# Wild Wild Punjab

Wild Wild Punjab is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Simarpreet Singh. Produced by T-Series Films and Luv Films, the film stars Varun Sharma, Jassie Gill, Sunny Singh, Manjot Singh, Patralekha and Ishita Raj Sharma. It was released on Netflix on 10 July 2024 to mixed reviews from critics and audiences.

## Plot

Gaurav Jain is the only son of a domineering father who won't have "no" for an answer to an arranged marriage with a young bride, Tara, bringing him the prospective dowry and much more. Maan Arora, a playboy and gym freak who is Gaurav's childhood friend, accompanies him to a roadside dhaba, where they meet up to console their friend Rajesh Khanna, who is contemplating suicide ever since he caught his girlfriend Vaishali cheating on him with their boss Naveen, who she is set to marry in four days. Later, the trio's mentor Honey Singh, who owns a generational truck driving business and is very benevolent in nature, arrives in his expensive SUV, which he has nicknamed Paro. Although the three of them are not on friendly terms with Honey, they invite him to their table because of his car. Honey proposes that Khanna confront Vaishali to beat his grief, and in jest, Khanna decides to proclaim the words "I am over you" on her face right at her wedding. Everyone agrees to the plan and sets for Pathankot where the wedding venue is just a four hour drive. However, Khanna's urge to drink alcohol surfaces a tad too late; there is no open bar or wine shop in sight. On the way, they see a wedding and decide to gatecrash it in hopes of finding free alcohol; in the process, Gaurav gulps an entire bottle down, much to the surprise of the other three who initially chastised him for his hesitation. They eventually get drunk to the point of losing their senses.
The next morning, the gang is horrified to discover they are still at the wedding venue. The bride's brother addresses Gaurav as his brother-in-law, leaving everyone clueless; he then narrates that Gaurav, in a drunken stupor, berated the Groom's father for holding up the marriage for dowry and the groom's family left. The bride's mother, distraught, questioned who would marry her daughter to which Gaurav responded by proclaiming he would not demand a dowry for marrying Radha, the bride. This incident turned him into a hero in the eyes of the village, and they assemble in the morning at the house to give the couple a nice send-off. Scared of his father's threat to marry Tara, Gaurav attempts to run away but cannot do so in the presence of the crowd assembled outside. Honey and Arora try to reason with Radha's father but he threatens to commit suicide. Everyone comes to terms with the situation and decides to take Radha with them. Honey gets the shock of his life when he sees that Paro is decorated with flowers for the send-off; however, he calms himself.
Later, Gaurav tries to abandon Radha at a temple and get back on the gang's way to Pathankot, but midway through, Honey's conscience awakens and he tells Gaurav this is not what his father has taught him in life. They return to pick up Radha who has no idea about Gaurav's scheme. Along the way, Radha gets to know of Khanna's situation and sympathizes with him. She suggests that his confrontation with Vaishali would be effective only if he tags along with a girl who can pretend to be his girlfriend. They then go to Punjab University to ask her friend Palak, but since she is busy, they instead ask out Meera, a hotshot, on the condition that they first visit her drug dealer whom she has to hand over pills. However, no one has any idea about her motive or her profession, though Arora seemingly has a crush on her.
Later during the journey, Honey in almost on the verge of losing his life and Paro, but is luckily saved, though at a highway checkpoint, he has a scuffle with Avtar Singh, a cop and after a chaotic chase, the gang lands in jail. When all attempts to get out fail, Honey swallows his pride, apologizes to Avtar for his behaviour and requests him to release the rest of his friends. Everyone is moved by his gesture and the cop agrees to his request. Later, Avtar gets a call from his senior who asks him to report to a riot with all his force; it turns out, though, that this was a prank played by Arora, and they come back to rescue Honey.
When they reach the drug dealer's place, Meera has a stand-off over the compensation and she escapes with money and the drugs. There is a gun chase between the two parties and somehow Honey and his team manage to outrun the drug dealers but Khanna is struck by a bullet in his buttocks during the chase. Late at night, they land in a veterinary hospital and the doctor successfully operates on Khanna. As they are about to leave, the gangsters catch up with them, though Meera manages to escape with Paro. They abduct Radha and demand to present Meera within an hour with the drug pills and money. Honey, through his fleet, is able to track and bring back Meera, but during the exchange Arora, who wants to save Meera, creates a mess. As the gangsters are about to kill the gang, Gaurav makes a dramatic entry and saves everyone. There is a chase that ultimately leads to Vaishali's wedding venue. She is angry when she confronts Khanna, but on finding out Naveen cheated on her with his masseuse, she realizes her mistake and hugs Khanna.
Despite his last-minute mental conflict as he ponders the entire journey and the righteousness of his public denouncement of her, Khanna ultimately chooses to tell Vaishali the four words he had wanted to tell her in a dramatically poetic style as the rest of the gang watches. Meanwhile, Avtar arrives at the venue just in the nick of time to arrest the gangsters and pardons Honey, telling him that a job promotion is bigger than personal ego.
As they are about to return, Honey receives another call from his wife and mentions stage IV cancer. When everyone asks him what happened, he claims there is nothing serious. Upon further prodding by the gang, who wanted to repay him for his kindness, they are instead left flustered when he reveals his wife was actually giving him updates on a soap opera she watches, wherein a character was actually dying from it, much to the audience's amusement.

## Cast

* Varun Sharma as Rajesh Khanna
* Sunny Singh as Maan Arora
* Manjot Singh as Honey Singh
* Jassie Gill as Gaurav Jain
* Rajkummar Rao as Narrator
* Patralekha as Radha
* Ishita Raj Sharma as Meera
* Rajesh Sharma as SHO Avtar Singh, Rupnagar
* Asheema Vardaan as Vaishali
* Subha Rajput as Tara
* Gopal Datt as Gaurav's father
* Samuel John as Daljeet
* Anjum Batra as Dalbir
* Rose Sardana as Ginni
* Ashok Pathak as Doctor

## Production

The film was announced in February 2024. The teaser of the movie released on 29 February 2024.

## Music

The soundtrack is composed by Guru Randhawa, Luv Ranjan, Bali and Saurabh-Vaibhav while the background score is done by Hitesh Sonik. Lyrics are written by Guru Randhawa, Happy Bains, Luv Ranjan, Bali, Harsh Tyagi and Saurabh-Vaibhav.

## Reception

Wild Wild Punjab received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 1.5/5 stars, writing, "This Fukrey lite is a load of jaded tiresomeness; Punjab deserves better." Vineeta Kumar of India Today awarded the film 2/5 stars, writing, "The bigger problem is not how the film treats its women, but how it doesn't see any man as a grown-up. It is funny in parts if you have the appetite for those kinds of jokes, but at best, it looks like a dull celebration of empty-headed men." Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com rated the film 2.5/5 stars. Shilajit Mitra for The Hindu wrote, "Wild Wild Punjab runs low on horsepower and horseplay. Simarpreet, a debutant director, struggles to choreograph the levels of comedic chaos he clearly aspires to."
Monika Rawal Kukreja from Hindustan Times gave a positive review, writing, "Wild Wild Punjab, staying true to its title and genre, has several moments that are outright hilarious and you don't even feel like questing the whys and hows."