English Vinglish (2012): watch the full film free, legally

Shashi’s journey from Pune to New York

Sridevi plays Shashi Godbole, a traditional Marathi homemaker in Pune who runs a home business making and selling laddoos. Her husband Satish, a corporate worker, and teenage daughter Sapna mock her limited English and take her for granted, leaving her insecure. Her young son Sagar loves her, while her mother-in-law offers sympathy.

Shashi travels alone to New York five weeks before her niece Meera’s wedding, intending to help her sister Manu with preparations before Satish and the children arrive. A difficult encounter at a coffee shop, where she cannot order in English, leaves her devastated. Laurent, a French chef who also struggles with the language, comforts her.

Using savings from her laddoo business, Shashi secretly joins a four-week conversational English course. David Fischer teaches a class that includes Mexican nanny Eva, Pakistani taxi driver Salman Khan, Chinese hairstylist Yu Son, Tamil software engineer Ramamurthy, Afro-Caribbean Udumbke and Laurent. Shashi studies at night, travels alone on the subway and earns her classmates’ respect. Her secret lessons become harder to sustain when family circumstances change and the final exam clashes with the wedding day.

Gauri Shinde’s first feature

Written and directed by Gauri Shinde, English Vinglish was her directorial debut after work as an advertisement filmmaker. Shinde wrote Shashi with her mother in mind, a Marathi-speaking woman who ran a pickle business from her Pune home and was not fluent in English. Shinde said, “I made this film to say sorry to my mother.”

The project began development in 2011 or earlier. Shinde said investors were difficult to secure because the protagonist was a middle-aged woman. Some interested parties wanted changes, including a dance number prompted by attention around Sridevi’s return, which Shinde felt did not fit her vision. Producer R. Balki denied reports that the film was a remake or loosely based on Zabaan Sambhalke, though the English tuition scenes were confirmed after release to resemble the show.

Sridevi returned to film acting after nearly 15 years away. The cast also includes Adil Hussain, French actor Mehdi Nebbou and Priya Anand, making her Bollywood debut, while theatre actor Ashvin Mathew also made his debut. Principal photography, underway by July 2011, concluded in October, with most filming in New York. Amitabh Bachchan made a one-day cameo in the original version; Ajith Kumar reshot the role for the Tamil-dubbed version without payment. Amit Trivedi composed the six-song soundtrack and background score.

Festival reception and critical response

The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and received a five-minute standing ovation. Its theatrical release followed on 5 October 2012. At the 58th Filmfare Awards, it received four nominations, including Best Film and Best Actress for Sridevi, and Shinde won Best Debut Director. The film was also shortlisted as India’s official Academy Awards entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Reviewers praised Shinde’s direction and screenplay, Sridevi’s performance, the soundtrack and cinematography. The Times of India gave the film 4 out of 5 and called Sridevi’s work “a masterclass for actors.” Daily News and Analysis critic Aniruddha Guha also awarded 4 out of 5, describing it as among the most refreshingly novel films made in recent times. Raja Sen of Rediff gave 4 out of 5 and wrote that Sridevi excels in developing her character. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it 3 out of 5, calling it an undemanding picture that goes down well with Shashi’s laddoos.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “English Vinglish”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.