Overview
“Dunki,” a 2023 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film, explores the concept of “donkey flights,” an illicit immigration method. Directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani, the film is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Jio Studios, featuring an ensemble cast including Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, and a special appearance by Vicky Kaushal, along with Boman Irani.
Commencing in April 2022, principal photography concluded a year later in April 2023, spanning locations such as Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kashmir, Budapest, London, Jeddah, and Neom. Pritam composed the film’s soundtrack, while Aman Pant contributed to the background score. Cinematography duties were handled by C. K. Muraleedharan, Manush Nandan, and Amit Roy.
“Dunki” saw its worldwide release on 21 December 2023.
Storyline
In the heart of Punjab, four companions harbor a shared aspiration – to venture to England. The challenge they face is the absence of both visas and tickets. Their solution comes in the form of a soldier who pledges to escort them to the coveted land. “Dunki” unfolds as a delightful and emotionally charged tale of a risky expedition, navigating borders, forging bonds of friendship, evoking nostalgia for home, and embracing a love that transcends every obstacle.
Dunki Movie Production:
Development
In late 2020, rumors circulated about a potential collaboration between Rajkumar Hirani and Shah Rukh Khan for a new film. Hirani shared the film’s storyline with Khan during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, marking their first project together. Khan disclosed that he had previously turned down roles in Hirani’s films Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) and 3 Idiots (2009). The screenplay was completed by August 2021, and the official announcement came in April 2022. Co-written by Hirani, Abhijat Joshi, and Kanika Dhillon, the film initially had Amit Roy as the cinematographer, but creative differences with Hirani led to his departure, and C. K. Muraleedharan took over. This collaboration marks their fourth venture after Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), 3 Idiots, and PK (2014). Reports also indicate the involvement of Manush Nandan, Amit Roy, and Kumar Pankaj as cinematographers.
Casting
Mukesh Chhabra served as the casting director, and in January 2021, Taapsee Pannu was cast as the female lead, marking her first onscreen collaboration with Khan. Boman Irani, a frequent collaborator with Khan, joined the cast in October 2022, while Vicky Kaushal took on a significant role.
Filming
Principal photography commenced in Mumbai in April 2022, concluding the Mumbai schedule in June 2022 before moving on to international locations in July 2022, including Budapest and London. The shoot wrapped up a month later. A Mumbai-based bike sequence featuring Khan was filmed in October 2022, followed by a 12-day schedule in Saudi Arabia in November 2022, covering Jeddah and Neom. A three-day shoot took place in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, in December 2022. In January 2023, an underwater sequence with Khan was filmed in Mumbai. Concurrently, Khan, engaged in another project titled Jawan, completed his shooting in April 2023. The team then moved to Kashmir for a four-day schedule, visiting Srinagar, Pampore, Sonamarg, including the Thajwas glacier and Pulwama. Choreographed by Ganesh Acharya, a song sequence was shot in Kashmir, and the filming concluded in Sonamarg by April 2023. The film, shot over 75 days, with Khan filming for 60 days, reportedly has a budget of ₹120 crore, inclusive of marketing costs.
