner
• Anupam Shyam as Raj Kapoor Tiwari
• Brijendra Kala as Mehmood Bilal
• J. Brandon Hill as Harry Epstein
• Lilliput as a trumpet player
• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as a bar dancer in the song 'Kajra Re' (special appearance)

Quick facts Soundtrack album by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Released ...

Bunty Aur Babli
Soundtrack album by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Released	15 April 2005 (India)
Recorded	2004
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	37:09
Label	Yash Raj Music
Producers	Yash Chopra Aditya Chopra
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy chronology
Phir Milenge (2004) Bunty Aur Babli (2005) Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (2005)
Singles from Bunty Aur Babli
"Kajra Re" Released: 2005

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The soundtrack for Bunty Aur Babli was composed by the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics by Gulzar and Blaaze. It was released on 15 April 2005 under the Yash Raj Music label.^[12] Initially, A. R. Rahman was approached to compose the music, having previously collaborated with director Shaad Ali on Saathiya (2002), but he declined due to scheduling conflicts.^[13]

The album featured energetic dance numbers and romantic tracks, performed onscreen by lead actors Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji. The song "Kajra Re", featuring Aishwarya Rai in a special appearance alongside the Bachchans, became a major hit and was especially praised for its choreography and visual appeal.

According to Box Office India, the soundtrack sold approximately 1.9 million units, making it the second highest-selling Hindi film album of 2005.^[14]

In December 2019, Yash Raj Films announced a sequel titled Bunty Aur Babli 2, directed by Varun V. Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra.^[33] The film starred Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji as the original Bunty and Babli, alongside Siddhant Chaturvedi and debutante Sharvari Wagh as a new con duo who adopt the notorious aliases.^[34][35] Initially scheduled for release on 26 June 2020, the film was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was eventually released theatrically on 19 November 2021.^[36]

The character of Bunty was portrayed by Khan, replacing Abhishek Bachchan.^[37] The sequel received mostly negative reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office.

Bunty Aur Babli was remade in Telugu as Bhale Dongalu in 2008, starring Tarun, Ileana D'Cruz, and Jagapathi Babu.^[38] In 2013, Time Out placed the film at number 63 in its list of “The 100 Best Bollywood Movies.”^[39]