Raksha Bandhan () is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language family comedy-drama film directed by Aanand L. Rai and written by Himanshu Sharma and Kanika Dhillon. It stars Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth and Deepika Khanna.
The film was theatrically released on 11 August 2022, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics but was a commercial failure.
Plot
In Old Delhi, Lala Kedarnath, the eldest and only brother of four sisters named Gayatri, Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati, runs a chaat shop named Premlata Chat Bhandar that was started by his grandfather. Lala promises his frail mother on her deathbed that he will only get married after he fulfills the responsibility of marrying his sisters into suitable homes first. Lala's relentless efforts of getting his sisters married while upholding his family values go in vain, as he faces hurdles to find suitable grooms due to Laxmi's dark skin, Durga's weight and Saraswati's masculine behaviour. At the same time, Lala's commitment to his sisters stands as a huge roadblock for his and his childhood love Sapna's relationship to take off.
Understanding the importance of Lala's vow, Sapna decides to wait till his goal is achieved. But her father Harishankar always nags her to get married. Sometime later, Lala manages to gather for Gayatri's dowry. Gayatri gets married. After the marriage, it is revealed that Lala is not their real brother and that their mother adopted him long ago when his real mother died near the temple. Lala arranges money for Durga and Laxmi's wedding by selling his one kidney, but things didn't go as planned when Gayatri commits suicide by drinking poison: her husband and in-laws were asking for more dowry, but she didn't say anything to Lala as she didn't want him to get more stressed. Lala realizes the curse of the dowry system, and vows that he will make his other three sisters capable enough for their future so they can choose their own groom and marry without a dowry.
Lala breaks all ties with Sapna and asks her to marry the guy of her father's choice. But on Sapna's wedding day, Harishankar realises that she still is in love with Lala and asks her to break the alliance. Sapna breaks the marriage and decides to wait for Lala; her fiance Swapnil later falls for Laxmi and marries her 12 years later. Durga completes her graduation and becomes a lawyer, where she gets Gayathri's husband punished by sending him to prison on charges of dowry. Later she marries her classmate. Saraswati becomes a cop and marries her colleague. At last, Lala marries Sapna at the age of 60 after fulfilling his mother's wish.
Cast
Akshay Kumar as Lala Kedarnath Agarwal
Bhumi Pednekar as Sapna Gupta
Sadia Khateeb as Gayatri Mishra
Deepika Khanna as Durga Agarwal
Smrithi Srikanth as Laxmi Verma
Sahejmeen Kaur as Saraswati Agarwal
Seema Pahwa as Shanoo Sharma
Neeraj Sood as Harishankar Gupta
Sahil Mehta as Gaffar
Abhilash Thapliyal as Swapnil Verma
Manu Rishi as Maternal Uncle
Karan Puri as Sunil Mishra
Salim Siddiqui as Neelu's Husband
Production
Development
The film was officially announced on 3 August 2020 to mark the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. Akshay Kumar stated that it is the quickest film he has signed in his career, and dedicated the film to his sister Alka Hiranandani who also serves as co-producer. Originally this film was scheduled to release on 13 December 2021.
The Role of Akshay Kumar was originally offered to Salman Khan, then Sanjay Dutt.
Filming
Principal photography for the film commenced on 23 January 2021. First schedule ended in July 2021 at Mumbai. The film was wrapped up in Delhi on December 2021.
Music
The songs were composed by Himesh Reshammiya while film score was composed and produced by Ishaan Chhabra. Irshad Kamil has written the lyrics. The first song of the album "Tere Sath Hoon Main", sung by Nihal Tauro was released on 29 June 2022. The second song "Kangan Ruby", sung by Reshammiya himself was released on 6 July 2022. The third song titled "Done Kar Do", sung by Navraj Hans was released on 18 July 2022 and it was the first song from an Indian film to have an international release, being launched in the UK. The fourth song "Dhaagon Se Baandhaa", sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh was released on 28 July 2022.