Dunki Film Full Cast & Crew
| Directed by | Rajkumar Hirani |
| Writing Credits | Kanika Dhillon, Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi |
| Cast (in credits order) | Shah Rukh Khan (Hardy) Taapsee Pannu (Manu) Boman Irani (Gulati) Anil Grover (Balli) Vicky Kaushal (Sukhi) Vikram Kochhar (Buggu) Jyoti Subhash (Not specified) |
| Produced by | Syed Zaid Ali (Line Producer) Rajkumar Hirani Gauri Khan Bantoo Khanna (Line Producer) Karan Khanna (Line Producer) Kumar Rahul (Junior Producer) |
| Music by | Pritam Chakraborty, Aman Pant (Background Music) |
| Cinematography by | C.K. Muraleedharan, Manush Nandan, Amit Roy |
| Editing by | Rajkumar Hirani |
| Casting By | Ruba Alotaibi, Mukesh Chhabra (Casting Director) |
| Production Design by | Subrata Chakraborty Amit Ray Dilip Rokade (Art Director) |
| Art Direction by | Christopher Reynders (Art Direction) Dilip Rokade (Senior Art Director) Saheli Shome (Assistant Art Director) |
| Set Decoration by | Erdei Dániel (Assistant Set Decorator) |
| Costume Design by | Eka Lakhani Shivani Saboo (Secondary Costume Designer) |
| Makeup Department | Arun Indulkar (Key Makeup Artist) Mira Prasad (Hair Stylist) Zahid Sayyed (Hair Designer) |
| Production Management | Abdulrahman Almohammadi (Production Assistant: Neom) Dev Barot (Production Manager UK) Kinana Fakhoury (2nd Unit) Alex Anthony Fernandes (Head Of Post Production) Tibor Horváth (Production Coordinator) Amogh Korgaonkar (Production Coordinater) Tala Olabi (Production Manager) Irene Proimos (Production Manager Neom) Kumar Rahul (Head of Production) Dora Rapi (Assistant Production Manager) Aparajita Sahay (Production Manager) Siddhesh Sawant (Post Producer) Sanjay Solanki (Production Manager) Vishal Thakkar (Unit Production Manager) |
| Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | Tawfik Baba (Second Assistant Director) Tanushree Bhatia (Second Second Assistant Director) Mohammed Faizal (Second Assistant Director) Aiman Kalia (Additional Assistant Director) Altamash Khan (Second Assistant Director) Patel Maanasi (Assistant Director) Ishan Mohan (Additional Second Assistant Director) Suraj Prasad (Third Assistant Director) Ishana Raj (Second Assistant Director) Ashish Ranglani (First Assistant Director) Jash Shah (Second Assistant Director) Siddharth Van Shipley (Second Assistant Director) |
| Art Department | Kanchan Choudhary (Assistant Art Director) Manish Kamble (Assistant Art Director) Rahul Katti (Assistant Art Director) Aniket Mitra (Action Storyboard Artist) Torma Mária (Assistant Art Director: Budapest) Megha Pawar (Assistant Art Director) Priya Sen (Assistant Art Director) Nikhil Shanbag (Set Designer: Art Department) Saheli Shome (Assistant Art Director) Dominik Tímár (Prop Buyer) Kamal Warik (Assistant Art Director) |
| Sound Department | Surya Karn Gupta (Asst. Sound Recordist) Justin Jose (Atmos Mixer/Re-Recording Mixer) Gyana Mishra (Boom Operator) Kinshuk Modgil (Assistant Sound Recordist) Nihar Ranjan Samal (Sound Mixer) |
| Special Effects by | Kaushik Khedekar (Chief Special Effects Assistant) Keshav Khedekar (Special Effects Supervisor) |
| Visual Effects by | Aditya Gujar (Visual Effects Coordinator) Atanu Misra (Visual Effects Editor) Aftab Asif Multani (VFX Production Coordinator) Vishal Sharma (Compositor) |
| Stunts | Melroy Dsilva (Underwater Key Rigger) Sham Kaushal (Action Director) Géza Kovács (Fight Coordinator/Hungary) Balazs Lengyel (Stunt Coordinator) Sachin Yadav (Utility Stunts) |
| Camera and Electrical Department | Shivam Agrawal (First Assistant Camera) Hiren B. Chaudhary (Second Assistant Camera Chirag Dhariwal (Drone) Busch Edvard (Lighting Technician) Anthony El-Estwani (Drone) Narjes Golaftab (Drone) Mark Hamilton (Director of Photography: Second Unit – London) Muzzammil Hashmi (First Assistant Camera: Second Unit – London) Sundar Jaiswal (Gimbal Operator) Shubham Jamdar (Aerial Cinematographer) Victor Katilis (Second Assistant Camera: Second Unit – London) Fakhruddin Khan (Jimmy Jib Boom Operator) Rofique Khan (Assistant Camera) Sunil Khandpur (Steadicam Operator) Harish Krishnan (2nd Unit Cinematographer) Pankaj Kumar (Additional Photography) Nivid Mandava (Assistant Cinematographer) Chandrababu Naidu (Focus Puller) Gergö Oláh (Lighting Technician) Rahul Kumar Patel (Focus Puller/Focus Puller) Lakhan Rathod (Steadicam Assistant) Baikuntha Rout (Associate Cameraman) Bhanu Pratap Singh (Steadicam/Omega AR Operator) Sagar Singh (Jimmy Jib Operator) Pudiyamuthu Sundaram (Jib Operator) Tarak P Tej (Second Assistant Camera) Nawaraj Krishna Thapa (Focus Puller – Credit Only) |
