Madgaon Express is a 2024 Hindi-language crime comedy film written and directed by Kunal Khemu, in his directorial debut, and produced by Excel Entertainment. It stars an ensemble cast of Divyenndu, Pratik Gandhi, Avinash Tiwary, Nora Fatehi, Upendra Limaye and Chhaya Kadam.
Madgaon Express was theatrically released on 22 March 2024 to positive reviews from critics and grossed ₹57 crore worldwide.
It received four nominations at 70th Filmfare Awards including Best Actor (Gandhi) and Best Debut Director (Khemu).
Contents
Plot
In 1998 in Mumbai, Dhanush "Dodo" Sawant, Pratik "Pinku" Garodia and Ayush Gupta, who have just passed 10th standard, dream of going to Goa after their board examinations. Due to their parents' reluctance, they are unable to do so. In 2003, the friends again plan the trip after their graduation. But they meets with an accident as soon as they begin their journey. The plan is yet again put on the back burner.
A few years later, Pinku moves to Cape Town and Ayush to New York City. Pinku and Ayush have succeeded in life, earning well and leading comfortable lives. Meanwhile, Dodo is struggling to keep a steady job. He keeps in touch with Pinku and Ayush on social media. To catch up, Dodo starts faking a glamourous lifestyle on social media using editing software.
In 2015, Pinku and Ayush decide to fly down to Mumbai. They inform Dodo about it and also tell him that they will stay at his 'penthouse'. Dodo gets tense and suggests that, instead, they should fulfill their plan of visiting Goa. Pinku and Ayush agree. Unable to afford expensive flight tickets, Dodo books three tickets to the Madgaon Express train. Pinku and Ayush hate the idea, but agree on the condition that they will return by flight only. Before boarding the train, Pinku’s bag accidentally gets swapped with another man. They discover that the bag contains a cash, a gun and a key to a hotel room. They agree to get rid of the bag.
Upon reaching their destination, they head straight to the beach. A drug dealer gives them psychedelic drug pills and after consuming it, they party together and spend the night with prostitutes at a hotel. Upon waking up the next morning, Ayush is upset at Dodo for bringing prostitutes with them as he did not want to cheat on his long-distance online girlfriend Nisha. Dodo confesses that he had secretly kept the hotel room key from the stranger's bag, along with the cash and had brought them to the same hotel room. This angers Ayush and Pinku and during an altercation, Pinku falls down hard on top of the bed and they discover a stash of cocaine hidden underneath it. Later, Kanchan Kombdi, a lady gangster, arrives with her gang and mistakens Ayush for Ganapath, whose bag got exchanged with Pinku.
Kanchan Kombdi asks him to meet her at her place and her gang surrounds the entire hotel premises. The three escape the place by jumping off the window. Pinku begins to act strangely due to overdosing on cocaine. They start looking for a doctor to help Pinku. They meet a young woman Tasha, who takes them to Dr. Danny. Dr. Danny gives Pinku an injection which heals him. It is revealed that the cocaine found at the hotel room belongs to Mendoza Bhai, a ruthless gangster. Upon returning to the hotel, the three are shocked to discover that the cocaine is missing. The police arrive and they escape the place. Meanwhile, Ganapath reaches the hotel and is angry to find the cocaine missing, which he had hidden underneath the bed. He discovers Pinku's cellphone inside his bag and sees text messages from his girlfriend Mariam.
Cast
Divyenndu as Dhanush Sawant "Dodo"
Aryan Prajapati as young Dodo
Pratik Gandhi as Pratik Garodia "Pinku/Pinkya"
Jewel Narigara as Young Pinku
Avinash Tiwary as Ayush Gupta
Nora Fatehi as Tasha
Upendra Limaye as Mendoza Bhai
Chhaya Kadam as Kanchan Kombdi
Remo D'Souza as Dr. Danny (Special appearance)
Raviraj Kande as Ganpat
Sameer Patil as Dodo’s father
Vipul Deshpande as Police inspector
Umesh Jagtap as Constable Santosh Sathe
Additionally, writer and director Kunal Khemu makes a cameo appearance as a drug peddler.
Production
Principal photography commenced in August 2022 and wrapped in February 2023.
Music
The music of the film is composed by Sharib-Toshi, Ankur Tewari, Kunal Khemu, Sagar Desai, Sameer Uddin and Ajay–Atul. Lyrics are written by Kumaar, Kalim Sheikh and Kunal Khemu.
The song Baby Bring It On is a remake of same title song which was composed by Ajay–Atul for the 2016 Marathi film Jaundya Na Balasaheb.
Release
Theatrical
The film was theatrically released on 22 March 2024.
Home media
The film was premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 17 May 2024.
Reception
Critical response
Madgaon Express received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10.
Mayur Sanap of Rediff.com rated 3/5 stars and applauded "Madgaon Express understands that its charm lies in its inherent silliness and then works around as pure unadulterated entertainment, which makes it imminently watchable". NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee rated the film 3/5 and wrote "Madgaon Express is a wild and wacky comedy of errors that rarely, if ever, pauses for a breather. The film is deliriously funny as it moves effortlessly and incessantly between slapstick and sparkling silver-tongued wit."
Conversely, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 1.5 stars out of 5 and stated that "too many of the jokes end in a clunk. A song line about not having fun attempts to spice up a scene when the bad guys are sleeping and the good men are trying to get away. That may have served as a summary of the entire movie".