Crew (film)

Crew is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language heist comedy film directed by Rajesh A Krishnan and written by Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri. Produced by Ekta Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, and Digvijay Purohit under Balaji Motion Pictures and Anil Kapoor Films & Communication Network, it stars Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon with Diljit Dosanjh and Kapil Sharma in supporting roles. In the film, three air hostesses become involved in a gold smuggling operation.

Crew was announced in November 2022. Principal photography took place from March 2023 to February 2024. Crew was theatrically released on 29 March 2024 to positive reviews from critics. It became a commercial success, grossing over inr 1570000000 globally, making it the third highest-grossing Hindi film, and eighth-highest-grossing Indian film of 2024.

Plot
Geeta Sethi, Jasmine Kohli, and Divya Rana are flight attendants with Kohinoor Airlines in Mumbai, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. The staff have not been paid their salaries in months, and the three friends, like all the other employees, keep hoping that things will change. Geeta's husband, Arun, runs a struggling food business from home. She has to financially support her unemployed brother, Punnu, and his wife, Sapna, as well. Jasmine was raised by her maternal grandfather after her parents divorced. She does not believe in relationships, is fond of expensive things, and flaunts a fake and flashy lifestyle on social media. Divya is trained to be a pilot but is forced to take up the job of a flight attendant due to a lack of openings and keeps this hidden from her family as well as struggling to repay her education loan.

The death of senior flight attendant Rajvanshi, while on duty, leads Geeta, Jasmine and Divya towards a clandestine operation to smuggle gold out of India to the Middle Eastern country, Al Burj. Manoj Mittal, the HR Head of Kohinoor Airlines, is the kingpin of the operation. The three of them become part of the gold smuggling operation and their financial situation soon improves: Geeta funds Arun’s food business, along with helping Punnu and Sapna. Jasmine gets back Nanu’s gold ring from the pawn shop and splurges on herself. Divya repays her education loan fully. Meanwhile, the other employees of the airline are still trying to make ends meet. Someone tips off the customs officials that the three flight attendants are smuggling gold; and even though the three of them hide the stash, the detention that follows makes them feel humiliated and rethink their choice. The enraged customs official, SI Mala, mentions that her tip is accurate which she received from an air hostess within Kohinoor, and cannot come to terms with the fact that she could not recover any gold.

The plane in which the three had hidden the stash is exposed one day when turbulence causes damage to the fuselage and the gold falls out. Vijay Walia, the Chairman of Kohinoor, and Mittal abscond and flee the country as the news comes out. Initially, they had thought that their colleague, Komal, would have tipped the customs officer, however, after an emotional outburst by Komal, they realize that she nor their other colleagues tipped the customs. Geetu realizes that Mittal's wife, Sudha, was also an air hostess and Mala had referred that the tip came from an ex-air hostess; she was the only person who knew about the gold smuggling. They confront her and she reveals that Mittal is cheating on her and to exact revenge, she tipped the customs so that their arrest would also lead to Mittal's arrest.

However, she further reveals that the real kingpin is actually Walia, who had stolen the airline's money, converted it into gold, and stashed it in Al Burj. From Sudha, they get the address of Mittal in Al Burj and they tail him and eventually find Walia at a luxury hotel where his daughter is getting married. Geeta manages to secure a job in the hotel as a housekeeper and get information about the gold. After a lot of hard work, they hatch a plan where they come to know that Walia and his family are taking the gold in a private jet to the Cayman Islands. Geeta and Jasmine manage to get the role of air hostess of the jet, while Divya becomes the pilot. They spike the drinks of the passengers with sleeping pills and land the plane at Divya's native town, Nanheri, where the police and custom officials are already waiting for them. They, however, manage to keep some gold for themselves and distribute it amongst their friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Mittal also returns to Sudha, along with some of the gold he had stashed for himself.