| Casting Department | Mukesh Chhabra (Original Casting) Zsofia Elod (Casting), Alex Gee (Additional Cast) Zsolt Ferenc Maier (Extras Casting) Asalah Mandourah (Extras Casting Assistant) Ummala Veerabhadra Mukunda (Casting Coordinator) Rakesh Tare (Casting Associate) Veronika Varjasi (Extras Casting) |
| Costume and Wardrobe Department | Emma Gál (Wardrobe Assistant) Anusri Jain (Costume Supervisor UK) Deepika Tiwari (Costume Assistant) |
| Editorial Department | Nitin Minz (Senior Production: Redchillies Color) Amit Saxena (Senior Production Coordinator) |
| Music Department | Sparsh Agrawal (BGM Producer) Javed Akhtar (Lyrics) Shreya Ghoshal |
Sound Track Of Dunki Film
The soundtrack for the film is crafted by Pritam, with Aman Pant handling the background score. The initial single, “Lutt Putt Gaya,” debuted on 22 November 2023. Subsequently, the second single, “Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se,” was released on 1 December 2023. Following that, the third single, “O Maahi,” was unveiled on 11 December 2023. The fourth single, “Banda,” made its appearance on 18 December 2023. Both the fifth single, “Chal Ve Watna,” and the sixth single, “Main Tera Rasta Dekhunga,” along with the entire soundtrack album, were launched on 20 December 2023. Additionally, the composition of the song “Waheguru” is credited to Shekhar Ravjiani.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Lutt Putt Gaya” | Swanand Kirkire, IP Singh | Arijit Singh | 3:42 |
| 2. | “Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se” | Javed Akhtar | Sonu Nigam | 4:59 |
| 3. | “O Maahi” | Irshad Kamil | Arijit Singh | 3:53 |
| 4. | “Chal Ve Watna” | Varun Grover | Javed Ali | 4:10 |
| 5. | “Banda” | Kumaar | Diljit Dosanjh | 2:49 |
| 6. | “Main Tera Rasta Dekhunga” | Amitabh Bhattacharya | Vishal Mishra, Shreya Ghoshal, Shadaab Faridi, Altamash Faridi | 4:07 |
| 7. | “Main Tera Rasta Dekhunga” (Film Version) | Amitabh Bhattacharya | Shadaab Faridi, Altamash Faridi | 5:15 |
| 8. | “Waheguru” | Traditional | Ajay Bijli | 3:34 |
Ddunki Movie Songs
Dunki Film: Lutt Putt Gaya song | Shah Rukh Khan,Taapsee |Rajkumar Hirani|Pritam,Arijit,Swanand,IP Singh
Dunki Film: Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se | Shah Rukh Khan | Rajkumar Hirani | Pritam,Sonu N,Javed A
Dunki Film: O Maahi | Shah Rukh Khan | Taapsee Pannu | Pritam | Arijit Singh | Irshad Kamil
Dunki : Banda | Shah Rukh Khan | Rajkumar Hirani | Taapsee | Pritam,Diljit,Kumaar
Dunki Film Release
Theatrical:
“Dunki” made its theatrical debut on 21 December 2023. Initially, there were speculations about a potential postponement to 2024, but Khan dismissed these rumors during a press conference for “Jawan” (2023).
Distribution:
- Pen Studios secured the theatrical rights for North India and West India under the Pen Marudhar Entertainment banner.
- Sree Gokulam Movies acquired the theatrical distribution rights for Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
- Rajshri Pictures handled distribution in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- Panorama Studios obtained the Mysore territory rights.
- SVF acquired the theatrical rights for West Bengal.
For overseas distribution:
- Yash Raj Films acquired the rights.
- Home Screen Entertainment secured the Singapore distribution rights.
- Lighthouse Distribution obtained the distribution rights for Spain.
- Action Cut Entertainment distributed the film in Bangladesh.
Home Media:
International non-theatrical distribution rights for the film were sold for ₹230 crores, while domestic non-theatrical streaming rights were acquired by JioCinema for ₹155 crores.
