Bhool Chuk Maaf

Bhool Chuk Maaf (transl. Forgive my mistakes) is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language fantasy romantic comedy film written and directed by Karan Sharma, and produced by Dinesh Vijan under Maddock Films, in association with Amazon MGM Studios.^[4] The film stars Rajkummar Rao, Wamiqa Gabbi and Seema Pahwa in lead roles.^[5][6] The film received mixed reviews from critics.^[7]

Titli Mishra and Ranjan Tiwari are lovers in Varanasi who are eager to marry but Titli's father, Brijmohan Mishra, lays down the condition for Ranjan to have a government job to marry Titli. Searching for the job, Ranjan vows to do a good deed if he gets a government job and earns such a job illegally by bribing a man named Bhagwan.

On the 29th of the month is the haldi ceremony with the wedding scheduled for the following day. But after spending the haldi day, Ranjan wakes up to find that he is living the same day again and is stuck in a time-loop. Later, it is revealed that this is because of his unfulfilled vow, and Ranjan realises that he must do a good deed to break the loop. He tries every possible way to do a good deed, but nothing works, and he remains stuck on his Haldi day. He gives up and decides to commit suicide. Just before he jumps into the water, he meets a man named Hamid Ansari, who is also planning to kill himself because he is unemployed. He soon learns that Ansari is the candidate whose job was wrongfully given to Ranjan due to his bribe to Bhagwan, which is the reason he is stuck in the time-loop. His good deed will be returning Ansari's job, which is not possible as he would lose Titli and his wedding if he does so.

The time loop still does not break. He sees Ansari committing suicide everyday, and saves him every single time, but Ansari rejects every offer for a different job and commits suicide. Ranjan soon discovers that Ansari wants the job that badly because he wants to take the government job, stop corruption, and help his village with water and electricity connection.

The next morning is the 29th again, and Ansari, alive, gives Ranjan the chance to rectify his wrong deed, and Ranjan finally gives his job back to Ansari. Finally, the time loop breaks and everyone, unaware of Ranjan's unemployment, starts preparing for the wedding. However, Ranjan calls the wedding off, telling everyone that he has given up his job, and faces criticism from everyone, including Titli. Then, Bhagwan enters, and gives an eye-opening speech on humanity; he supports Ranjan’s decision of giving his job to Ansari. Titli agrees to marry Ranjan, and they both finally get married.

• Rajkummar Rao as Ranjan Tiwari
• Wamiqa Gabbi as Titli Mishra
• Sanjay Mishra as Bhagwan Das
• Zakir Hussain as Brijmohan Mishra, Titli's father
• Raghubir Yadav as Raghunath Tiwari, Ranjan's father
• Seema Pahwa as Ramawati Tiwari, Ranjan's mother
• Ishtiyak Khan as Kishan, Ranjan's maternal uncle
• Purnima Sharma as Sweety
• Anubha Fatehpuria as Anandi
• Vineet Kumar as Panditji
• Jay Thakkar as Sushil
• Pragati Mishra as Keri Tiwari, Ranjan's younger sister
• Dheerendra Gautam as Hari, Ranjan's friend
• Akash Makhija as Hamid Ansari
• Dhanashree Verma as Jugni (special appearance in the song "Ting Ling Sajna")^[8]

Earlier, reports suggested that Kartik Aaryan and Shraddha Kapoor would star in the film. However, Aaryan later dismissed these claims on Twitter, calling them rumours with no truth.^[9]

In April 2024, Maddock Films officially announced its lineup for 2024 and 2025, including this project.^[10] Directed by Karan Sharma, this marks his second collaboration with Maddock Films after the upcoming romantic drama Shiddat 2, where Wamiqa Gabbi stars opposite Sunny Kaushal.^[11]

Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi play the lead roles in the film. This marked Rao's sixth collaboration with Maddock Films, following his work on Stree, Made in China, Roohi, Hum Do Hamare Do, and Stree 2.^[10] Seema Pahwa played an important role in the film.^[12] In February 2025, it was reported that Jay Thakkar joined the cast.^[13]

The film also features Sanjay Mishra, Zakir Hussain, and Raghubir Yadav in pivotal roles.^[14]

On 2 January 2024, Rao and Gabbi arrived in Varanasi to commence shooting.^[11] On 29 March 2025, they filmed a sequence at a studio in Mira Road, where a set resembling a small-town street was built for a lively promotional song. The track, composed by Tanishk Bagchi, features choreography by Vijay Ganguly and styling by Sheetal Sharma. Another song was filmed in Varanasi in mid-April.^[15]

The film's soundtrack was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, written by Irshad Kamil, Armaan Lahoria, Shaan Yadav and Amitabh Bhattacharya while the background score is composed by Ketan Sodha.