Cast

 * Tabu as Geeta Sethi, a flight supervisor and Arun's wife
 * Kareena Kapoor Khan as Jasmine Kohli, a senior flight attendant
 * Kriti Sanon as Divya Rana, a junior flight attendant and Jai's love interest
 * Diljit Dosanjh as Customs Officer ASI Jai Singh, Divya's love interest
 * Kapil Sharma as Arun Sethi, Geeta's husband, a bankrupt and jobless person
 * Rajesh Sharma as Manish Mittal, H. R. Head of Kohinoor Airlines
 * Saswata Chatterjee as Vijay Walia, Chairman & MD of Kohinoor Airlines
 * Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Sadanand Gowda, Jasmine's maternal grandfather
 * Ivan Rodrigues as Divya's father
 * Trupti Khamkar as SI Mala, Mumbai Customs
 * Garima Yagnik as Ayesha Walia, Vijay's daughter
 * Charu Shankar as Sudha Mittal, Manish's wife
 * Ramakant Dayama as Mr. Rajvanshi
 * Rahul Gilani as Punnu, Geeta's brother
 * Hetal A. Puniwala as Captain Akil Wadera
 * Badshah as himself in a song "Naina" (Cameo)

Production
The film was announced in November 2022 and filming began on 25 March 2023, before it was wrapped in February 2024. The film was shot in Mumbai, Goa and Abu Dhabi. Deloitte's Hyderabad office in India was used to show as Kohinoor Airlines Mumbai Office in the film.

Music
The music of the film was composed by Diljit Dosanjh, Badshah, Raj Ranjodh, Vishal Mishra, Akshay–IP, Bharg–Rohit while the background score is composed by John Stewart Eduri.

The first single titled "Naina" was released on 5 March 2024. The second single, a remake version of Rajasthani track "Delhi Shahar Mein Maro Ghagro Jo Ghumyo" by Ila Arun, titled "Ghagra" was released on 12 March 2024. A remake of the song "Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai" from the 1993 film Khal Nayak is sung by Alka Yagnik and Arun, composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal and written by Anand Bakshi. The third single titled "Choli Ke Peeche" was released on 20 March 2024. The fourth song "Sona Kitna Sona Hai" is a remake of the same name song from the 1997 film Hero No. 1 sung by Udit Narayan and Poornima, composed by Anand–Milind and written by Sameer Anjaan.

Theatrical
Initially planned for a 22 March 2024 release, the film was theatrically released on 29 March 2024 coinciding with Good Friday.

Home media
The film began streaming on Netflix from 24 May 2024.

Critical response
Crew opened to positive reviews from the critics.



Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express praised the lead actresses, writing, "Tabu, so comfortable in her older woman avatar as the senior-most of the crew, and Khan, treading the thin line between greed and need with ease, are a riot; Sanon, in their company, is boosted and manages to hold her own." Gupta gave the movie 3.5 stars out of 5 and described it as an "easy-breezy" comedy that washes away the stench of recent Bollywood duds. Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Tabu-Kareena Kapoor-Kriti Sanon-starrer Crew totally smashes through stereotypes. It's an honest-to-goodness rollercoaster ride". Titas Chowdhury of CNN-IBN gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and particularly praised Kapoor Khan's performance, adding that she elevates the narrative several notches with a character that is tailor-made for her. Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "In times when political dramas are trying to make a statement abound, Crew is a welcome change. It’s light, easy-breezy and stays true to being a masala entertainer." The critic based at Bollywood Hungama awarded the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Crew is a fun entertainer and rests on the fine performances of Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon." Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave it 3.5 stars (out of 5), describing it as a crime comedy that is funny, frivolous, and delectable. Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost gave it a rating of 3 out of 5, calling it a "delectable" and "entertaining" film; she particularly praised Kapoor Khan's performance, adding that she stands out and displays the wickedness of her character with a lot of style. In a more critical review, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and noted that the film's screenplay lacks sheen.

Anuj Kumar of The Hindu deemed it a feel-good film and particularly praised Kapoor Khan's performance, adding that she is the tour de force of the film. Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times wrote, "Crew makes you laugh, and have fun while serving some cheesy and cocky humour, and manages to stay afloat despite a lot of turbulence, all thanks to the threesome that you wish lasted a little longer." Nandini Ramnath of Scroll gave the film a positive review, calling it funny, sexy, and honest—all without being overly mushy or judgemental.

Box office
As of 23 May 2024, Crew has grossed inr 1070500000 in India, with a further inr 500300000 overseas, for a worldwide total of inr 1570800000.0000002 against inr 750000000 budget.

On its opening day, Crew earned inr 102800000 at the domestic box office, marking the third biggest opening day collection for a female-led film. Furthermore, the film opened with a global box office gross of inr 200700000, making it the highest opening day grosser for a Hindi female-led film globally.