English Vinglish is an upcoming Indian drama film directed by debutant director Gauri Shinde and produced by R. Balki. The film marks the comeback of Sridevi after a 14 year sabbatical. The film also features French actor Mehdi Nebbou, Adil Hussain, and Priya Anand. Amitabh Bachchan makes a guest appearance in the Hindi version of the film, while Ajith Kumar comes in for the same role in the Tamil version.

Sridevi plays the central role of a housewife, who enrolls for an English speaking course in order to please her husband and family.English Vinglish will be dubbed into Telugu and will release simultaneously along with the Hindi and Tamil versions.English Vinglish is all set to hit the screens on 5th October 2012.

Cast

Sridevi
Priya Anand
Mehdi Nebbou
Neelu Sodhi
Ross Nathan
Amitabh Bachchan (Guest appearance)- in Hindi Version
Ajith Kumar (Guest appearance) - in Tamil Version
Rajeev Ravindranathan

Production

During the early 2011, it was reported that Sridevi would make a comeback with a film to be directed by ad filmmaker Gauri Shinde and produced by Gauri's husband R. Balki. It was said that Sridevi will play the protagonist and will be play the role of a lady speaking English and the hilarious sequences that takes place in the process to learn the language forms the rest of the story. While other reports said that, the film is a remake of the old Hindi TV series Zabaan Sambhalke. But R. Balki denied such reports by saying, "What has been circulating is utter rubbish, and the story of the film is not even remotely close to what has been stated. The only truth is that Amitabh Bachchan is playing a cameo in the film and he shot with us for a day".

Owing to Sridevi's comeback after more than a decade, the film is already garnering much media excitement. Amitabh's cameo, music by Amit Trivedi and Balki's track record have further added to the interest in the film. The film rights have been bought by Eros International for a sum for Rs. 20 crore owing to Sridevi's continuing popularity and superstar status.

The film marks the Bollywood debut of actress Priya Anand,whose previous work is in the Tamil and Telugu cinemas. It is also the directorial debut of Gauri Shinde and has been shot mostly in New York.Balki also clarified that, other than Sridevi all the actors in the film will be new. The shooting of the film got over in October and the film will also be dubbed and released in Tamil and Telugu.

The first look of the film was unveiled on 15 June, 2012 as a theatrical teaser showing Sridevi reading out the Censor certificate of the film's trailer. Owing to her character in the film, the actress deliberately struggles to read the details of the certificate in English and even pokes fun at the name of Gauri Shinde. The unique concept of the promo was Balki's idea and has received an overwhelming response from the public, film industry and the media. The teaser also became the top trending topic on Twitter over its release weekend and has subsequently gone viral on Youtube.

On July 24, 2012, organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival officially announced that English Vinglish will premiere at their prestigious festival. Screened out of competition, the film has made it to the coveted Gala section of the fest. The international character and lingual theme of the film is reported to have impressed the organizers to include it in the festival. At the opening press conference, Cameron Bailey, Co-Director of the fest hailed Sridevi as one of the legendary actors of India who was missed on screen for 15 years. 'Sridevi is terrific in the film and completely compelling. English Vinglish is an international story with empowering messages making it the right film for our Gala.' The world premiere is slated to take place on 14 September 2012. Theatrical Trailer Release

The full-length theatrical trailer of the film was unveiled at a special media event in Mumbai on 13th August, 2012. The release coincided with Sridevi's 48th birthday celebrations. The trailer got a thunderous response at the event and was played several times at the request of the audience. Since its release, the trailer has been trending on Twitter and has gone viral on Youtube. The general response has been phenomenally positive with Netizens praising it for its freshness and heart-warming quality and Sridevi's performance. The film's musical score has also generated a lot of interest.