The song "Waalian" by Harnoor is recreated for the film and the song was titled "Koi Na" was released on 16 April 2025. Originally lyrics written by Gifty.^[16]

The song "Chor Bazaari Phir Se" from the 2009 film Love Aaj Kal, composed by Pritam and sung by Neeraj Shridhar and Sunidhi Chauhan is recreated for the film.^[17] The song "Allah Meherban" from the 2013 film Ghanchakkar, sung by Divya Kumar and composed by Amit Trivedi is re-used in the film.

The first teaser was released on 18 February 2025.^[18][12] On 10 April 2025, the trailer was launched in a press conference, held in Mumbai.^[14][19] On April 25, 2025, a promotional event for the film took place at Raj Mandir Cinema in Jaipur, featuring RajKummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi.^[20] As part of their promotional campaign, the duo also visited Lucknow. On April 30, 2025, they made an appearance on the sets of Hip Hop India Season 2.^[21] On 19 May 2025, pre-release event was held at Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.^[22]

The film was set to release in theatres on 9 May 2025.^[23] However it was postponed to 16 May 2025 for a direct-to-streaming release on Amazon Prime Video, with the makers citing the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict as a reason.^[24] After over 5000 tickets were sold via ticket sales from booking counters and online outlets clocking over Rs 3 crores in ticket sales, it resulted in backlash from distributors and film exhibitors.^[25] As a result, PVR INOX filed a lawsuit against Maddock Films for cancelling the theatrical release at the eleventh hour and moving it to a digital platform, alleging that the last-minute cancellation led to substantial financial losses.^[26][27]

On 9 May 2025, the Bombay High Court granted ad-interim relief to PVR INOX and restrained Maddock Films from releasing the film on any streaming or non-theatrical platform until the 8-week holdback period expired following its first theatrical release in India.^[28][29]

On 14 May 2025, Maddock Films and PVR INOX mutually decided the film would have a theatrical release in theatres on 23 May 2025 and after two weeks of theatrical run, it began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 6 June 2025.^[30][31]

On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, 30% of 10 critics' reviews are positive.^[32] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2 stars out of 5 and said that "as a time-loop comedy, it goes completely overboard with its central premise without being able to create a logical context for the perplexing goings-on in the life of a lad trapped in a limbo."^[33] Shalini Langer of The Indian Express awarded 2 stars out of 5 and writes that "Despite its cast including good actors like Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi, the film feels like such a stew of Ghat meets Groundhog Day."^[34] Rishabh Suri of Hindustan Times rated 2.5/5 stars and commented that "Bhool Chuk Maaf, a time-loop comedy, ends up stuck in a loop of its own clichés. The only thing harder to escape than a time loop is Rajkummar’s contract with small-town scripts. It tries to be a comedy, flirts with a social message, and ends up being the cinematic equivalent of a WhatsApp forward — familiar, repetitive, and mildly amusing at best."^[35]

Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter India writes in his review that "As a time-loop film, it’s tempting to notice the irony of literally going around in circles and arriving back at the same preachy disappointment. The same formula is repeated again and again and again. The same signs are elicited with Groundhog Day-level grit. It’s all designed, of course. The boys played well for charity. And ethical match-fixing reaches a whole new level."^[36] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu observed that "Writer-director Karan Sharma makes us take a leap of faith in a sharp social commentary disguised as a frothy comedy."^[37] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India rated 3/5 stars and said that "the film delivers a relevant message in a deceptive manner. The film addresses growing apathy, isolated existence and self-centric living."^[38]

Vineeta Kumar of India Today gave 1.5 stars out of 5 and said that "In 'Bhool Chuk Maaf', pregnancy jokes and outdated concepts of love are given way more importance than an attempt at bringing a progressive story from the heartland of India. Even Rajkummar Rao can't save this lost in a loop, lacking in love film."^[39] Uday Bhatia of Mint said that "‘Bhool Chuk Maaf is a stale, derivative time-loop comedy".^[40] Abhishek Srivastava of Moneycontrol rated 2.5/5 stars and said that "The film leans on a tired formula and ends up feeling more routine than refreshing."^[41]

Subhash K Jha writing for News 24 gave 3.5 stars out of 5 five and said "If cinema is a place to have a good time, then writer-director Karan Sharma’s Bhool Chuk Maaf is just the place where you ought to be seen this weekend. It is fun and funny. Feisty and ritzy."^[42] Kartik Bhardwaj of The New Indian Express rated 2/5 stars and said "Bhool Chuk Maaf felt like a déjà vu, it has all happened before: these ghats of Banaras, these accented wisecracks, these actors who act like they were born to be sidekicks. It’s a rerun."^[43]

• List of films featuring time loops

• Bhool Chuk Maaf at IMDb